Airstreamers – Tincan Travels

Happy Trails at Desert Trails

We’ve moved to south Tucson to a private RV Park for an extended stay. The plan is to stay here for the next three months. We’ve been here before and have enjoyed our stays. Between the proximity to the desert and the park community we feel right at home.

We reconnected with Shelley and Brian, some folks we hung out with on our last visit to Desert Trails two years ago, .

Pat and Shelley with Brian’s reflection (Thanks for the image Brian)

Shortly after arriving Pat, Shelley and Brian drove south to Tubac, a historic town near the Mexican border. They were having their Festival of Lights which featured lots of luminaries. Shelly had to stay back to sleep and fight off a cold.

We also reconnected with another old neighbor from past visits.

The park has a group of residents that gets together and invites local bands to play at the park once a month. We arrived in time to enjoy the first concert of the season, the Heather Harding Band. Heather is a Tucson blues legend who plays violin and sings. It was a terrific show.

The proximity and easy access to the desert for biking and hiking is the real draw here. The RV Park borders Tucson Mountain Park with 62 miles of trails. The park was established in 1929 and encompasses 20,000 acres. There’s a lot to explore.

One of the many washes on the Ironwood Trail

A crested saguaro is a rare mutation that occurs in 1 in 20,000 normal saguaros. The reason for this fan like mutation are unknown but thought to be from genetics, frost, or lightning damage. This one is a short bike ride from camp.

Sunsets in Arizona can be intense. This one is from this week

A Short Pause in Phoenix

With Tucson in our rear view mirror we headed north to Phoenix or more accurately east of Phoenix in Mesa.

We landed in Usery Mountain Regional Park, one of our favorite Maricopa county parks.

The recent rain has made the desert very happy and green.

We spend our days biking and hiking the desert and it just doesn’t get old.

While riding the trails at dusk we passed a saguaro with a Harris hawk at its nest.

The Harris Hawk is an interesting bird of prey in that they hunt cooperatively in packs. They are referred to as “wolves of the sky”.

We took a break from riding and flew to Chicago to celebrate Thanksgiving with our son and his family.

While visiting we got a taste of the weather we’re escaping.

It was touch and go with the weather but we did make it back to Phoenix in spite of the airport delays.

On our first day back at camp we decided to take a short hike along the Vista Trail.

After our hike we drove over to the Tonto National Forest and the Salt River where wild horses can be seen. We didn’t see any horses this trip but it’s always magical to be around water while in the desert.

Phoenix has many wonderful museums to explore. This trip we stopped at the Phoenix Museum of Art. We were drawn there by a special exhibit called “Radical Clay: Contemporary Women Artists From Japan”.

Tanka Yu- Bag Work, glazed Shigaraki stoneware

Yes. This is made of clay. We kept returning to this piece in awe of the skill that was required to create this sculpture.

Tanka Tomomi- Dream Flight, porcelaneous stoneware

Back at camp we filled our final days at Usery Mountain Park hiking, biking and birdwatching.

These lovebirds are not native to Phoenix but descendants of escaped pet birds. Local legend holds that the birds escaped from an overturned delivery truck bound for a pet store. Regardless of how they showed up they are thriving in Phoenix.

We’ve had a lovely stay but it’s time to head back to Tucson.

Tucson Reveries

We have visited Catalina state Park a number of times. There’s an hike we enjoy near the campground that had no name and wasn’t an official trail. This year the trail has made it to the list of official park trails- the Alamo Loop. We’re not sure how this 3.2 mile loop got its name.

The trail starts in sandy wash and takes you into the Catalina’s and the Coronado National Forest.

Those are Fairy Dusters in the foreground

Though we’ve visited Tucson many times we have not visited one of its iconic cultural attractions, DeGazia Gallery in the Sun. This 10 acre Foothills retreat includes a number of adobe structures and gallery all built in the 1950’s by the artist Ted DeGrazi. DeGrazi’s work focused on portraying the cultures of the Sonoran desert through a variety of mediums.

DeGrazi decorated many of the buildings walls with murals depicting life in the Sonoran desert.

Golden Barrel Cactus in the DeGrazi cactus garden

We picked up stakes and moved spots where we had better views of the Catalina’s and the Pusch Ridge.

After moving the clouds opened up and we got to experience some desert rain.

The next morning this Sacred Datura bloomed in our campsite.

After the rain we decided to hike up the Moreno Pools, about 2 miles out and back.

The rain also got us to leave camp and visit the Tucson Museum of Art in the Historic Arts District of Tucson. We enjoyed their collection of Mesoamerican and Latin American art.

