Heading for Home

It's hard to believe, but it's Thursday, March 10th, and we are packing today and heading for home tomorrow morning, a few days ahead of schedule.  I learned from my sister Lorraine that mom was admitted to the hospital last night via the ER.  Both she and Lorraine caught the latest virus going around and are under the weather. We are thankful that mom's chest x-ray has ruled out pneumonia but she is still in need of the extra oxygen and breathing therapy that she is receiving in the hospital.  Hopefully she will have been released from the hospital by the time we get home on Saturday.  Ron and I want to be there to give her the extra support that she may need at this time, especially given the fact that Lorraine is dealing with bronchitis.

We have had such a wonderful time wintering here on St. Simons and we can hardly believe that it was nearly eight weeks ago that we arrived at our condo on Oglethorpe, 74 Steps from the beach!
We are not quite sure what we will do without our daily walks into town and along the beach.  Once again, when we are back in Montgomeryville, we will walk the paths in our local community and surrounding areas, but no beach.  But don't get me wrong, I know that Ron and I have been blessed to be able to be on SSI for the winter and we are so very thankful for all the beautiful memories we have made here.

Peace and Love to all!

Lingering

Ron and I are dedicated to making the most of our last week on St. Simons without blowing the budget or our energy bank.  Once again, I was up early this morning (6:15) to begin the day with a sunrise at Gould's Point.  Gould's is probably my favorite place on the island.  The tide was high at sunrise and the variation in the landscape at Gould's is just amazing.  We enjoy the changes so much!

In fact, yesterday we found a little hidden spot within the dunes to just lie and enjoy the warmth of the sun and the sounds of nature.

High Tide Looking SE

Low Tide Looking North from the boardwalk

We have noticed a group of three young ladies who like to come down to the beach at sunrise to practice their yoga.  Ron managed to capture one of them up on the boardwalk railing balancing and doing her stretches.  Ah youth!

Sunrise Yoga

After sunrise, we headed back to the condo and decided to walk down to the village by way of Neptune Park and the Pier.  At 7 a.m. all was quiet with just a scattering of people meandering about.  Our ultimate destination was Del Sur Bakery and Market.  This place doesn't look like much from the road, which makes it all the more surprising when you walk inside to see the lovely seating and beautiful artwork of local artists lining the walls.

T he exterior view from Ocean Avenue.
                 Yummy treats await you, along with their delicious coffee.  Make mine a vanilla latte, please! Breakfast for two, $10. including the sunshine.  Not bad!

The owners of this lovely establishment are from Argentina.  They opened their first restaurant in Miami when they came to America.  They discovered St. Simons on their way back to Miami during a trip to Savannah.  They decided that they loved SSI so much that they would open a restaurant and bakery here on the island where they knew they had found a place to raise their family as well.  We sat outside in the sun enjoying our continental breakfast feeling very blessed and looking forward to spending time lounging on the beach later this afternoon.

Peace and love to all!

Short Timer

With Steve's departure to Orlando on Thursday, Ron and are now coming to the cruel realization that we are "short-timers".  How can it be that we are in our last week of our St. Simons Island break from the winter months of Pennsylvania?  Listen!  You know this is serious when I decide to get up in the morning for the sunrise.  LOL!  I had said to Ron on Saturday night, that if I was awake, I would accompany him on his sunrise viewing.  Wouldn't you know, I had a dream that I was falling down an elevator shaft and woke up at 6:15 screaming "Oh my God"!! Poor Ron was startled out of his skin, but hey, I was up for the sunrise!  I was sure to take some pictures to record the auspicious occasion!  Sunrise at Gould's Point was outstanding!

We headed back to the condo to get ready to attend 8 a.m.Mass at St. Williams.  It felt good being up so early with so much of the day ahead.  We spent the rest of the day enjoying the sunshine and reflecting just how we would like to spend our last week on SSI.  Probably planning on how we can return next winter.

Peace and love to all!

Exploring the area

Steve's visit while we are in St. Simon's meant a lot to both Ron and I, but I have to admit, especially to Ron.  After all, Steve has been Ron's friend since their high school years.  They have managed to keep their friendship strong even though life circumstances have pulled them apart geographically.  I have gotten to know Steve and his wife Maryann over the past 10 years and I can see why their friendship means so much to Ron. I am blessed by their friendship as well!
High on Ron's list of things to do with Steve was to spend a day on Jekyll Island. The weather forecast was consulted and the decision was made that Monday, February 29th, with it's promise of 70 degrees and sunshine would be perfect. Since the plan included riding bikes along the beautiful bike paths of Jekyll Island, I definitely opted to stay behind.  I have never ridden a bike and have made a conscious decision not to take it up now.  So Ron and Steve were off to an early start and crossed the beautiful Lanier bridge as they made the 30 minute trip to the island. It's a beautiful bridge that allows both car and boat traffic to flow without impeding each other.

