jekyll island

Jekyll island is GA's hidden jewel, an out of the way, tiny island, which you have to pay to get on, keeping the hordes of tourists out. The 7 mile island has fantastic beaches, one side with same dunes, the other an armagedon looking beach strewn with driftwood trees all over. Our beachcombing turned up conch shells, sand dollars, many types of crabs, and lots of sea creatures. We biked on the beach, flew our kites and explored the small island.
One morning we went to.check out what they were catching on the pier. Mostly they go for blue crab and whitings. We grabbed out poles, got shrimp bait and let the boys give it a try. So exciting!! While watching shrimp boats, big freighters, dolphins and whales, Finn pulled up his first whiting, then a 2" black tip SHARK then eli got a STING RAY!!

paradise in jekyll island

finally swimming in the atlantic!

on beautiful Tybee Island!! Plus a visit to the Tybee Island Coast Guard station.

fort pulaski

Historic Fort Pulaski is a brick masonry fort (an impressive 25,000,000 bricks), complete with an alligator living moat, constructed originally by the United states but then taken over by the confederates right before the civil war. Then in 1862 the Union Army, using the first rifled cannon, took back the fort. The battle was over 3 hours after the rifled cannon was shot. What was super cool, is you can still see the cannons lodged in the masonry walls. The fort was then used as a prisoner-of-war camp to hold southern army leaders who ended up being known as the immortal 600. The most impressive fact to us was that, through the engineered design, not a single crack has formed due to settling of the structure.

skidaway island and savannah

The first thing we noticed about the Savannah area are the live oaks draped with Spanish moss. The old trees are huge, create canopies over the roads and have these long curly grey beards hanging from all their branches. It looks like some mystical place you would imagine witches living yet very beautiful.
We stayed on Skidaway Island state park which is right in the intracoastal waterway of GA, where we met another road school family, who are taking the year to travel to all 48 states.
We finally hit a big city, Savannah, because it is loaded with history. Established in 1733 by James Oglethorpe, Savannah is set up with park like squares that have historical placards and statues every few blocks so it was a perfect way to walk/tour/sit and enjoy the city. We visited the Cathedral of John the Baptist, the First African American Baptist Church (which was part of the underground rail road), sampled famous Leopolds ice cream, hung out in the historical district and watched big ships come into port.

first gators!

At magnolia springs st park! Wish we could load some photos. Chris tried to catch one, luckily unsuccessfully, but we did get a sweet big turtle shell.

mr freeze

While camping at beautiful elijah Clark.st park, we treated ourselves to some icecream at the lincolnton Mr freeze. Earlier that day we thought the place was abandoned from the looks of it, but at night it was open.and hopping. We couldn't help but notice everybody look at us when we walked in. It was a true small town GA experience so we couldn't wait to go back the next night. We even tried a lemon sour which is ice, lemon juice, carbonated water and a lot of salt. Chris liked it. The people we met there were laughing at the funny way we talk, while we were straining to understand their words.
The south is different. Although people have been very friendly, we feel Like outsiders and been called yankees. Not that that is a bad thing, but has led to some interesting discussions in the car. One fellow even said that "yall yankees can have your cold weather you complain about up there, after all you won the war."
We are headed toward Savannah, looking forward to seeing the ocean.

callaway plantation

We were cruising down the GA backroads when Finn had to go potty NOW (his poison ivy has been hard on his stomach too). Chris pulled over at the first driveway we came to and just by lucky chance, it ended up being the callaway (golf) plantation. It is now a historical site so we got a tour. The land was originally given to Mr callaway for payment for his service in the revolutionary war. The family also served in the civil war and had over 100 slaves working in the cotton fields. It was impressive to see the beautiful furnishings and to get the feel of the plantation. It was moving to sit in the rocking chairs on the front porch and imagine the conversations they must have had in that same spot about the civil war, slavery and president Lincoln.

start of the appalacian trail

Amicola falls GA is the head of the appalacian trail and where we planned on staying for a few days but it is rainy and the bathrooms are nasty.so we changed the plan and are headed to the Savannah coast. We did manage to catch two mountain lizards, ie salamanders, some big millipeds and spy.a big water snake. The millipeds are in a bottle strapped to the back of the scamp. We discovered there is a leak in one of the scamp windows directly above elis head.
We have been on the road for 13 days, limited showers, dirty laundry, no privacy AT ALL, 24 seven togetherness...this is where the vacation ends and the journey continues.
Oh yeah, don't forget the poison ivy, 3" spiders IN the scamp, migranes, belly aches, diarrhea, and minor irritabalities Like " he's touching me" . It's all good.

falls creek falls

Before the great smokes, we stayed our favorite campground so far. Falls creek falls TN state park had just what we were craving. We took several hikes to waterfalls and.creeks. One hike we had to rappell down 800 ft using a cable. At the bottom we were able to hike up to.and behind a huge waterfall. The waterfall was so roaring, we had to.yell to eachother. The spray created a beautiful rainbow. We thanked God for creating such beauty for our enjoyment. The park also had.a swimming hole called George Hole that we.all enjoyed. The only thing that would have.made it better would.have been to have George Lindberg there with us. Hi George!
Outside the park was an Indian trading post. Grandma.sue would have been proud to see eli barter with.a real Cherokee horse trader. It was a good trade.