Standing Male Dignitary, clay-400-800 AD
Veracruz, Mexico

Rooftop Church-Urbano Gutierrez, Peru-Late 20th Century

These elaborate clay churches are made to be installed on the roofs of newly constructed homes. It’s understood that placing a church on the house’s roof will protect it.

Tecuanimeh Dance Costumes, Mexico -late 20th Century

Dance Mask- Pascola, Yaqui or Mayo- late 20th Century

We left the museum and wandered around the neighboring Arts District.

We love to go out and listen to music and Tucson offers plenty of listening opportunities. As we mentioned, the Century Room in the Congress Hotel is a great place to hear music. A Saturday night performance by the Premazzi/Nassar Quartet out of NYC drew us downtown. The band did not disappoint, a great set of music.

Simona Premazzi(piano), Noah Garabedian(bass), Kyle Nassar(sax), Jay Sawyer(drums)

And the sun sets on another week in Tucson.

Tucson Again

We’ve visited the Tucson area a number of times through the years. There have been many changes, increased congestion, building and rising temperatures. In spite of these negatives the stark beauty of the Sonoran Desert and its iconic saguaro cactus continues to draw us back.

The unseasonably warm temperatures continued making hiking and biking difficult. We decided to drive seventeen miles north to gain 2000 ft in elevation and have the temperatures drop ten degrees at Oracle state Park. The park is relatively new in the state, it was opened and dedicated on October 1, 2001. The 1.25 mile Geology Trail Loop offers an easy and informative walk.

It had rained last week and as a result, we were treated to a number of wildflower bloomings.

Much of the trail runs along a dry creek bed and offers lovely views of the surrounding mountains.

Along the trail you can see piles of Oracle Granite, the most common rock found in the park. It is a coarse grained igneous rock which is the bedrock of Southern Arizona.

Besides exploring the desert we’ve been taking advantage of what the City of Tucson has to offer.

One of the many fine murals you’ll see as you wander downtown Tucson

While downtown we attended a jazz concert at the Century Club, as fine a venue to enjoy jazz as you’ll find. We went to see Cory Weeds Meets Chris Hazelton.

Strolling the historic Barrio Viejo near downtown is a nice way to spend an afternoon. Offering art galleries, interesting shops and cafes along with historic architecture.

A short distance from camp is Honey Bee Canyon. The canyon is surrounded by high end gated housing developments. Adequate parking is provided for hikers and as you drop into the canyon that development disappears.

While it’s been hot we have not lacked for things to do. Just being surrounded by the beauty of the Catalina Mountains is enough.

Jeykell Island-Biked It, Liked It

Jekyll Island is a barrier island on the southern coast of Georgia. The island is 7miles long and 1 1/2 miles wide with 24 miles of bicycle trails. The island was purchased by the state in 1947 and it became a state park the next year. We booked a camping spot in the only campground on the Island.

The island was given its name by James Oglethorpe, the English general who was responsible for establishing an English colony in Georgia. He named it after his friend and financial supporter Sir Joesph Jeykell.

Apparently, there’s a place for Shelly on the island

We spent most days biking the paths around the island.

One side of the island faces the Atlantic Ocean with lots of accessible beaches. While we didn’t have many “beach” days we did make time to be on the water.

Driftwood Beach is a popular destination on the island.

In the late 1800’s, the island became a private hunting club for some of the wealthiest families in the world (1/6th of the world’s wealth was controlled by club members). In 1886 the Jeykell Island Club was built as the club’s clubhouse.

Some of the families built cottages near the Clubhouse when they felt that the clubhouse could not adequately provide for their families needs.

The entrance to Hollybourne Cottage-1890

The members also constructed an interfaith chapel, Faith Chapel, for members use.

The Chapel was adorned with a lovely signed Tiffany stained glass window

Sandwiched into the historic district of Jekyll Island is the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. Distressed and damaged sea turtles are rescued and nursed back to health and later released. A worthy endeavor that’s worth checking out.

When Jekyll Island opened as a state park in 1948 all of Georgia’s citizens were not welcomed to the new park. Because of segregation African Americans could not visit many parts of the island, including its beaches. In 1950 African Americans from nearby Brunswick requested a portion of the island for their enjoyment. The state designated an area at the south end of the island for their use. St. Andrew’s Beach was the only beach in Georgia open to black Georgians.

