Stuff

We haven't done anything major but lots of little things.
We made our reservations for the next two years, we're staying here until Feb. 11th both years.
I've finished two quilt tops and two knitting projects.

Bob finished a stained glass window hanging.

I've been going to the weekly 'sit and stitch' and am slowly getting to know people.  I'm also learning about things to see. 

I also went to the ladies luncheon. (they go to a diff. restaurant every 2 weeks)  There were about 20 women when I went and that was a smaller group then normal.  I rode with a lady a few campsites away from us.  She and her husband are also retired teachers.  On the way back we stopped by a roadside pond and saw two wood storks.  They haven't been there when Bob and I stop.

We went to the art guild showing the other day.  It's located in the Goodyear Cottage in the historic area.  The January showings were two different artists.  There were wood carvings, mostly of birds, and very realistic.  The other artist and taken pictures around the area and printed them on canvas, really nice. They have a small gift shop with lots a different things.  (Anna could sell some of her pottery and crocheted hats there).

Here is a bit of advice I learned at the sit and stitch: When looking for a restaurant look for Buicks in the parking lot.  One of the ladies children said older people drive buicks and they like good food for a reasonable price.

Bird Sanctuary

It is hard to see but there is a cardinal to the right of the pink ribbon a little behind the squirrel. This is the small bird sanctuary here at the campground. Quite a few birds hang out here actually.

About the test pic

The pic I posted for a test of my phone registration is a candle that we have (actually 2 of them) set up on hangers around the fire pit. We light these and have all of our solar lights running while we sit around the fire in the 60 t0 65 degree (sometimes 55 to 60) evenings and enjoy my black and tans and/or a wee bit of my Irish whiskey while Kathy has some wine.

Hope this works

I just registered my phone for the blog. Here is a test pic.

Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation

Around 1806 William Brailsford purchased land on the Altamaha River.  That land became his rice plantation.  Rice was grown from the Carolinas to Florida.  It was a very important crop because it didn’t spoil and could feed lots of people.  We learned a lot about how rice was grown.  It was a very labor intensive process to first clear the land and plan the rice plantings, and then to build the floodgates or trunks to control the incoming water from the tides. Planting and growing the rice was also a very exacting, labor intensive process.

At Brailford’s death the land was passed to his son-in-law, Dr. James Troup.  It remained in the Troup-Dent family until 1973 when the last sister died.  The plantation was left to the state of Georgia.  The house was built in the 1850’s and includes all the furnishings owned by the five generations who had lived there. 

Yesterday was a presentation about women and the Victorian age.  We did learn a little about the life of women in that time.  They were to get married, have children (in that order the speaker stressed- and said she’ll stress it with her elementary presentation next week), feed, clothe and care for her family and the slaves and their families. 

After the presentation we walked to the house and grounds.  The furnishings are left as they were at the time of Ophelia’s death.  There are many pictures throughout the house. One of the rangers explained that most women in the past were much shorter (they told us that at Jekyll also when demonstrating the counter heights) and so the chairs were also shorter.  The chairs with low backs were for women with hoop skirts, as was the chaise with the cut away back- so a drink could be placed on a sofa table behind the furniture (hoops did not allow coffee tables). 

Outside one ranger pointed out the Live Oak that they think is at least 500 years old.  She also took us to both camellia gardens. And we saw where the rice fields were.

It was an interesting day.

It's very windy today but the sun is shining and it's warm. We even brought all our solar chargers with us today to soak up the sun. There are lots of people and dogs enjoying the nice weather with us. Rain is predicted for later.

This live oak tree is estimated to be 500 to 800 years old.

Judy

My friend Judy and her Mom stayed on Jekyll Island for a couple days on their way to Florida.

We had a great time and saw lots. 

We went to the Historic Area on Jekyll  and took the tram ride and tour.  There were only five of us so the guide was able to let us explore on our own a little in the two ‘cottages’ we went in.  We learned a lot about the buildings and the times.  The buildings are magnificent.  While the cottages had kitchens most food was prepared at the hotel and then delivered to the ‘cottages’.  We even saw a real croquet match at the hotel, the players were all wearing the required white outfits. We made a visit to the Chapel and wondered at the beautiful stained glass windows, the gargoyles, and the old organ.

We drove all around Jekyll Island and stopped at Driftwood beach.  Judy was as amazed as we have been.

St. Simons Island was our destination their second day.  Judy drove us all over the place.  We saw lots of new and old magnificent homes.  We also saw the lighthouse, the Church of Christ and visited the National Park at Fort Fredericka.  There was of course a school group at the fort  but the ranger directed us around them.   There was more than just a fort; there was a town within the earthen berms.  Through research and excavations they have placards that tell about the home and inhabitants.  It was very interesting.  On the grounds were orange trees with lots of fruit on the branches and lots of beautiful live oak trees.

