Lily, A Dog's Life Aboard Moondance: St. Simon Says

Got up to find fresh banana nut muffins and a newspaper by our door this AM when Dad took me out for a walk. Incredible!!!

Decided to alter our course over the next couple of days after much discussion…

Realized it would be far cheaper to stay at this lovely Hilton Head Marina for more days and rent a car if we want to see Savannah then go there by boat… Besides those logistical issues we are catching up with two different sets of Ohio friends in HH…one couple, the Riebel’s are just visiting while our other friends Pat and Rodney have a condo there. We can’t wait to see them both! The marina is so nice here, but about 3 miles from St. Simon proper. They had bigger bikes here for our use, so we borrowed them to ride in…I was happy to sleep while they were gone. M & Da claimed they had a terrific Trolley tour with Kevin…

Here’s some of the St. Simon’s Trivia we learned today…

Brunswick #2 port of import cars Baltimore #1 Excited to export Toyotas from here with new contract…Can hold 5,000-8,000 cars on these ships

1/6 of worlds wealth on Jekyll Island prior to WWII, ...think Astors, Rockfellers, JP Morgan and so on...

Tabby is a building mixture made of oyster shells, limestone, water and sand. Lighthouse made from. Not automated until 1950. Ghost from murdered lighthouse keeper that was killed by his assistant who both were in love with the lighthouse keeper’s wife.

Neptune Park dedicated to slave that followed his master into Civil War. When his master who was his same age and best buddy was killed, he found a push cart and brought his body back over 500 miles. The family gave him his own place and freedom and Neptune park named after him

King and Prince Hotel built in 1930. Only hotel on water on St Simon...it competes with Cloisters for wealthy guests

All beaches public The island is 14 mi long by 4 mi wide same as Manhattan

Poet Sidney Lanier wrote about Marshes…large marsh system which is Critical to eco system

Giant Loggerhead turtles here, when they hatch called boil. Females go back to point close to their birthplace. Only 1 out 1000 turtles survive

Scottish black watch soldiers part of British regiment attacked Spanish at Bloody Marsh and finally drove Spanish out of this area in the 1700’s

Live oak is state tree. Used for USS Constitution or Old Ironsides.

Spanish Moss actually related to pineapple have chiggers, where saying, “Don’t let bed bugs bite” because they were used to stuff mattresses and furniture…YIKES!

St Simons from Spanish Saint

Part of a Trail of Tears as the Native Americans were run off the island

Sea Island where The Cloisters built. Very Exclusive & Private. Wealthy & famous. Tradition of presidents planting a live oak there. Can go for dinner there or stay for app $700 a night

Black Banks Plantation, Now a golf course

No plantation homes surviving

Eugenia Price wrote a trilogy about St Simons

Slave headstones were just an object they owned pierced with holes so their spirits could escape

First African Baptist 157 years old and still going. Blue Windows keep evil spirits away...actually they believe the blue color did that...

General Oglethorpe owned home here, very much a Renaissance man. Designed Savannah, GA He established lots of rules…No attorneys allowed in colonies, funny!

Most plantation owners British. Had to go to Church of England, Episcopal Even got mail there on Sunday’s, Followers of Wesley brothers became Methodists; Wesley Memorial Gardens were gorgeous but interestingly had a large Coptic cross

Ft Frederica was more inland than the original St. Simons Fort which they believe was by the lighthouse. Very large ft. Surrounded by moat

Musgrove Plantation largest estate left on island; named for Indian princess who assisted Oglethorpe

50 years before Civil War not allowed to import slaves. So smugglers brought them in. Started own language between all the African tribes; Gulah

Sea Island cotton from here is similar to Egyptian cotton…almost like silk… Made a fortune!!!

Sea spirits carved in trees to commemorate sailors loss

Blimps and Liberty ships built in Brunswick

Lots of ships lost along Atlantic to German U boats. Used blimps to find them

We ate lunch at a wonderful seafood restaurant called Iguana before biking home today. Had a lovely trip back, The island is filled with these fantastic bike paths that are covered with live oaks…incredibly serene and once again the homes are fantastic! It’s much more picturesque than Jekyll. I was very happy to see M & D when they returned…no goodies for me though… what’s wrong with them?

After they took me out, they left to go to the pool here. They said to thank Kathy and Denis again for their nice beach bag/cooler that they got to use today!!!

They came back talking about this interesting British couple; Gill and Colin Nobbs, they met that have been traveling on their 41’ Moody sailboat since 2013… They went down the European coast from the B. I. They left from the Canary Islands taking 19 days using the Tradewinds to cross over to St Lucia…Only the two of them doing 4 hours shifts using automatic steering…Crazy! I think M & D are adventurous!… But, mom has been reading these two's blogs and she keeps saying how incredible they are!…(they have been way down to South America and all over the Caribbean.)

They are reprovisioning to return home soon via Bermuda. So Brave!!! They have no dog, so I’m not terribly impressed!

I was thrilled because M & D ate in, so I got to share their dinner…YUM!

Off to banjo country tomorrow on the Medway River…Kilkenny Creek… We will be eating in tomorrow as well…YEAH!!!

Mike fixing me Mother's Day Dinner...It was delicious!!!

Seeing Lanier Island and Morningstar Marina...Great place!

We asked to see the progress the girls are making at their new house...Bekka putting these bookshelves together and framing in their crawl space that will be hidden by a fake fireplace later.

We wanted to see a photo of our San Diego kid's so here they are...looking adorable as always!