Coincidentally, Saint Andrews Beach is also where “The Wanderer“ arrived off the coast of Georgia in 1858. The ship was one of the last documented ships carrying illegal African slaves to America. The trans Atlantic slave trade was outlawed in 1807.

While we’ve traveled the south many times we have never visited one of the area’s plantations. A short distance from Jekyll Island is the Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation State Historic Site.

The property was purchased and the plantation established in 1806. By 1849 the plantation was using 357 slaves to cultivate 7,300 acres of rice. It was through the blood and sweat of these enslaved people that converted this cypress swamp into a profitable rice plantation.

Former slave/sharecropper housing for two families

The last family member died in 1973 and left the property to the state of Georgia with a trust to preserve the site for posterity.

While there is plenty to explore in the area we’re feeling the need to move on. We hear Savannah calling.

South Bound- January in Florida

While Florida may not be our favorite destination we decided to begin our winter travels by visiting with our numerous relatives and friends that are scattered around the state.

We started out at one of our favorite Florida State Parks, Anastasia State Park.

This St. Augustine park puts us about 30 minutes from Shelly’s sister Andrea and brother in-law Jeff.

What we love about this park is the easy access to its undeveloped five mile shoreline. It’s a great beach for walking and at low tide bike riding.

As beautiful as this stretch of undeveloped shoreline is, it has not been safe from development. Ron DiSantis, the governor, has proposed building a lodge, high rise condos and a golf course here. So far, local residents have rallied enough support to beat back this plan.

Florida weather in January can be iffy. This January it’s been colder than we remember from past visits. Biking and walking the beach have been a chilly affair. We decided to do a side trip Palatka and checkout the Ravine Gardens State Park.

This 152 acre park contains steelhead ravines surrounding a spring fed stream. Unlike ravines that are created by surface erosion, steelhead ravines are the result of seeping underground water which undercuts the sandy slopes and causing them to collapse.

In 1933 the city of Palatka decided to turn the ravines into a formal garden. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) got to work transforming the ravines into formal gardens.

The slopes of the ravines were heavy planted with over 40,000 azalea plants and two suspension bridges were built for viewing the plantings.

The city of St. Augustine has an interesting history and is always a fun place to wander. We started our wandering in the historically black neighborhood of Lincolnville.

The Lincolnville Museum & Cultural Center

The museum focuses on the vibrant African American community that thrived in St. Augustine. Definitely worth a visit if you find yourself in St. Augustine. (They don’t allow photography in the museum.)

The centerpiece of the college is the former luxury hotel Ponce de Leon. The hotel was built in 1888 by railroad magnate Henry Flagler and is now listed as a National Historic Landmark.

Adjacent to the state park is the St. Augustine Amphitheater. The parking lot of the amphitheater hosts a popular Saturday Farmer’s Market. Whenever we are camping we check the market out. During this visit we were greeted with a large red, white and blue striped tent.

It turned out that a circus was in town. We love the circus and snagged a couple of seats for their final performance.

We enjoyed all the performers; the clown, the juggling, the Ring Master, acrobatics and feats of strength, but “Lady Beast” had a unique act that got our attention.

Camping at Anastasia State Park is always a pleasure but we were ready to continue south on the Florida peninsula.

We moved to Wickham Park in Melbourne Florida. This was just a place holder for us while we went to visit our friends Bill and Sandy in Vero Beach.

From Melbourne we travelled further south to Jupiter and Johnathan Dickinson State Park.

Johnathan Dickinson is Florida’s largest state park in Southeast Florida. The park offers a variety of activities from hiking, biking or paddling along the Loxahatchee River which runs through the park.

We shared the trails with some of the local residents.

One of Pat’s high school friends, Lynne, lives in Jupiter and stopped by to spend the day. In addition, Bill and Sandy brought ther camper to the park to spend a few days. We booked a boat tour of the Loxahatchee River. The weather was cold and windy so we had the boat to ourselves.

We left Jupiter and headed north toward Ormond Beach and Tomoka River State Park hoping for warmer weather.

We lucked out with the weather during a beach visit with Pat’s brother Mike and his wife Donna.

Unfortunately, that warm weather was short lived, replaced with colder temperatures and rain. In between rain showers we managed to get out on our bikes and do some hiking.

Tomoka Point was the location of the Timucua Indian village of Nocoroco. It was the first Indian Village south of St Augustine encountered by the Spanish in 1605. At the time of European contact the Timucua population in Florida was in the tens of thousands. By 1698 exposure to European diseases reduced those numbers to less than 1000. The last known Timucuan died in 1767.

