Thursday, September 18, 2014 – Visit to Sapelo Island

Thursday morning began with a very early breakfast at 6:15 so that we could be on the bus at 7:00 am.  After about an hour's drive, we arrived at the ferry dock for the boat trip to Sapelo Island.  The ferry goes to the island once in the morning and returns once in the afternoon, so one does not want to be late.

On the island, we were met by our bus driver for the day, Yvonne Grovner, who is an interpretive ranger for the island and also a master sweet grass basketmaker.  The island is now 97% owned by the state of Georgia, with just the community of Hog Hammock remaining in private hands.  Most of town’s approximately 45 African-American residents are of Gullah-Geechee heritage and are descendants of the original slaves who were brought to the island from western Africa in the early 1800’s to work the rice and cotton plantations. Yvonne gave us a narrated bus tour of Hog Hammock, the Reynolds mansion, a historic cemetery, and the Marine Institute run by the University of Georgia. Tobacco heir R. J. Reynolds bought the entire island in1933 and used Sapelo as his private island paradise.  He later funded ecology research on the island and eventually gave the island to the state of Georgia.

The Reynolds Mansion can now be rented by private groups. 

 We also stopped at the institute for a presentation on the marine life of the island and at the building for the Sapelo Island Cultural Society.  At this last stop we were able to meet and talk with Cornelia Walker Bailey, the author that we learned about on Wednesday evening.  She was happy to sign copies of her book that some of the participants had purchased at the visitor center on the island.

From there we went to the picnic pavilion at beautiful Nanny Goat Beach.  This is what we all imagine when we think about the beach at a barrier island – miles of wide white sand, low dunes covered by waving grasses, and beautiful blue ocean water.  Our excellent lunch had been prepared by Yvonne, but the setting was marred by the presence of countless “Love bugs,” harmless insects that landed on our clothes, arms, hair, feet, food, and drinks.  These creatures are only present in the early fall for two or three weeks, and unfortunately our week corresponded with their visit.  So most of us ate quickly and walked down to the beach where the bugs were less prevalent.  We had time to take a short beach walk, get our feet wet, and look for sand dollars. 

The infamous love bugs

 As we left the beach, the breeze picked up so the bugs were less troublesome as we returned to the pavilion, and Yvonne gave us a short demonstration of basket weaving.

One of Yvonne's baskets

Following lunch Yvonne drove us to the island lighthouse that was originally built in 1820.  Although it remained dark for over 90 years, it was rebuilt and relit in 1998.  A few of us took the opportunity to again climb to the top, but this time we only had 78 stairs to ascend.

Wooden stairway inside the lighthouse.

After our return trip on the ferry, we went back to the hotel where we had a short break before leaving for our final dinner.  This time several of us had a chance to enjoy cooling off in the lovely pool. 

A tram arrived just before 6:00 to take us all to dinner at a nearby restaurant, Bennie’s Red Barn.  In addition to a yummy dinner of either rib-eye steak or a sea food platter, we were entertained by the singing of one of the staff.