Day 2 - St. Simons Island

 

Day 2 - St. Simons Island

Today we will be visiting two of the Golden Isles off the coast of Georgia - St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island. The Golden Isles has been named the #1 Best U.S. Islands in 2024. They have actually been on the best islands list in the U.S for the past 10 years! The Golden Isles consists of four islands: St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Little St. Simons Island (a private island), and Jekyll Island.

We rode around the island on our bus so I do not have many pictures of the historical buildings as we only stopped at Christ Church. The Internet has helped me to remember some of the information explained to us on our bus tour. 

St. Simons Island is a blend of many cultures. It as been influenced by the indigenous, Spanish, French, British, and enslaved people. It once grew cotton and the long-fiber Sea Island Cotton is still available today. Hamilton Plantation grew some high-quality Sea Island cotton and some of the slave cabins still remain on the plantation. The Tabby Slave cabins were constructed with a concrete-like mix of lime, sand, water, and oyster shells. 

St. Simons first exported Southern Live Oak lumber to build the USS Constitution and other frigates. The USS Constitution was nicknamed "Old Ironsides" probably because Southern Live Oak is very hard.

During the 1730s, St. Simons Island was frequently visited by John and Charles Wesley. Epsworth By the Sea is a conference and resort area for the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. There are meeting rooms, cabins, auditorium, etc. providing a great conference site.

Christ Church was built in 1820, ruined by the Union soldiers during the Civil War, and rebuilt in 1884 by Anson Phelps Dodge, Jr. in memory of his wife, Ellen. Some of the graves date back to 1803. The original congregation met under the oak trees beginning in 1736. Eugenia Price used this site as a setting in the first of her Georgia trilogy novels, The Beloved Invader.

Tiffany windows above.

"The Confessions of Saint Peter" is at the back of the church is the oldest (1899) stained glass window and was shipped from Germany.

This window is dedicated to Anson Phelps Dodge. It mentions a Home for Boys. Anson began and financed a home for boys in memory of his son he lost to a carriage accident. 

Christ Church is constructed of wood in the cruciform design with a trussed Gothic roof and steeple. (https://www.goldenisles.com/listing/christ-church-frederica/129/)

This is Captain Samuel Wright (1738-1804) from Georgia that fought in the Revolutionary War. His marker was recently placed there by the Daughter of the American Revolution.

The famous Georgian author, Eugenia Price, is buried in this cemetery. She wrote the St. Simon Trilogy. The first two books are about the lighthouse on the island and the third book is based on Anson's life.

The First African Baptist Church was built in 1869. However, the congregation formed in 1859. I am not sure if I remember it correctly but I think we were told the congregation would come and work on building the church in the evening after a long day of work so it took 10 years to complete. The church does not allow tours so we were unable to step inside the church.

The Battle of Bloody Marsh took place at Fort Frederica (built in 1736). The Spanish were invading on July 7, 1942 and rumor is their blood turned the marsh red. The British won the battle and Georgia remained a British colony.

We were told the island was great for white shrimp. It is supposed to be sweeter and the tour guide recommended Iguanas for lunch. In addition to a shrimp lunch, the restaurant served soft serve ice cream for dessert for free! How could we pass that up?

Instead of shopping after lunch in Pier Village, I walked to the pier and talked to the people fishing and crabbing. 

I thought my grandkids would like to see the hermit crabs walking around.

To our surprise, our bus parked near a tree spirit. "What is a tree spirit?" you asked. Well, if you look closely at some bare spots on various trees around the island, you may see "someone" looking back at you. We were able to spot the Cora, the Mermaid Tree Spirit.

These carvings do not hurt the tree. They are carved in dead wood that was a result of a broken limb or lightning or some other fate. These carvings (mostly faces) began around 1982 by a local artist and the Welcome Center has a scavenger hunt (map) to help you locate all 20 tree spirits. They even had a stand near this one so you can take selfies with your phone. The artist waits for the tree to tell him its story before he carves a face.

In this same area near the pier is Neptune Park. It looks to have a very nice playground, a pool/water area (splash pad), picnic area, and even a miniature golf course. It was named after Neptune Small, a slave at Retreat Plantation (owned by Henry King). Henry went and fought in the Civil War and Neptune followed him to war. Henry was killed at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia and when he didn't return to camp, Neptune went to look for him. He found him and brought Henry's body back to be buried in the Christ Church cemetery. 

Behind the park is St. Simons Lighthouse - the oldest building in the area and it is still operational. Built in 1807, destroyed during the Civil War by the Confederates, and rebuilt in 1872 close to the site of the original lighthouse.

It is time to leave St. Simons Island but first I must tell you that the movie Conrack (1974) based on the book by Pat Conroy's memoir titled, The Water is Wide, was filmed here and in Brunswick, GA.