Jekyll Isand: A Nice Place to Visit and Maybe Live on!

We are in sunny but windy Georgia!  We left Charleston and South Carolina behind us as we continued cruising the ICW on Tuesday 11/1.  Actually we stayed in South Carolina two more days anchoring in Tom Point Creek and Bull Creek along the way.  The first was quiet but the second stop, unknown to us, was in a creek that tour boats use.  Much to my chagrin, one of the boats had live country music and they breezed by twice to share their very loud tunes!  Should have realized that Bull Creek is just past Hilton Head which is still enjoying tourists looking for a warm beach.

This is just to give perspective of what the ICW looks like on a calm Monday!  I took this from a causeway connecting Mt. Pleasant, SC with Sullivan's Island which was part of our daily walk to Sullivan's beach while we stayed at Toler's Cove Marina.  The few boats on the left side are in the canal that leads up into the marina.  This waterway is one of the "roads" to Charleston.  

The colors along the way are so beautiful with golden marsh grass and dark green low trees and bushes.  We have continued to have a lot of blue sky days and

 calm waters.

Then on Thurdsay we crossed the state line into Georgia and entered the Savannah River intending to take a sharp turn to port (left) to enter a narrow cut between rivers.  But dead ahead was this big cargo ship and since there are no traffic lights, the big boats get the right of way.  

So we patiently waited for her to pass and close by she came.  This is probably as close to a cargo ship we have been. Once she passed, we made our turn and went a few miles past Savannah to a marina in Thunderbolt, GA.  We stopped there for an over night to have a meet up with our friends on California Lady and their friends (our new friends) Kenny and Bill on Daybreak.  Another reason to stop on land was our need and desire to walk daily and those two creek anchorages had no place to walk nor did  the next anchorage on Crescent River. 

Sometimes we pass by homes just sitting on their own in a small hammock of trees amidst acres of marsh grass and wonder how did the house even get built and how can folks dwell in such a place with no evidence of a road access.  I think it could get lonely in a place like that but also peaceful and a bit scary when storms come by!  Interesting. 

So here we sit along the side of the ICW across from Jekyll Island Harbor Marina where we can take the dingy to shore and borrow bikes from the marina after paying a modest tie up fee.  Because we are across from a marina, most boats adhere to a no wake rule so it has been fairly calm here except for the wind.  But the strong current points us into the wind so we have hardly felt the rocking. 

Another beautiful sunset on a Saturday night in Georgia. 

This is probably the last night to grill because the time changes and we loose the evening light. The master chef is hard at work while enjoying the sunset.

We have stayed 2 nights and will stay tonight (Monday 11/7) to enjoy the beauty of Jekyll Island and the great bike trails.  Yesterday we visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Center which serves as an educational facility and a rescue hospital/rehab center for turtles found injured or ill.  This one is just barely raising its head out of the water to take a breath.  One of the "patients" was found with a deep laceration of a leg due to fishing line tightly wrapped around it and will likely suffer a complete amputation.  I was interested to read that the turtle receives physical therapy as part of its rehab.  Perhaps if we choose to live near a turtle rescue facility, I could find my calling as a volunteer for turtle therapy!  

We biked to all the beaches on the island but found Driftwood beach to be the most interesting. 

This was yesterday which was cooler and windy so I had to put on my fall clothing!

Wind whipped trees make for interesting pictures!  Jekyll Island is a beautiful place with cute shops, good eats and great beaches.  We biked past two condo places we could easily buy into.  Who knows where we will land after this boating adventure! 

So tomorrow we head south to an anchorage further into Georgia.  We wanted to return to that cool island with feral horses, Cumberland, but access is limited because of the damage from hurricane Matthew.  Our plan is to travel 3 more days to get to Jacksonville, FL and put InSpeyered 2 into a one month rental slip while we head home for Thanksgiving.