While the weather wasn’t great we enjoyed our time in the park. We then headed to the Gainesville area, a place we’ve never visited. We booked a spot at a private park, Santa Fe River Palms RV Resort. Private parks aren’t our first choice but this one was conveniently located.

The weather in Gainesville did not cooperate during our stay. We needed to disconnect our water for three consecutive nights to avoid damaging our water lines. One morning we awoke to 25 degrees~not the weather we had hoped for. The cold temperatures had us searching for some interesting indoor activities.

The Florida Museum of Natural History is located on the campus of the University of Florida and has an extensive collection of mammalian fossils. The above Mammoth skeleton was uncovered in the Florida panhandle and dates back 10-12,000 years.

Interestingly no land dinosaur bones can be found in Florida. Why? During the time of Dinosaurs, 65 million years ago, Florida was under water.

Part of the museum’s Florida shell collection

Next to the Natural History Museum is the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art. The museum’s ten galleries opened in 1990.

Kehinde Wiley- Margret,Countess of Blessington 2018

Stevan Dohanos- Trailer Park Garden 1951

Even though the weather conditions were not ideal we decided to wander the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. This 68 acre facility has 24 major collections that are visually accessible along 1 1/2 mile paved walkway. This includes the state’s largest public display of bamboos as well as the largest herb garden in the Southeast.

Once we decided to get outside and do some hiking and biking regardless of the temperature; we chose Paynes Prairie and headed out.

The prairie in Paynes Prairie is a large Floridian highlands freshwater marsh. The park’s 22,000 acres has 270 species of birds, a herd of bison and wild horses descended from horses brought to Florida by early Spanish explorers. The park also has eight trails for hiking and biking.

Pat’s mother, Betty, visited Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park and was quite taken with the experience. Her experience motivated us to visit. This old Florida homestead was MK Rawlings home in the 1930’s where she wrote her Pulitzer Prize winning novel The “Yearling”. The park consists of her home, farmyard and trails.

Relaxing on the porch of the hired hands cabin

On our last day in Gainesville we made a quick trip to Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park. The park consists of a 120 foot deep sinkhole with 132 stairs leading to an observation platform. While sinkholes are common in Florida, Devil’s Millhopper is unique in that it exposes 100 feet of rock layers for study.

Part of the walking trail around the sinkhole

We enjoyed our stay in Gainesville in spite of the cold temperatures. There is plenty we missed and would return on our next visit to Florida.

Going to Kansas City

We’ve driven through Kansas City, MO a number of times but have never spent any time there. This trip west we decided it was time to spend some time exploring the city and sample some of the city’s famed barbecue.

We set up camp south of the city in Longview Lake County Park.

In addition to barbecue we wanted to visit the American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum located in Kansas City’s 18th & Vine entertainment district.

The American Jazz Museum celebrates all things Jazz with a focus on the rich history of the music in Kansas City.

Charlie Parker Plaza at the back of the Jazz Museum

The Blue Room is part of the Jazz Museum and also a functioning Jazz club. Every day at noon a local Kansas City group performs for museum patrons. The day we visited we listened to the Jazz Disciples.

Just outside the Blue Room in the Museum

The museum is filled with lots of listening stations and performance footage. Historic artifacts however, were in short supply. They did have a Grafton plastic saxophone like the one Charlie Parker played on the famous Massey Hall recording from 1953.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum shares the same building as the Jazz Museum. The museum traces the history of the Negro Leagues and celebrates the achievements of its players. The museum juxtaposes that history with United States history which makes for enlightening reading. The museum also features artifacts and interviews of former players.

Kansas City is well known for its barbecue. It all comes down to the sauce. KC style sauces are thick and sweet. The recipe usually includes a base made of tomato and molasses. The sauce is cooked into the meat or brushed on immediately after cooking.

Brisket and Burnt Ends with barbecue beans

We tried a number of barbecue establishments but the one that topped our list was Q39 a newish restaurant (open for nine years) in midtown Kansas City.

During our Kansas City stay the temperatures reached into the 90’s. We decided to spend some time in air conditioned art galleries.

The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 1994 and is Missouri’s largest contemporary art museum. They were featuring the work of Spandita Malik an Indian photographer and her collaboration with women across North India. Her subjects are survivors of domestic and gender based abuse. The portraits are printed on khaadar fabric and the women are asked to embroider their own portraits. In this way the women claim agency over their portrayal.

