February in Jekyll Island GA

We walked down to the Pier and instead of the Marsh Walk followed the Beach to Driftwood Beach

Especially nice in the early morning

There are always hidden treasures to find along the way

I never tire of this beach

There's that handsome boy!

Thought this one looked like a gnome

Tucson loves to post for pictures

Loved the pattern of the sand and sky

I mean really - how could you?

Some of our walks we run into Tucson's pal Melody - they have a ball.

My normal routine is if it is low tide or tide is going out in the early morning (sunrise) we walk to road to Driftwood beach, catch the sunrise, then follow the Beach to the Pier and then the Clam Creek road back to the campground a good 4 mile walk.  If it is high tide we substitute the Marsh Bike trail for the Beach. 

Afternoon we vary it either Beach, Marsh or both.  

 Friends from Myrtle Beach are passing through and are going to stay at the campground for 2 or 3 nights.  Will be nice to see them and Tucson loves their dog Skipper.

We do a bike tour of the whole island

 

We see a lot of cars parked by a sandy trail so we dart in there.  Up over the hill.

 and we find a beach to ride on the rest of the way

No dogs allowed on this portion of the Island because of all the birds

 Back in 1996 the shrimp boat The Mary Ann ran aground.  It is being buried by the sand.  This is all that is left to see now

Not low tide so we run into a bit of a problem before we reach St. Andrews Beach.  People tell us we can't get though that we have to turn around and go back to the road.  

We are undaunted.

 Made it to the other side.  Bicyclists behind us saw us make it through and did the same.

 

Get to St. Andrews Beach and Picnic area

 

Then return to the campground

 Next we bicycle to the Historic District

Second in command of General James Oglethorpe's
regimen, Major William Horton settled on
Jekyll Island in the 1730's and built the stout structure that
can still be today.

The house was built of tabby, a unique
material commonly used along the Georgia
coast during the 18th and 19th centuries. To
create tabby, Horton burned oyster shells to
obtain lime. He then mixed the lime with
equal parts of sand, water and water. The
thick mixture was poured into forms to create
the walls that stand today.

The cemetery

Remains of an old warehouse

The bike trail meanders through live oaks and a boardwalk over the marsh

Newton Finney and his brother-in-law, John Eugene DuBignon, were the early developers whose plan for a hunting club for wealthy northerners hatched into the most exclusive social club in the United States. Between 1879 and 1885, the two men worked on acquiring ownership of this Georgia historic landmark and convincing investors of the merits of the idea.

The club officially opened its doors in January 1888.  Its impressive members included such  J.P. Morgan, William Rockefeller, Vincent Astor, Joseph Pulitzer, William K. Vanderbilt, and other recognizable names on the list were Macy, Goodyear, and Gould.

They still play croquet on the front lawn.

Between 1888 and 1928 these wealthy northern families built their winter homes, or “cottages” as they were called, designed to house entire families with staff.

This is the Crane Cottagei,  Italian Renaissance style, it was built in 1917 for Richard Teller Crane, Jr. who had a  plumbing supply business. It is the largest, most expensive of the cottages with a landscaped formal sunken garden with fountains and upper terrace and had 20 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms.

Built in 1884, the DuBignon Cottage was used as the Club cottage housing guests for $15 day.  It was reduced to $10 day if you stayed for 2 months or longer.

In 1892 the DuBignon Cottage was moved to make way for the 1st Condominium in the country.
  Sans Souci was built by a corporation of Members it had 6 apartments

Cherokee Cottage

Villa Marianna

Goodyear Cottage

Indian Mound Cottage

Mistletoe Cottage

Friday the 13th I was walking Tucson and ran into Connie walking down to the Pier.  Joined her for her walk all the way to Driftwood Beach.  It was blustery and chilly only around 42 degrees. When we got to Driftwood I opted to take the road back as it was more protected and I hadn't dressed for that long a walk.   Connie went back by way of the beach as they were leaving in a couple of days.  Good thing she did, because this Friday the 13th was this Turtle's lucky day.  She found him stranded on the beach - cold stunned.

 She called 911 and they sent someone to rescue him. He was taken to the Jekyll Island Turtle Rescue Center.  He was kept out of the water until they could raise his temperature to mid 70's it was at 42 when he arrived. 

 

Once they got his temperature to normal and he was eating ok, he was put in a tank.

They had a lot of cold stunned turtles from Cape Cod come in so they used a theme for naming the turtles - cold was the theme - so this one got named White Fang.  He is a green turtle and will be released where he was found when the water is warm enough.  The turtles from Cape Cod were I believe, Kemp Ridley Turtles and were released in Florida.

Later in the month was the annual dog parade at the Campground.  Tucson had a good time.

During the months of December, January and February.  The Jekyll Island Authority places Handblown Glass Globes around the Island - they are reminiscent of  the old Glass Balls that were used in fishing nets.  Whoever finds one gets to keep it.

On February 27th it was a damp and cold day and I was walking Tucson down to the Pier.  I figured I would make one last effort to find a ball along the way.  We got down to the Pier and hadn't seen one and I was headed back the way we came but Tucson would have nothing to do with that.  He dragged me down the Bike trail to the Marsh trail.   I gave in and thought well I'll just continue my search.  I thought if I were to hide one I would hide it in a hollow tree.  I checked the first hollow tree but nothing.

 

I continued on the trail looking along the edges of the path in the tall grass.  Almost to the end, I walked by a tree which I caught out of the corner of my eye.  I turned around and saw the crack in the trunk and thought I saw a little glisten.

  I figured it was probably a beer can or soda bottle but went in for a closer look.

  Reached in and pulled this out.  When I took it to the Visitor's center to register it I found out it was hidden there 4 days before I found it.