Georgia: St. Simons Lighthouse

Day 309
No Boat Travel

We spent the morning today doing miscellaneous chores. I had laundry piling up so I made use of the facilities here at the marina. While I did that, Clark cleaned the exterior of the boat. We still had a salt buildup from our trip to St. Simons. The promised rain never happened so he had to wash the salt off by hand.

After lunch we drove into St. Simons to see the sights. First we went to the visitor's center to get recommendations on where to go. From there we drove out to Fort Frederica to see the fort ruins. After seeing Fort Clinch that is so well preserved, Clark was disappointed by the state of disrepair of Fort Frederica.

I told him he lacked imagination as archaeologists and historians had worked together to put together the story of Fort Frederica and bring the story to the public. Excellent records of Fort Frederica describe the fort grounds in detail. Using that documentation, the grounds near the fort are laid out with street signs (Broad Street, Alley, Cross Street, etc).

Many of the plots of land, where the houses and businesses used to stand, contained a description of who lived there and their profession (butcher, baker, candle maker) along with an artists rendering of the person's home / place of business. In some cases actual artifacts found on the site and relevant to the specific property sat in a display case next to the description of the property. I found it fascinating to read about the people who lived at Fort Frederica and see the artifacts that pertained to their professions.

Foundation of home at Fort Frederica ruins
Canons point towards the open water

Ruins of the Barracks at Fort Frederica

The walk to the barracks turned out to be a mistake. It was set back from the "town" on a path less traveled by sightseers. Clark walked over there first and came back with his arms swinging wildly around his head. He said, "I can't take it any more!" as he started walking at a brisk pace off the fort grounds. I could see he was under attack by a swarm of deer flies.

I had had no problems with the flies until I too walked over to the barracks. Then I came back swinging my hat to and fro as I tried to fight off the deer flies as well. When I got back to the visitor's center, I found Clark hiding from the flies in the museum theater waiting for me to come find him.

With the sales clerk's recommendation we bought a bottle of "no natz" to spray on ourselves next time we visit someplace where we find swarms of insects. I hope it works! We left instead of trying it out.

From the fort we drove back to town to visit the lighthouse. Given our late start to touring St. Simons we arrived back at the lighthouse at 4:30 which closed at 5:00. We had to hurry to climb the lighthouse, see the museum, and watch the video that were included in the $24 we paid for admission.

Map of St. Simons showing  Fort Frederica and the Lighthouse

Clark took some artistic pictures of the lighthouse as we toured St. Simons.

Taken near Visitor's Center

Taken near Visitor's Center

Taken from nearby park

Then we climbed the winding staircase in the lighthouse and saw some great views of St. Simons.

View from Lighthouse

Another View from Lighthouse - huge pools filled with people

Afterwards we toured the museum in the light keeper's home.

1800's Waterslide
People rode in a wooden sled down the ramp and into the water.

 The upstairs rooms in the light keeper's home were decorated as they would have been when occupied. An iPad showing a picture of the room sat at the entrance to each room. Selecting an item shown in the picture brought up a new page with details on that particular object. The layout included the kitchen, parlor, parent's room and children's room.

Kitchen

Child's room with toys and children's books

At 5:00 they kicked us out of the museum, so we walked the grounds. During the video we learned that the current lighthouse replaced one that stood on the grounds prior to the Civil War. That lighthouse was built of the ever-popular "tabby" material introduced to this part of the world by the Spanish. Sadly the original lighthouse was blown up by the Confederates during the Civil War as the Union army approached. They did not want the Union army to be able to make use of it. How sad that a piece of history was blown to bits due to the war. 

After exploring the area outside the lighthouse, we pulled our bikes out of the car trunk and went for a ride out to the pier and then around the shops in town. While I ran into a general store for a look around, Clark inquired as to the best place to get ice cream in town. When I came out of the store, he took me there for dessert before dinner. I got home made pecan pie ice cream that tasted like pecan pie a la mode. Ridiculously delicious and sinful.

From town we biked back to the car and drove to Winn Dixie to pick up a couple of food items. When we got back to the boat, for some strange reason I did not feel the least bit hungry. Instead of making dinner, I put two more loads of wash through the washer/dryer, and Clark resumed the boat washing he had abandoned for today's outing. 

Eventually we ate a hodge-podge dinner made up of a variety of items I had on hand. We needed to use up some food in preparation for being away from the boat for a few days. We are taking a road trip to see my son and his family in West Palm Beach and do not want anything on board to spoil while we are away.