GA BARRIER ISLANDS

Gerry and I signed up for our first Road Scholar program - 5 days on the GA Barrier Islands.   My mother and brother also registered, so it was an opportunity to get-together with family.

We explored Savannah GA on our own the day before the program began.  We walked the historic district, and visited the many squares.  We couldn't cover it all, but we saw a great deal on our 5 mile walk. 

Magnificent trees in the historic city squares.

Beautiful fountains.

Statues of historic figures, such as this one of James Oglethorpe (1696 - 1785) who founded the colony of Georgia 

We met the Road Scholars Sunday evening at the Sea Palms resort.   This was our home base for 5 nights.  It was in a secluded area on St. Simons Island.

Day trips were great.  We walked the coastal areas and observed the natural habitat.

The marsh lands, a fragile environment. 

Our instructor and  guide, Georgia Graves, explains the sea life to us.

Tuesday we visited Jekyll Island.  The Jekyll Island Club was formed in 1898, with 53 members.  They were the elite and wealthy, such as the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, the Pulitzers, the Astors and J.P. Morgan.  This group controlled 6 percent of the wealth of the world.  Jekyll Island was their winter retreat, where they had their private "cottages." 

This is the Rockefeller Cottage. 

The historic Jekyll Island Hotel

 We ate lunch in the elegant dining room of the four-start Jekyll Island Hotel; a gourmet grilled chicken breast sandwich on a fresh croissant, with a pasta salad followed by key-lime pie for dessert.

My favorite day of the trip was Thursday when we visited Sapelo Island.  It is the polar opposite of Jekyll Island.  The Gullah Geechee natives still live on Sapelo, but their numbers have dwindled.  Only 47 remain, and live in the area called Hog Hammock.  The island is rustic, with no paved roads and no development.  The post office is open two hours per day.  There is a small grocery store called the "Grab All."   A 30 minute ferry departs from the mainland town of Meridian at 8:30 am to Sapaelo.  A return ferry leaves Sapelo at 2:30 pm back to the mainland.

We enjoyed our tour of the island, especially the pristine isolated beach.

Sapelo Island welcomes us

The rustic historic post office

The Grab-all island store. 

Mom and I pose by the pool on the lawn of the R J Reynolds mansion.  Reynolds bought up most of the island in 1934.

Some nice driftwood on the beach.  It seems you could walk for miles in splendid isolation.

We had a guided tour of St. Simons both Monday and Wednesday.  We also had afternoon free time to explore St. Simons on our own.  I took lovely early morning and late afternoon walks.

 Christ Episcopal Church on St. Simons Island.

I never tired of seeing the massive oak trees that are over 200 years old.

Ancient oak tree, draped with Spanish moss.

ll in all it was a wonderful trip. I do like to travel and I am grateful for the opportunity to visit Savannah and the Barrier Islands of Georgia!