coastal Georgia

[bugeye]

Hey folks,
I will be going to Savanna and Jekyll Island with my wife and two young kids in a month. Does anybody have any suggestions for what to go and see/do? Boat or non boat related. I'm awfully excited to go and pretend snow doesn't exist. Thanks all.

[goodbasil]

Going by boat?
Read, "The Boy, Me and the Cat." by Henry Plummer
He'll tell you a bit about it 100 years ago.

[pefjr]

St. Simons Museum/Fort. Cumberland Island NS if you have the time.

[rob herschel]

this may sound morbid but some of the cemeteries are cool to visit. go look up johnny mercer's location.

[DavidS]

The Jekyll Island club is an interesting place to walk around. Not sure if the kids would get bored though. I think you could rent bikes there. There is also a sea turtle rescue center nearby that is geared towards kids.

Downtown Savannah is great. Again, you can do lots of walking and there are some museums, etc. You could also go out to Tybee Island for some beach time, lighthouse, etc.

St. Simons Island is another option. There is a lighthouse and a Coast Guard museum. Also, Ft. Frederica is an interesting spot. If you like BBQ, there is an awesome BBQ spot near the end of the St. Simons Island airport runway in an old gas station. Great pulled pork.

I was down there in the fall to do some touring. Not much for wooden boats but a lot of water, etc.

Dave

[boatbuddha]

Georgia's barrier islands are great for sailing and boating, several islands are only accessible by boat. The state has a pretty good site.

http://crd.dnr.state.ga.us/content/displaycontent.asp?txtDocument=422

[rob herschel]

if you go to st. simon's, "the laziest shop in town" was a good place to eat but as the name implies you almost had to do your own cooking. not sure it's still there.

[rbgarr]

In Savannah there's a marine aquarium (small) at the Skidaway Institute and a wild animal park at Oatland Island. We used to take balls of combed-out cat hair and throw it into the wolf cage. They went crazy over it, probably out of sheer boredom and lack of other stimulation.

[Old Sailor]

And if you howl at the wolves, they'll howl back.
Old Sailor

[Bert Langley]

A place not that many people go to is the Department of Natural Resources office at the foot of the bridge over the Turtle River. Not a lot to see, but they do have some nice posters they hand out and maps of coastal fishing areas etc. Worth dropping by for a few minutes.

[willmarsh3]

If you go down the ICW through Georgia it's relatively undeveloped and really beautiful. Here's a short description of where I anchored one night in Sapelo Sound on my "Big Cruise"

http://www.willmarsh3.net/bc/log072901.html

[Robert Meyer]

Hey folks,
I will be going to Savanna and Jekyll Island with my wife and two young kids in a month. Does anybody have any suggestions for what to go and see/do? Boat or non boat related. I'm awfully excited to go and pretend snow doesn't exist. Thanks all.

Don't miss Fort Pulaski National Monument on Cockspur Island near Tybee Island. Designed and built by Robert E. Lee before the Civil War, It was the first fort bombarded with the new rifled canons used by the Army of Northern Aggression. Well worth a few hours visit on the way to Tybee.
http://www.georgia.org/Savannah/fort_pulaski_lg.jpg

[MiddleAgesMan]

Too many things to mention in Savannah. The historic district has hundreds of classic mansions, dozens of smallish museums and a couple bigger ones. The new Telfair Museum annex opened recently, which includes a children's area The architecture of the facility is at least as interesting as the exhibits, IMO. It is very contemporary (designed by a world renowned architect whose name I can't recall...Moshe?) so it took some arm-pulling to get it approved. There's golf, coastal and deep sea fishing, a casino boat; Fort Pulaski is great for all ages and Fort Jackson should be as well though I haven't been there for many years.

There are dozens of tours available in the historic district, guided and self-guided. There's a free shuttle service that runs throughout the district so you can leave the car at the hotel, walk and ride as your energy and the weather permit.

An hour away to the north is Hilton Head and the Golden Isles are about an hour south. Cumberland Island makes a nice excursion. Catch the Park Service people ferry in St. Mary's. Sapelo Island also has ferry service for day tours.

[Robert Meyer]

I forgot to mention one of my favorite places, The Ships of the Sea Museum. It has hundreds of ship models from all eras. Well worth a stop.

http://shipsofthesea.org/img/savannah2.gif
S.S Savannah
http://shipsofthesea.org/

[SamSam]

Sapelo Island is a good place to go. A half hour ferry boat ride out and the same back. The Reynolds Mansion(the tobacco people) has tours, the beaches are pretty much untouched, Hog Hammock is the runaway slave community, Gullah spoken there. There is a black guy that has an informal car rental business and also rents some mobile homes, that's the way to see the place, half the island is dirt road wilderness, with a few defunct plantations. I can get the phone number of the black guy if you want.

[bugeye]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. SamSam, I would like the car rental guy's number. Sounds interesting.

[Bob Triggs]

take a local boat ride around the islands and maybe some sea trout fishing too!!!

Captain Larry Kennedy (hes a great nature guide down there)

www.stsimonsoutfitters.com (http://www.stsimonsoutfitters.com)

Telephone is: 912-638-5454

[SamSam]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. SamSam, I would like the car rental guy's number. Sounds interesting.
The car rental operation is no more, I believe it collapsed from over informality. There are no repair facilities or a legal place to park at the ferry docks for a "business".

