Marching through Georgia - Sherman did it, why not us?

With reluctance we left the area on Tuesday, November 17th and arrived at Kathleen and Lee Haller‘s home on St. Simon’s Island. Kathleen insisted there was adequate space near her home to park our rig, but we don’t think she completely comprehended the 45’ length, 8’width and limited maneuverability of our truck and trailer. Parking our rig in a somewhat cleared, 12’ wide space bordered with cedars on one side, the street on the other and capped by a street sign at the rear and a tree in front, might have been perfect for a 16’ Airstream but was a bit tricky for us. Chris was having kittens while watching large branches of a cedar tree scrape the front and side of the RV as Jay backed and pulled forward multiple times. He did get Sonny off the road with no apparent damage.

Kathleen and Lee in front of their home.

Kathleen is a realtor and chauffeured us all around St. Simon’s and Jekyll Islands pointing out the majestic, waterfront homes owned by the rich and famous and the newly renovated Sea Island resorts. Resort membership is a little out of our price range as the annual fees exceeded $7,000. That’s okay, we’re not golfers anyway. Our visit to the Jekyll Island Club Hotel on Jekyll island was especially enjoyable as strolling through the impeccably maintained, Victorian style hotel took us back to its heyday in the late 1800s. Originally named the Jekyll Island Club, it was founded in 1878 as a hunt club and its members/investors included wealthy northerners such as J. P. Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer and Wm. K. Vanderbilt. It was the most exclusive club in the U.S. at the time but lost half its membership at the onset of The Depression and was evacuated and closed by the Government during WW II. After the war, the State of Georgia purchased the entire island and converted it to a park which is enjoyed by millions of visitors each year. Unfortunately our stay with Kathleen and Lee was only for one night but we were so entranced with the area that we vowed to return for an extended photography stay at Jekyll Island’s park.

Some of the ornate exterior of the Sea Island resort, The Cloister.

The Jekyll Island Club Hotel.

The turret at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel entrance.

Jacksonville, Florida was our next week-long destination. It was chosen it because of the RV park at the Naval Air Station and we felt there were fewer attractions in the area to distract Chris from installing Windows 7 and all new 64-bit software on her computer. She was not breathlessly looking forward to the week’s anticipated frustration, but the condition of her system mandated it. Since we had to change our residence to Florida, we did take some time out to get our Florida drivers licenses, voter registrations and a Coast Guard logo tag for Sonny. We were pleasantly surprised at how convenient it was to obtain everything. Florida has registration and licensing centers in shopping malls and retail stores. We even found one in a car parts store!

The Windows installation went well and Chris’ computer had the essential programs in place by the time we left on Wednesday, November 25th to head to Melbourne, FL for Thanksgiving dinner with our friends Mona and Merrill Wood. It had been a busy but productive month and we were happy to be making our way closer to Jessica.