Once on Jekyll the bikes were rented at the bike shop.  The guys were very happy with the rate of $12.00 for four hours and with their wheels.  Here is a picture of the bike path as they headed to St. Andrew's Beach.

Driftwood beach is also very popular, especially at low tide when more of the tree roots are exposed.  This is a great shot from Driftwood beach looking across the channel to St. Simons and the lighthouse.

Besides bike rentals, you can also rent a horse (another thing I don't ride) and the guys happen to spot some riders at North Beach.

A nice way to spend the day but this is more of
what the guys had in mind after their bike ride.


Tuesday promised to be another beautiful day, so the three of us headed to St. Marys, eager to share one of our favorite spots with Steve.  You may or may not know that Steve is a recreational boatman and has been sailing his own sailboat for umpteen (technical word LOL) years.  Needless to say, he is always interested in looking at and enjoying the beauty of boats.  Well we were all in for a surprise.  The Peacemaker, a beautiful restored, three masted sailboat was docked at a pier in St. Marys.  What a jackpot!

The Peacemaker

 Here's one picture of the ship and me suggesting you can come aboard matey!









After lunch we spotted another fantastic two hulled boat being taken out of the water.  It was nice to contrast the old style of the Peacemaker with the ultra modern turn of the Insetta.  Here's a couple of pictures that Steve took while watching the owners bring the boat ashore. I know he would have loved to take a turn at the wheel of that baby on the St. Marys River.

While Steve was captivated by the Insetta, Ron and I decided to relax in our own way. 

Enjoying Riverside Park Swings

Heavy lifting

We ended the day with a laugh when we saw this decked out golf cart.  Notice anything strange hanging out of the rear compartment?

Peace and love to all!

Time with a friend

 We've been so busy since Steve's arrival on Friday, I haven't had much time to blog.  This morning Steve and Ron have headed out to the beach for a bike ride so I am taking advantage of the quiet to catch up.  Our upstairs neighbor, Pete from Vermont, was nice enough to loan Steve his bike for the ride.  Nice guy! It was a little overcast this morning but clouds have cleared out and it is another beautiful sunny day on the island. Of course, clouds or not Ron was down on the beach for the sunrise.  Here is the proof! Dark and brooding don't you think?  That's why I was still in bed.  LOL!

Sunday we took Steve to what we consider the "must sees" on the island.  Fort Frederica and Christ Church which I wrote about in earlier blogs.  But of course, we had to capture the visit with Steve and what made it special.  The following picture illustrates how Steve is very willing to ignore the "Do Not Touch" signs on the monument.  Tsk, tsk.  We have our evidence if you know what I mean.

To Steve's pleasure and surprise, there was a sailboat anchored by the fort.  Needless to say, we had to capture that fact and decided to include Steve and Ron in the picture. Nice picture of the guys, don't you think?

There are many historical markers explaining the significance of each stop along the visitors trail. The next picture is an example.

During our visit to the park, Steve received several phone calls from family and friends checking in and making sure we were treating him well. This is when he discovered a second use for the historic markers.  LOL.

We next headed to Christ Church and captured a few more photos of this beautiful and historic site. If you are interested to learn more about this wonderful place click  Christ Church Frederica and it will take you to the site.

Christ Church Founded in 1736

Tiffany Stain glass window

Sanctuary

But we, in fact, were on a mission to find the grave of Eugenia Price, the prolific author of St. Simons Island.  The cemetery is approximately 50 acres and Ron and I had covered a great deal of territory on our first visit. We had yet to find her grave.  With a little help from the docent who told us to look for a "straight pine tree" and a "hedgerow" we finally found her grave. Here is a picture of her grave to memorialize our success.  I know, I know it seems a little crazy but we were on a "mission".  Since Eugenia was not a member of the Christ Church congregation nor did she support it financial, we left wondering about how she ended up in one of their highly prized plots.  Probably another interesting story yet to be told.