Bob cooked for us and we went to some local restaurants.  We had a great visit.

Ships and dolphins

I was at the fishing pier at just the right time.  This very large ship, from Stockholm, went by, headed out to sea, and then there were at least three dolphins headed for the river.  Both were great to watch.

The Port of Brunswick is one of the top 7 US ports for automobiles. 

Storm Warnings

There have been storm warnings all day. Severe thunderstorms and possible tornados in the area. Northern Florida has had a couple of possible tornados already today. Here, there has been a lot of thunder, lightning and rain. One lightning flash and associated thunder clap scared the c**p right out of me. I must have jumped a foot when it happened! Looks like everything is finally calming down now though.

I finally got one stained glass project finished yesterday. It is an oval window hanging made up of a couple of chickadees, leaves and berries to accent it. I have it hanging in the rv window right now. I'll have Kathy post a picture of it because I don't know how to do that yet.

Today is a crazy day. Sun one minute then cloudy and drizzle then sunny again. Not that bad though, it is in the high 60's and NO SNOW!! We are going to the beach in a little while to enjoy some sun and the view of the ocean. Last night it poured buckets of rain. I left one of our buckets out and there must have been 4 inches of rain in it this morning. Kathy has been using the new sewing machine she got for Christmas. She is working on another quilt of course! If the weather dries out for tomorrow I will be getting my stained glass stuff out. I have a number of projects I want to work on. The Boy Scouts from around here showed up in their tents yesterday. They came last year about the same date also. Is it just coincidence that it poured last year and again this year right after they arrived. I do feel sorry for them though, they all were soaked this morning.

Roadtrip-Smallest Church in America

Our first roadtrip this season was north on route 17.  We headed for the 'Smallest Church in America'.  I saw the sign on Rt.95 last year and it sounded interesting.  It was a lot farther north than I thought, but Bob  kept going and we found it. It was built in 1949 by Agnes Harper and is 10 by 15 feet. The church holds 13 people, is open 24 hours a day and services are held the 3rd Sunday of every month.  We were surprised by the number of beautiful stained glass windows.

We explored more of Darien, GA on our way back.  Darien is the 2nd oldest planned city in Georgia  and was settled by Scottish Highlanders.  It was known as an important port city exporting lumber, rice, and cotton. Now there are many shrimpers who call Darien their home port.  At one time the area was also known for it's lumber and we drove through the area known as 'The Ridge'.  It was where the lumber barons spent their summers (they believed there was 'better air' during yellow fever season).  There were some beautiful old homes.

Kathy hasn't told me where the next location is yet, wish me lots of luck and patience. 

pictures

The temperature is improving daily. It is so nice to have to put my sunglasses on when we go out.
I tried to send the pictures from my camera to the blog but I'm still doing something wrong.  My phone is registered and I said send to this blog not the new one.  I still messed something up so I'll try to add the pictures here.

There are pictures of the beach and the sunset over the Jekyll River.
As I said the weather is improving (warming up) so we had our first campfire of 2010.

A quick trip to the store

We just had to get a couple things.  And we remembered how to get to the store.  (By now I should know to always have maps and/or the gps)  First there's no such thing as a 'quick' trip off Island; its at least 20 minutes both ways.  We turned one block too soon and thought we could just go over a block and be on the right road. We were lost on streets we hadn't been lost on before but we did finally, somehow, end up on what looked a little familiar - it still wasn't right but we came to Rt. 95 at the exit we usually took so we turned around and made it to the grocery store.  We tried Lowes for some fireplace logs (grocery store didn't have them).  The guy at Lowes said they've been out for a week and the logs are back ordered and then he talked about the prolonged cold.  But the sun is shining, and as the man on the news said- there's no snow.

Jekyll Island at last!!

We're here!!  It's still below freezing at night but late afternoon when we arrived it wasn't bad.
We're still learning about RV's.  We weren't prepared for freezing temperatures south of Charlotte this morning but we're learning and we'll fill extra containers with water tonight just in case.

Our new experience today was the truck wash.  We were in line with the tractor trailers for about an hour.  It was like a do it yourself car wash only 4 men sprayed the camper from all directions.  Here's a before picture of Bob's car.

On our way

We are on our way to Jekyll Island.  We should arrive this afternoon.
The sun is shining, a delightful change, but it is still below freezing.
They are predicting warmer temperatures later this week!
We'll be on the road soon so I'll try to post more later.

Winter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We really did not need this blast of winter weather to remind us why we are called 'snow birds'.

The camper is packed, the lists are almost completely checked off.
Jekylll Island is calling us! We'll be there as soon as we can get out of here!!!!