Checking out St Simon's--February 20

39 degrees when we got up this morning. Guess we won’t bike today. We decide to check out St Simon’s Island. That means unhooking everything, but since we are not on blocks it’s not as hard as it sounds. The bridge across the intracoastal waterway is stunning. The suspension cables appear to be half there until you get closer. We try to figure out why this happens; it is the way the sun hits the encased cables.

We go to Fort Frederica, the town created by James Oglethorpe. It was part of the English effort to claim land farther south along the east coast and to protect their Savannah interests. The big conflicts occurred between Fort Frederica and the Castillo in St. Augustine. The remains of the town were excavated in the 40’s, and thousands of artifacts have been unearthed. They do a good job of telling the story of the town. It seems that Oglethorpe ruled with an iron glove; he decided who could do what, where they could live, etc. Needless to say, there were many people who found it untenable and moved out. Then, after Spain and England signed a treaty, the troops were no longer needed there and moved it. It spelbled the death of the town. That and fire, of course. Fire must have been the greatest fear of everyone. Here there were tabby houses, built of a mixture of lime, sand, and shells. But then they covered the outside with wood, so it would look like home. Not a good idea. We meet one of the most enthusiastic park workers we have ever met and she does a good job ‘selling’ the place. We recommend it highly.

Next stop is the Coast Guard Station, which, sadly, doesn’t open until March. Doesn’t say anything about that in the literature we have picked up. So then we go to the lighthouse. First challenge is how to get into the building. Every door we go to, and there are many, sends us to another. It’s $6 each for a small exhibit and the chance to climb 129 steps to the top of the lighthouse. We take it. It says that the lighthouse keeper went up to the top of the lighthouse an hour before dusk and stayed there all through the night. I can’t figure out how he kept warm! Perhaps at some time in the past there was a stove at the top level, but there isn’t room there now.

We tour the downtown and check out the hardware store. It is all pretty quiet. I wonder how much is the recession and how much is just the time of year. On our way back we decide to check out Brunswick. It is now a port for incoming cars from Europe and is relatively busy. We see a pizza place and stop for dinner. It’s very good as is the salad. We recommend the place, too.

Once back on the island we tour the southern fourth just to see what’s there. Not much. We get back to the campground and reinstall ourselves in the dark.