We left Skidaway Island this morning for the last time, crossing the river that inspired Johnny Mercer's masterpiece!
Our first stop was Sandy Bottom Bagels on St. Simon's Island, which we learned about while watching the House and Garden channel. The bagels were very good.
St. Simon's Island, which first came to my attention when Jimmy Carter escaped here during his Presidency. Not far from President Carter's retreat is Fort Frederica National Monument which was created in 1946. After founding Georgia in 1733, James Oglethorpe established a fort on the Frederica River to protect from the Savanah from the Spanish invaders to the south. Oglethorpe, with a combined force of Scottish Highlanders, Indians and the militia, repelled the only Spanish attempt to conquer the area in 1742. Spain never attempted to rule Georgia again.
In addition to the fort, a village was built containing 84 lots, each lot 60'x 90'. The British abandoned the fort not long after the Spanish threat was gone, and the village as thriving as it once was also was abandoned. Today nothing more than foundations remain, and those foundations were not even discovered until the 1950's.
This is an active dig involving the local elementary school.
These trees are 300+ years old. Joni...much younger!
After a multi napkin lunch of delicious spicy shrimp and fried chicken at "The Porch", we checked out the lighthouse on St. Simon's.
Continuing south, our next stop after St. Simons, was Jekyll Island, named after a friend of Oglehorpe. Originally developed as a vacation spot for the rich and famous, the island includes 240 riverfront acres of restored Guilded Age buildings. Eventually Georgia opened up the island for low income and middle income tourists. The island is now completely controlled by the state, individual homes are privately owned, but they lease the land. I wouldn't recommend visiting this island, although we did love seeing Driftwood Beach along the Atlantic.
No comments:
Post a Comment