Halfway between Savannah and Jacksonville and nestled along the 100-mile-long Georgia coast, is the mainland city of Brunswick and its four barrier islands, St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Little St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island. Known as the Golden Isles, this area is renowned for beautiful untouched stretches of marshland and pristine coastal habitats, abundant wildlife, and beautiful beaches as well as a sense of history.

While staying at Coastal Georgia RV Resort for a week, we spent some time not only exploring Brunswick but also visiting St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island where we thoroughly enjoyed a guided tour of the island. Note: access to Sea Island is limited to resort guests and club members and Little St. Simons Island is only accessible by boat for overnight and day-trip excursion guests.

Can’t do a lot of sightseeing without some sustenance under our belts so the first order of business was breakfast a Palmer’s Village Cafe on Mallery Street on St. Simon’s Island, a restaurant we had visited in 2019.

A Crab Cake Benedict Special for me and The Hooch Omelet (spicy tomatoes, provolone & cheddar cheese, sausage, garnished with fried onions) for Rob. Both were eggs-ellent!

After breakfast we walked over to the St. Simons Island Pier where there are awesome views of the St. Simons Lighthouse and the 7,780 feet long and 486 feet tall Sidney Lanier Bridge to Brunswick!

Sure was busy! College aged kids (and younger) were everywhere! Yep, definite proof that it was Spring break! But not being particularly interested in watching the kids, we hung out on the pier to enjoy the scenery. As luck would have it while we were soaking up the view, near us, a novice fisherman managed to catch a sting ray that, judging from its frantically flapping wings was trying to convey “a leave me alone” attitude!

It fought so hard the fisherman had trouble reeling it in so another guy brought over a large net to assist.

Took a while but they finally brought it up on the pier. A beady eyed pelican was watching intently, perhaps hoping that this might be his dinner! We were hoping that they were going to throw it back in the water but darn, no such luck! No idea if sting rays make for good eating.

Once that show was over, we sauntered over to Neptune Park with the intention of stopping at the nearby St. Simons Visitor Center. The park is named for Neptune Small, a faithful servant of the King family, one-time owners of St. Simons Island’s Retreat Plantation. Neptune Park not only offers an oceanfront walking path but also has two playgrounds, a large lawn (casino), grills, a shaded picnic area beneath towering live oaks, benches that overlook the ocean and the Neptune Park Fun Zone.

The path leads to the St. Simons Lighthouse Museum and Keeper’s Dwelling which were built in 1872 after the original lighthouse built in 1810 by James Gould of Massachusetts, the first lighthouse keeper, was destroyed by the Confederates in 1861.

Today the lighthouse still casts its beam as far as 23 miles to sea, serving as an active aid to navigation for ships entering St. Simons Sound. Visitors may climb the 129 steps (we didn’t) to the top for a spectacular, panoramic view of the coast. Admission fees are $12 for adults; $6 Ages 6 – 12; children under 6 are free. A $2 Military discount is offered with an ID.

Continuing our stroll we eventually arrived at the Visitor Center where we perused the informative exhibits and talked with the very friendly and helpful volunteers.

While visiting here, we were reminded of the fascinating Tree Spirits of St. Simons Island, weathered images carved into live oak trees which we had seen on previous visits. Using gouges and a mallet, sculptor Keith Jennings began carving these beloved creatures in 1982 while the more recent ones have been carved by him and his son Devon. There are about 20 carvings scattered around the island (see a map here), note, however, that only 11 are on public property. The most popular and easiest to find are located near the Visitor Center. Each unique face is hand carved and takes two to four days to complete.

Leaving the town behind, we continued touring around the island, ultimately stopping at Gascoigne Bluff, next to the Frederica River.

According to Wikipedia, the bluff was named for Captain James Gascoigne of the sloop-of-war, HMS Hawk, which led some of the first British settlers to the coast of Georgia. Timber that was harvested from 2,000 Southern live oak trees from Gascoigne Bluff was used to build the USS Constitution and the five other original US Navy frigates, under the Naval Act of 1794. The Constitution is known as “Old Ironsides” for the way the cannonballs bounced off the hard oak planking.”

It took a little bit of searching for us to find Tree Spirit #11 located in the park at the south end of Arthur J. Moore Drive along the dirt road by river picnic area.

Near to the Bluff was a historical marker which explained the history of Hamilton Plantation. We saw the two tabby cabins from a distance but didn’t capture any photographs of them.

Fun day! Since it was getting to be late afternoon, we headed back to the coach. More photos are available here.

Our sightseeing wasn’t done yet. More in our next post…