St. Augustine, St. Simons, Jelyll Island, Savannah, and Hilton Head in Whirlwind Tour Tours

We pulled out of Lady Lake, Florida on February 20 and drove to St. Augustine, Florida, to camp at Indian Forest Campground. It was an adequate campground, but it wasn't a resort by any means.  We spent three days in St. Augustine having fun in sunshine and rain and making great memories.

The pier at St. Augustine Beach.

Second day trolley tour in the rain!

Exploring Old Town in the rain

Lunch at The Bunnery in Old Town

The Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine

The Cross Marks the Place Where the Spaniards landed

Beautiful Huge Old Live Oaks with Spanish Moss

The Old Jail Museum

The Old General Store Museum

Castillo de San Marcos Fort in St. Augustine

Blasting the Cannon at the Fort

Vilano Beach looking at the Atlantic Ocean

Danny got a kick out of using the 4 wheel drive to tackle driving on Vilano Beach.

Looking across to St. Augustine at sunset from Vilano Beach

After three great days in St. Augustine, we headed to Brunswick, Georgia, hoping to tour Jekyll Island and St. Simon's Island.  We found Coastal Georgia Campground and Resort easily and set up camp before beginning our exploration.  We were not disappointed and thoroughly enjoyed touring both islands.  We spent the afternoon on St. Simons Island.

Mid-afternoon tour of the Coast Guard Museum on St. Simons Island

Beautiful Old Lighthouse on St. Simons Island

Here I am at the top of the Lighthouse..... quite a climb

View from the top of the light house.

Gorgeous Live Oak Tree in a waterfront park on St. Simons Island.

Jekyll Island Recreational and Hunting Club was created by Mr. Dubignon and his brother-in-law during the gilded age.  They sold memberships to their hunting and recreation club to elite and wealthy families as a winter "Snow Bird" escape from the cold in the northern United States.  When this club was developed, Florida's Palm Beach and other retreats didn't exist.  The club soon became know as "The Millionaire's Club," and the main lodge provided rooms and apartments for families to enjoy.  Many families built their own "Cottages" on the island near the lodge where entertainment and meals were provided. It remained a popular destination for the rich until complications from WWII caused it to end, and its last season was in 1942.  The state of Georgia now owns this retreat and have turned it into a tourist attraction and luxury resort.  We especially had fun on Jekyll Island by having lunch at the Grand Dining Room of the Jekyll Island Hotel's and then biking around the island that afternoon.  What a great weather day we had seeing lots of interesting things!  Here are a few.

We learned so much about Jekyll Island by touring Jekyll Island
Museum housed in an old stable.

The original owner of Jekyll Island's home or cottage.

Jekyll Island Club Hotel's guest play croquet on the lawn.

Here we are in the beautiful Grand Dining Room - a full service restaurant.

What a delicious meal in a luxurious place!

Biking after lunch on the island's trails led us across marsh boardwalks...

Beneath ancient live oaks....

To Driftwood Beach...

and more unusual sites.

Here we two are on Driftwood Beach.

We stopped at the wharf and saw St. Simons Island Lighthouse
across St. Simons Sound.

The next morning, we drove on to Savannah and camped at Red Gate Campground.

Red Gate Campground in Savannah

 We arrived by noon and drove out to Tybee Island and historic Bonaventure Cemetery that afternoon.  This beautiful old cemetery is filled with lovely grave stones below tall majestic live oaks.

Tybee Island Lighthouse and Museum

Tybee Island Beach

We have lived near Highway 80 in a couple of places during our
married lives so this sign was of interest to us.

Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah

The next day we toured Savannah's Historic District, River Street, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, and Forsyth Park.  This old city contains many squares which are much like small city parks surrounded by gilded age houses.We lunched at The Lady and Son's - Paula Deen's restaurant. The experience did not hold up to hipe that we had heard about it..... expensive lunch and we have enjoyed tastier food at other restaurants.  Savannah was interesting, but one day was plenty of time for us.  

River Street in Savannah

Park where Forrest Gump sat on the bench.

Forsyth Park Fountain

Here we are in Savannah next to the Savannah River

River Taxi Provided transport from River Street to the Convention
Center and Hotel across the river.

Lunch at Paula Deen's The Lady and Sons

Old City Cemetery in Historic Savannah

Quiet Residential Street in Historic Savannah

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

Interior of the beautiful cathedral

The following morning we drove to Hilton Head Island to spend the day.  Now that is a great place! We arrived in time to enjoy a picnic lunch - chilly so we ate in the truck.  Then we set out to ride bikes on the beach and some of the 50 miles of paved trails on Hilton Head.  This would be a great place to spend several days, but our schedule meant we only had one day.  On toward Memphis tomorrow.  Here are a few pictures of Hilton Head Island. 

We had never ridden our bikes on a beach before, so this was fun!

There were quite a few bikers out on this windy and cool day!

The trails were being used continually by bikers, hikers and walkers.

There goes Danny beside a lush pond landscaping.

Do you see the two alligators on the other side of the pond?

A boardwalk accessed to the beach from the street.

This upscale beach had great pergola with swings and benches
as well as a pretty fountain.

Mr. Fraser was instrumental in bringing national attention to this beautiful
island when a photo of him walking an alligator was published in
a newspaper.  The statue was created from the photo.  I found this statue
quite intriguing.