We left the Kemper and walked a short distance to the Nelson-Atkinson Museum of Art. The museum is known for its extensive collection of work from around the world. The museum was far too large to see everything in the time we had. We focused in on the work of Saul Steinberg(1914-1999) and Thomas Hart Benton(1889-1975). Steinberg is best known for the New Yorker Magazine covers he created. Benton was known as a leader in the regional art movement where he portrayed everyday people going about their lives.

In the 1830’s the town of Westport was established along the Missouri River. The site was chosen as a place to outfit pioneers on the Santa Fe trail. In 1838 a group of investors bought up property along the river front. The area included Westport and was incorporated in 1850 as the Town of Kansas, named after the local Kansa Indians. The state of Missouri renamed it the City of Kansas and later Kansas City. At the time of its naming the territory on the other side of the river was part of an unorganized territory. The Territory of Kansas was established in 1861.They named their side of the river Kansas City in 1872 after statehood was granted.

The Missouri River at the former site of Westport

This bluff along the river is populated by old industrial sites that are being converted into loft spaces and businesses. A local brewery nearby called out for exploring.

We are happy to report that they serve a decent brew.

The National WWI Museum and Memorial is located in Kansas City. They claim to house the world’s most comprehensive WWI collection. It was closed by the time we got there so I can’t verify that claim but the grounds were beautiful.

Kansas City as seen from the WWI Memorial

Kansas City was bigger and grittier then we expected. We felt that we just scratched the surface of what the city had to offer. A return trip is certainly in order.

Kentucky: Quilting to Bourbon

Paducah, Kentucky is home to the National Quilt Museum. We’ve been trying to get there for awhile. This trip we made it happen.

We arrived during Quilt Week, a massive gathering of quilters and vendors of all things quilting. Our focus was on the museum and their current exhibitions. We were not disappointed. To call what these quilters do quilts fails to convey the level of artistry involved in producing this work.

Summer Fun, 2022 by Marina Landi and Fabia Diniz

Yes! That was done with dyed fabric and thread.

Black Star Family, First Class Tickets to Liberia, 2018 by Bisa Butler

One of the major shows at the museum was called “Showstopper “ highlighting the work of Marilyn Badger, a competitive quilter. And showstoppers they were.

The other major museum show was “Larger Then Life” by Velda Newman. She dyes all of her fabrics and hand quilts everything.

“Zinnia” took two years to complete and is 17 1/2 feet long and over 7 feet tall

There are more mind blowing “Quilts” than would be practical to include here. If you enjoy this kind of textile art you owe yourself a visit to Paducah or at least a visit to the museum’s website: quiltmuseum.org.

After spending a day looking at quilts and rubbing shoulders with the hordes we drove to the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area for some bike riding.

We left Paducah and continued our journey north for a stop along the bourbon trail in Bardstown, Kentucky.

Bardstown refers to itself as “the bourbon capital of the world “. This is no idle boast given the number of distilleries in the area. In fact, as you wander the town you can smell corn mash being fermented.

One of the lovely federalist style brick homes found in Bardstown

We enjoyed wandering the “historic “ downtown

We weren’t there to wander Main Street but visit distilleries. We had one tour booked but decided to do some visits without tours.

One of the numerous rickhouses ( where the barrels of bourbon are aged) found on the grounds of Bardstown Bourbon Company

The Bardstown Bourbon Company is a new distillery in the area. They’ve been around less than seven years and have an outstanding bar in their new modern facility.

We also stopped by the Heaven Hill Distillery. The original distillery burned down in 1996 but they bought a facility in Louisville to continue to make whiskey. In 2022 they rebuilt their rickhouses on the sight of their original distillery.

We did book a tour and tasting at Willet, a smaller, family owned and operated distillery. The family were pig farmers until the abolition of prohibition in 1933 when they decided to ride the whiskey wave sweeping the country. The grounds are beautiful and they have great food @ the bar.

We made time to spend an afternoon at the 600 acre Bernhiem Arboretum. While wandering about we ran into few amenable trolls.

Thomas Dambo one of the many artists in residence that work with the arboretum created the troll series.

Sounds of the Whippoorwill by Justin Roberts

It’s been a great trip and after stopping at the Airstream factory in Jackson Center, Ohio for our annual repair and maintenance date, we head back to Buffalo. We plan on being back on the road in September.

Bayou Bound

We left Savannah and headed to Fort Pickens in the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The campground is located on the barrier island of Santa Rosa.

The campground gives easy access to miles of beautiful white sand beaches. While we didn’t encounter any rain for most of our stay it was overcast and windy.

For the last 200 years the coast has been the site of numerous coastal fortifications. The park preserves four such forts. Our camp was a short bike ride to Fort Pickens.

