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!