The end of the day was closing in on us.  It was only 4 p.m. in the afternoon but hey, we are retirees ya know.  We were hungry too and I knew I was not going to be making dinner after touring most of the day.  So we came home, took a power nap and headed to Crab Daddy's for dinner by 5.  Ron and I had wanted to give the place a try since it had been recommended to us by several snowbirds and this was perfect timing.




We were very happy with the fare and the ambiance.  Our server, Michaela, was so nice.  Attentive and upbeat in just the right amount.  We were all very happy with our meals and kept enough room in our tummies to share their Bread Pudding dessert.  I am not necessarily a fan of Bread Pudding but I had heard so much about it, decided to give it a try. Yum and double yum!  We were all in agreement. It was a very good way to end the day!

Love and Peace to all!

Sharing St. Simons

Ron and Steve are out the door this morning and headed to Jekyll Island to enjoy this beautiful day (70+ degrees with full sunshine) by way of the beaches and the bike trails.  I have opted to enjoy my time and solitude here on the beaches of SSI.  Ah!

Our friend Steve arrived travel weary on Friday.  It was a long trip from Michigan and the tricky driving conditions did not help.  Steve had to negotiate a Michigan snowstorm on his way to Ohio and also had blinding snow as he worked his way through the mountains of West Virginia.  Once he had crossed the mountains in Virginia it was clear sailing the rest of the way.  Once Steve arrived, with a short break for hugs and lunch, Ron had him out the door to see the wonder of the tides of St. Simons.  Here's a picture of Steve as his feet hit the beach.  Looking pretty happy don't you think?

After a bit of exploration and relaxation we headed to our favorite place on the island for a shrimp dinner, Iguana's cafe.  It was shrimp all around.  Fried for Ron, grilled for Steve and blackened for me.  Anyway you have it, sweet white Georgian shrimp are the BEST!  We sampled each others and decided that the lightly battered were probably the best.

Saturday Ron and Steve headed out to explore the beautiful St. Simon's lighthouse (one of five surviving on the Georgia coast) and the Lightkeepers house.  They had a great time and were feeling proud and satisfied that they had made the climb to the top of the 104 foot brick structure to enjoy the outstanding views from the external walkway. 129 steps, but who's counting!

The 

above picture shows the downtown park by the pier.  There happened to be a 5K run that morning, which went right past our condo.  We were really impressed by all the runners, especially the contingent from the U.S. Coast Guard, in formation carrying their flags.  The run activities ended in Neptune Park with games and food.  Very nice!  

In the afternoon, I joined Ron and Steve for our visit to the Coast Guard Maritime Museum, East Beach and Goulds Point.  We also spent a little time touring the neighborhoods so that Steve could get a look at some of the local architecture to share with Maryann.  Here are a few of the homes he admired and suggested that Ron and I consider them for relocation from Pennsylvania. 

I suggested that the following property was probably more in our budget.  LOL!

We arrived at Gould's Point to enjoy some picture perfect moments.  I see a lot of Ron looking exactly like this, i.e., behind the camera lens. Thank goodness he is so willing to take pictures or where would my blog be!

We lingered by the point enjoying the beauty of the day and the sights.  It was low tide and because the tides are so dynamic, the beach changes quite a bit.  Spits of land and pools of water emerge that were hidden by the waves of the sea only a few hours ago.  We couldn't help but notice a wader off to our right, working with a net and great attention, to capture something swimming about in the small stream leading out to Gould's Point.  Aided with binoculars we decided that she was hunting for minnows or some type of bait in the waters. Whatever it was she had a jug full of them and the promise of a fishing excursion to come.

Here's a picture of the three of us enjoying this beautiful place.

Before heading back to the condo, one last stop to East Beach.  East Beach is probably the most expansive of all the beaches on the island.  The sand is hard packed on South Beach where are condo is located and becomes progressively looser as you walk northeast, crossing Massengale Beach, until you arrive at East Beach.  On East there is still plenty of hard packed sand to enjoy biking and walking but there is also soft sand to dig your wintering toes into.  Yes!  Here are a few pictures of East Beach as we headed back to the condo for dinner. 

This last picture is actually looking north from Gould's Point.  So pretty, I had to include it.  

I will end my post here, thinking about the fact that in 14 very short days we will begin our trip back home.  It will not be easy to leave this beautiful place but we look forward to seeing family and friends once again and sharing our memories and stories with them. 

Love and peace to all!