The area continues to be home to more modern coastal defenses. Across Pensacola bay from the campground is a large naval base that is home to the Blue Angels. Every Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:30 am they practice their aerial stunts. Weather permitting, of course.

While the Fort was interesting and the morning we watched the Blue Angels was fun, the real attraction is the Gulf and the beaches.

After a couple of days on the beach we were ready to move on to our next stop where we visited our far flung family in Biloxi, MS. Always gracious hosts, they treated us to a low country crawfish boil.

Crawfish, Shrimp, Sausage, Potatoes and Corn

The French Quarter Festival was looming in front of us. Time to pack up and move on.

Delayed Departure

Some medical issues pushed back our southbound departure by an unexpected two months. As a result we got to experience Buffalo’s Christmas Blizzard. Very memorable. When we finally did set out, it was to the beat of Canned Heat’s “On The Road Again”. We headed south to central Florida to be reunited with the Tincan. It was waiting patiently for us at Pat’s brother and sister-in-law’s house. After some family time we drove north to Crooked River SP in St. Mary’s, Georgia.

Our site was surrounded by Long Leaf Pines and gave us a view of St. Mary’s River (THE CROOKED RIVER).

Those Long Leaf Pines produce large pine cones

The campground is just down the road from the King’s Bay Naval Submarine Base. Based on the traffic in and out of the base it must be a major employer in this largely rural part of Georgia.

The USS George Bancroft partially buried near the main gate of the base

The park offers a number of hiking/biking trails through the palmetto and pine forest as well as along the River.

There’s no telling who you’ll run into on the trail.

The ruins of a Tabby Sugar Works from 1825 lies just down the road from the campground. It was part of the New Canaan sugarcane plantation.

Tabby is a type of concrete made from burning oyster shells to create lime, then mixing it with water, sand, ash and other broken oyster shells. This technique is thought to have originated in Africa.

Part of the appeal of Crooked River SP is its proximity to the Georgia sea islands: Cumberland Island, St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island. A ferry ride is required to visit Cumberland Island but St. Simons and Jekyll Island are within an hour’s drive.

The Dungeness Ruins on Cumberland Island

We took our bikes on the ferry to explore Cumberland Island National Seashore. The island is undeveloped and about 17 miles long. With limited time, we didn’t want to miss the last ferry back to St. Mary’s so we concentrated on the southern end of the island.

We rode about 4 miles north down a sand road to checkout the underutilized Little Greyfield Beach

In the 1880’s Thomas Carnegie, (Andrew’s brother) bought up much of the island and built Dungeness Mansion. He died before it was completed but his wife Lucy and their nine children lived there until 1925. The deserted mansion burnt down in 1959. The island became a National Seashore in 1972.

Wild horses can be seen throughout the island

We made our way to Sea Camp Beach to check out this popular destination. The park service constructed a boardwalk over the dunes for easier access to the beach.

Colonial era Fort Frederica is located on St. Simons Island about 50 minutes from our campground. James Edward Oglethorpe established this fort and colony as a way to challenge the Spanish in Florida. The grounds of this National Monument are lovely to wander.

The remains of the tabby powder magazine is all that’s left of the fort that guarded the twisty river approach to the town.

Just over the Georgia border in Florida is Amelia Island, again about 50 minutes from the campground. We ventured down to the island to explore the Eagan Creek Greenway.

We experienced some rainy weather so decided to leave camp and check out Brunswick, Georgia. The town boasts a brewery (Silver Bluff Brewing) and a rum distillery across the street. The brewery was crowded with St. Patrick’s Day celebrants so we opted for the distillery. Richland Rum proved to be a good choice.

We did a tasting and dove in.

In 1733 James Edward Oglethorpe established an English Colony on Jekyll Island. He named the island after his financial backer Sir Joseph Jekyll. The island now boasts 23 miles of biking trails, including 10 miles of beach riding.

In 1886, the island was purchased by the Jekyll Island Club. By the turn of the century they built a vacation resort patronized by some of America’s wealthiest families.

In 1947, the island was sold to the state of Georgia for use as a public park. National Landmark status was awarded to the island’s historic district.

The interactive Mosaic museum does a good job of presenting the history of the island

While the history of the island is interesting, the main draw for us are the beaches and bike trails.

We have visited Georgia several times in our travels but never had the opportunity to visit the “ Golden Isles”. We are certainly glad we made the effort this trip. But we are not leaving Georgia yet- next up is the beautiful city of Savannah- just two hours up the coast.