Day 13

Georgia's Crooked River State Park

 We are spending three nights at the Crooked River Campground which is one of the most pristine campgrounds we've ever visited.  From here we'll make a number of side trips, some of which will take us to the coastal islands of southern Georgia and northern Florida.

After a leisurely start at our campsite we visited Fort Caroline, Florida.  Fort Caroline, on the St. Johns River, was originally discovered by the French in May, 1652, and then established as a colony in 1564, making it the oldest settlement in the continental United States!  Yes, it is older than St Augustine, and Plymouth!

Dominated by French Huguenots who were coming to the new world to escape religious prosecution, Fort Caroline was named after the French King at the time, Charles IX.   The native Timucuan indians welcomed the visitors who were ill prepared to fend for themselves.  These French settlers were slaughtered by the Spanish in 1565.  The French recaptured the Fort in 1568, but never attempted to colonized the area.  

A reproduction of a typical Timucuan hut.

The fort that exists now is only a best guess reproduction of what the original fort looked like, and its location is also approximate.  This reproduction was also only built to 1/3 scale of the original.

A gopher terrapin, one of the few year round residents of Fort Caroline.

The walk from the visitors center to the Fort was short, but we got lost on our return and ended up up taking a 1 mile hike along a nature trial.  We felt like we'd hiked much further, especially since the temp was in the high 70's and we did not bring any water with us. 

It was 1:30 PM when we left Fort Caroline, so following the advice of two different rangers, we stopped for lunch at the "Safe Harbor" seafood restaurant and market which was located next to the Mayport Naval Air Station.  It was exactly what we wanted; tables overlooking the harbor and seafood in a basket!  Joni had grilled shrimp, and I opted for grilled shrimp and a fried soft shell crab.  DELICIOUS!

The view of the Safe Harbor from the ferry to Fort George Island.

The ferry across the St. John's River

Leaving the ferry our drive to the Kingsley Plantation was very short.  Originally the entire island was owned by Zephaniah Kinglesy who established a "sea island cotton" plantation there in 1814 and continually operated until 1865.

At this time slave labor followed the "task system", each slave being assigned a daily task, and once that task was completed the slave could pursue any activity and keep any funds made related to that activity.  

One of the features of this National Park Service Historic Preservation is the focus on slave life on the plantations.  As we strolled the grounds we listed to a very detailed audio tour that was available to download onto our phones

2 mile long approach to the main house 

Front view of main house

View from front porch looking toward the St. John's River

Shackles used on slaves at this plantation for the slightest infraction.

32 tabby cabins were the slaves' homes.

The stables.

Kitchen and home of Mr. Kingsley's Black wife, Anna,  who he married when she was 13 and freed when she was 21.  Anna, actually ran the plantation for man years while Mr. Kingsley tended to his other plantations.

Leaving Fort George Island we drove north following the coastline, along highway A1A crossing Little Talbot, Big Talbot, and Amelia Islands, and eventually crossing back into Georgia and stopping in St. Mary's where we picked up some take out Greek food for dinner at the Riverside Cafe.

Our dinners were delicious, but huge so we were able to save 1/2 of each of our dishes, moussaka for Joni, and pasticcio for me.

Day 12

We left Skidaway Island this morning for the last time, crossing the river that inspired Johnny Mercer's masterpiece!

...wider than a mile."

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. 

Day 11

Our last day in Savanah, so we started early with baguettes and coffee at the French bakery, "Cafe M"

Leaving the cafe, we drove to the Owens-Thomas House which was built between 1816-1819.  The house includes many architectural firsts for our country, including indoor plumbing.  More information about the house and the architect are displayed in the plaque below.  

The Marquis de LaFayatte, whose assistance in our Revoutionary War was by all accounts very significant stayed here in 1825.  He never approved of slavery, but after witnessing it first hand while staying in Savanah, he said he would never have helped the Americans against the British.

 

View of the back side of the main house.

The floor in the main entrance is actually painted oilskin on top of wooden planks.

The gardens, carriage house and slave quarters.

Slave quarters which accommodated as many as 12 family members at some points.

Our next site was the Tellfair Academy of Arts & Sciences.  Opened in 1885, this building was also designed by the architect William Jay.  It was the first public art museum built in the Southeast.

This statue, "The Bird Girl", was originally located in the Bonaventure Cemetery, and is best know since its photo was on the cover of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  It was moved to the Telfair Academy museum because too many visitors were creating a disturbance in the cemetery.

A thought provoking painting in two parts depicting changes in the lives of the young girls on the left.

The First African Baptist Church and the oldest only Black congregation in the U.S., it was built solely by it members.  Later used for many civil rights meetings, it was also used in the Underground Railroad to hide runaway slaves.  Holes were drilled in the floorboards of the main floor of the church in order to provide fresh air for those hidden below.

"The Pink House" gets its color as the red brick bled through the stucco.  The oldest mansion in Savanah, originally a private home, it's now a pub.  

The Jepson Center for the Arts; out lunch spot for the day.  

Chicken salad for Joni

Bacon, pesto, and mozzarella panini for me.

We ended our stay in Savanah regrouping with Joy and Paul with whom we went out to dinner at the Crystal Beer Parlor.  Our dinners typical bar food, but very well done and included:  hamburgers, shrimp, and shrimp and grits.

Day 10

Our first full day in Georgia started with our old friends Joy and Paul who we joined for breakfast at B Mathews Eatery in historic Savanah. Joy and Paul, live in Boone, NC, but they are renovating a vacation home in Savanah.  

After cleaning our plates we headed for the Mercer-Williams home where we were treated to a guided tour.  This home was made famous by the novel and movie Evil in the Garden of Good and Evil.  The house was built by General Hugh W. Mercer, great-grandfather of celebrated songwriter Johnny Mercer.  General Mercer never lived in the home and after changing hands several times it, it was purchased in 1969 by James Williams, one of Savannah’s earliest and most dedicated private preservationists, who bought the vacant property and began a two-year restoration of the house that would become his permanent residence. Mr. Williams restored more than 50 buildings during his 30-year career in historic preservation in Savannah and the Low-country. 

Leaving the Mercer-Williams house we moved on to check out Paul and Joy project they started earlier this year. Paul still has a lot of work to do, but based on his previous renovations that we've seen, we know he'll do a great job.

Leaving them, we drove to the Bonaventure Cemetery where Johnny Mercer is buried. It took us a while to find his grave, but when we did, we were treated to a conversation a man whose deceased wife was Mercer's nice and god daughter, who was watering the flowers at the site.

Mercer's childhood home.

Johnny Mercer

After stopping for a light lunch of ice cream sundaes, we returned to our campsite and napped for several hours before going out to dinner at a nearby restaurant, the nearby Driftaway Cafe. Joni had scallops and I had tuna.  Both were exceptionally tasty.

Diver Scallops:  Three Jumbo Diver Scallops (harvested by divers not by dredge) Pan Seared and served on a bed of Capellini Pasta with Spinach and Sweet Potato 

Tybee Tuna : Sesame Encrusted Center Cut Tuna Seared Rare on Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
with Mixed Greens, Sushi Ginger, and Finished with Cucumber Wasabi Cream and Sesame Ginger Sauce