Monday, September 15, 2014 -- Our introduction to St. Simon's Island

On Monday morning, after our buffet breakfast, we boarded the very comfortable tour bus and headed to the beach for the morning’s program.  We were met by Georgia Graves, a local expert on Georgia’s sea turtles, marine mammals, and coastal ecology.  Road Scholar provides “listening devices” for many of their programs, and this allowed us to easily hear Georgia even if we wandered away from the group.  As we walked along the beach at low tide, Georgia showed us the marine life – snails, crabs, birds, and other creatures – that I would never have identified or seen without her help. 

      

After the beach walk, we walked a short distance to the edge of a salt-water marsh where again Georgia pointed out the great variety of plants and animals that depend upon this unique environment for their existence. 

 

Snails attached to the grass at the edge of the marsh.

The bus then transported us a short distance to the historic section of the village.  Lunch was at a local restaurant where we ordered off the menu; the crab soup and crab cake sandwich were delicious!  We had free time to explore the village and its many shops before boarding the bus for a visit to St. Simons Lighthouse.  So I completed my second lighthouse climb for the week, this time with only 129 steps for the reward of breathtaking views of the Golden Isles. 

Views from the top

Andrea and Ellie pose with the fort's defenders.

Our next stop was Fort Frederica, built in 1736 to protect the Georgia colony from the Spanish in Florida.  We watched a film about the fort and its role in the Civil War and explored the visitor center, but with the very warm weather and high humidity, we didn’t spend much time wandering around the grounds of the fort.  Only a couple of structures remain, but signs describe the buildings that were located within the walls of the structure. 

The live oak trees at the fort and throughout the area are lined with Spanish moss. 

When we returned to the hotel, we had a short time to relax or to fit in a swim in the lovely pool very close to our accommodations.

Following a buffet dinner at the hotel, Georgia returned to present a lecture on the “Turtles of the Sea.”  Large numbers of loggerhead turtles come ashore on the island each summer to lay their legs before returning to the sea.  Many volunteers and biologists are involved in protecting the nests and the baby turtles as they hatch and head for the sea.  These aren’t the little turtles that I had as pets when I was young; these endangered creatures can weigh well over 300 pounds and grow to three to six feet in length.  We will have a chance to learn more about turtles on our Tuesday visit to Jekyll island.  

My new, very cute friend (not alive!)

This was a very, very full day, with an excellent mix of lectures, hands-on explorations, and sightseeing -- a very typical Road Scholar educational program.