Brunswick Bound

Over the years, we had been to the Brunswick, GA area numerous times, sometimes staying at Blythe Island Regional Park (see our post from 2019), sometimes at Coastal Georgia RV Resort (see this post). On this visit, our home for our week long stay would be Coastal Georgia RV Resort on site #609. In the past, we’ve enjoyed this resort but unfortunately not so much this time. From a maintenance perspective, it seemed a little run down with overgrown grass, untrimmed trees, etc., not as well kept as it has been on our previous visits. Plus we weren’t real happy with our site. We were late making a reservation so unfortunately there weren’t many sites available. Although the site had a large yard on the passenger side, it was on a corner and had absolutely no privacy from the street on the passenger side (unlike other sites in the resort we had occupied in the past) so despite the warmer temps, it was not conducive to sitting outside.

The last time we had explored this area to any extent was in 2013. Even though we had visited the area over the past few years, the recent short stays weren’t conducive for any sightseeing opportunities so we were looking forward to a re-exploration of what is known as the Golden Isles area but more about that in our next post. This post focuses primarily on the Brunswick area and all it has to offer.

Brunswick is a city rich in history. In 1771, the layout of the town followed a plan similar to the one Oglethorpe dictated for Savannah with delineated squares and parks in a grid style abutting the Brunswick River. Names of the parks and streets honored those of English fame such as Gloucester, Halifax, Newcastle and Norwich.

As we drove around the historic downtown, we passed by the Historic Brunswick Court House, built in 1907 and situated in Magnolia Square—one of the historic parks and squares once used to house livestock as a community pasture.

Old City Hall, built in 1886, was designed by Alfred S. Eichberg of Savannah and features a style that has been described as a mix of Richardsonian Romanesque and Queen Anne.

Another historic landmark is the Ritz Theater which was built in 1899 to house the Grand Opera House, retail establishments, and the general offices of the Brunswick & Birmingham Railroad. After renovations in the 1920s or 1930s that included the installation of a marquee, the building was renamed the Ritz Theatre and converted to a movie palace. Interesting to note that after the Civil War, Brunswick became an emporium of architectural styles – Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, Richardson Romanesque, Folk Victorian, Colonial Revival, Tudor, Italian Renaissance, Prairie, Stick, and Craftsman. Each building seemed to reflect one of these styles.

During WWII, the town built and launched over 99 447 foot Liberty ships from the J.A. Jones Shipyard in a two-year effort from 1943 to 1945, including seven in one month. As noted in this article documented by the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, many women stepped up during the war effort to assist with the building of these ships. At its peak, Jones Brunswick employed 17,000 people. The Liberty Ship Memorial Plaza, located in the Mary Ross Waterfront Park features a 23 foot scale model of a Liberty Ship, similar to those built in Brunswick’s shipyards during World War II. The park also offers an outdoor musical playscape, a staged pavilion, an amphitheater and a farmers market, open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Another very popular tourist attraction in Brunswick is the Lover’s Oak, a Southern Live Oak estimated to be 900 years old in 2005, is located in a median strip at the intersection of Albany and Prince Streets. According to local legend, Native American braves and their maidens met under the majestic spreading limbs of this enormous oak. The tree’s trunk is about 13 feet in diameter and it branches into ten limbs measuring 12 to 30 inches in diameter. Because the tree is so huge, it was difficult to capture its massiveness in a photo!

All of this sightseeing and history was making us hungry! Time for lunch so we googled eating places. After reading reviews and studying menus, we finally decided to give the Indigo Coastal Shanty, an American Fusion restaurant, a try.

Even though it was after 2:00 p.m. when we arrived, it was pretty busy so we had to wait a bit for a outside table. Outside they had built the dining area with picnic tables and colorful umbrellas around a huge live oak tree! Such an eclectic and very cool place with a coastal vibe!

Once seated, an uninvited guest joined us at our table!

For lunch, I had the Sesame Coated Catfish ($19.95) which was a crisp fillet served with plum miso sauce, spiked tartar & isla slaw over fragrant jasmine rice.