Georgia Get-Away

When Mimi told me that she was taking me on a get-away weekend as my birthday gift this year, I was so excited that I barely processed, or cared, where we were going. I did feel a brief moment of surprise when she suggested Georgia, since Georgia never looks that interesting from I-95. Imagine my delight and surprise when when we drove into St. Mary's and saw this at the end of the main street!



Then we got to our fabulous, little vacation home, which was great on the inside, and even better on the front porch where we had a beautiful view of the marsh and a constant, refreshing breeze.

We took a ferry boat to Cumberland Island on our first full day. Mimi was so hoping that we would have the chance to see some of the wild horses. As soon as we got onto the island, this is what we saw.
We ate lunch with the ruins of Dungeness on one side and the marsh view on the other. Spectacular! We spent the rest of the day hiking on the trails and visiting the other historic sites. I could go on and on and load this up with pictures, but I'll spare you. Basically, the combination of history and the natural beauty on this island made every moment of our visit there a pleasure.

The day after Cumberland, we decided to tour St. Mary's. The town is quiet, quaint, and full of history. Here is a picture of the bikes my aunt let us use - loved mine!!! That is a closer view of the marshes behind Mimi.
We took a "doodlebug" tour during the afternoon, which was a tour around town in an over-sized golf cart. Our tour guide was funny and interesting and had grown up in St. Mary's. To our surprise, we had found many of the historic sites during our bike ride, but it was interesting to hear the stories connected with the different locations. Here is a picture of one of the historic churches.

We visited Jekyll Island on our last day. The contrast between this island and Cumberland was just amazing. The wealth and "club" atmosphere helped us to understand why Lucy Carnegie had worked so hard to ensure that Cumberland Island would not be over-developed and sold in parcels. On the other hand, it was fascinating to see and learn of the ways of some of the wealthiest Americans in the early 1900's.

This is one of the Jekyll Island "cottages" where we had our lunch. This is a U-shaped cottage, so there are two other sides that are equally impressive.

This is the "club" chapel, which I am posting a picture of because what I really want to post a picture of is the stained glass windows inside. The one that you can see from the front is a Tiffany, and there is another - even more spectacular- at the opposite side of the building. Unfortunately, they would not allow anyone to take pictures inside of the building.
To finish off a very long post, our Georgia get-away was relaxing, interesting and amazingly beautiful. Thanks for a wonderful trip, Mimi!