They still have tours, you can google Sapelo Island tours for info. Cumberland island has tours also, that's even more primitive than Sapelo and has wild horses running around.

When we drive to the beach, we like the beaches on Jekyl better than St. Simons, there are more of them and they're less crowded. The north end is always eroding and leaves a bunch of derelict trees that are interesting. (That's St. Simons in the background)

There's a water taxi that has dolphin tours and a kayak rental/tour place on St. Simons.

If you drive around, it's more interesting to stay off I-95.

http://weiw.lightshedder.com/photos/681634909_zjkRt-M.jpg

[George Ray]

Drive the coast road north of Brunswick and stop in the small towns such as Darien.
Go down to the shrimp boat docks and look at one of the last remaining hardware store/chandleries that has old wooden bins full of stuff and not a lot of bubble pack stuff. Just a mile south of the Darien bridge is a marina ( Two Way Fish Camp ) that has a very nice restaurant that is locally famous "Mudcat Charley's". The federal law enforcement training center in Brunswick keeps their boats there and you might get to see an exercise with Donzi's full of folks with guns yelling and shooting.
****************
Fodor's Review:
Mudcat Charlie's
Address: 250 Ricefield Way, Sapelo Island, GA | Map It
Phone: 912/261-0055

This tabby-and-wood restaurant on the Altamaha River sits right in the middle of the Two Way Fish Camp and is a favorite haunt of locals from nearby Darien. The restaurant overlooks the boats moored in the marina, and the seafood is local. Crab stew, fried oysters, and shrimp are the specialties, and the peach and apple pies are made in-house. It's 1 mi south of Darien on U.S. 17, just after the third bridge. Look for the Two Way Fish Camp sign.
http://www.fodors.com/world/north-america/usa/georgia/the-coastal-isles-and-the-okefenokee/review-50586.html

[Reynard38]

As mentioned numerous times Cumberland Island is beautiful. Did a sea kayak trip and it was like turning back the clock a couple hundred years. No sign of another human and the only living things were trees, seagulls and the wild horses.
Definetly stay off I-95. Stick to the backroads.

[Bill Perkins]

The slaves on Sapelo did not "run away" to Hog Hammock . The Island was a cotton plantation,or plantations ; they would have had to run away somewhere else. They were freed by the "Army of Northern Aggression ", and their descendent's live there still .

I agree with George ; the drive North from Brunswick to Darien on Rt.17 is great . The Altamaha River drains a quarter of this large state and the vast marshes along its lower regions were diked for rice culture . The Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation State Historic Site is right on this road and the diorama there of the dike system is well worth seeing .You can't grasp what you're driving through without stoping here .

The 6 ft. plus tides lift the less dense fresh water .Gates in the dikes allowed the fields to be flooded or drained as required .This was laid out by engineers brought in from the Netherlands and was hand dug by slaves .The scale is impressive.

The 2 way fish camp (fish fresh or salt water ) is interesting .The best food is in Darian at the Purple Pickle, or a restaurant on the River there(Skippers?).The crab cakes are good on this coast.

[SamSam]

Drive the coast road north of Brunswick and stop in the small towns such as Darien.
Go down to the shrimp boat docks and look at one of the last remaining hardware store/chandleries that has old wooden bins full of stuff and not a lot of bubble pack stuff. Just a mile south of the Darien bridge is a marina ( Two Way Fish Camp ) that has a very nice restaurant that is locally famous "Mudcat Charley's". The federal law enforcement training center in Brunswick keeps their boats there and you might get to see an exercise with Donzi's full of folks with guns yelling and shooting.
****************
Fodor's Review:
Mudcat Charlie's
Address: 250 Ricefield Way, Sapelo Island, GA | Map It
Phone: 912/261-0055

This tabby-and-wood restaurant on the Altamaha River sits right in the middle of the Two Way Fish Camp and is a favorite haunt of locals from nearby Darien. The restaurant overlooks the boats moored in the marina, and the seafood is local. Crab stew, fried oysters, and shrimp are the specialties, and the peach and apple pies are made in-house. It's 1 mi south of Darien on U.S. 17, just after the third bridge. Look for the Two Way Fish Camp sign.
http://www.fodors.com/world/north-america/usa/georgia/the-coastal-isles-and-the-okefenokee/review-50586.htmlDarien is where I live. I've worked a lot at Two-Way. Like I was saying about staying off I 95 and taking hwy 17 instead, the loop from Darien to Eulonia on hwy 99 is the alternate to 17 and takes you thru the National Historic area called The Ridge, and all the small fishing communities that are fast disappearing, Valona, Cedar Point, Bellville, Pelican Point.... Harris Neck, Shellman Bluff....There's just all sorts of **** out there all along the Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina coast if you stay on the roads that keep you as close to the ocean as possible.

Here's a little blurb on Darien...
http://www.sherpaguides.com/georgia/coast/central_coast/darien.html

.

[SamSam]

The slaves on Sapelo did not "run away" to Hog Hammock . The Island was a cotton plantation,or plantations ; they would have had to run away somewhere else. They were freed by the "Army of Northern Aggression ", and their descendent's live there still .Well, it could be a combination of non runaway and runaway slaves. I believe the Rebels lost control of the waterways and anything off of the mainland very early in the war (I don't buy into the War of Aggression or States Rights stuff) so if the slaves were there to begin with and never left, it was the plantation owners themselves who actually did the running away. The Yankees used to pull into some of those little settlements I mentioned before with smaller boats and shoot some cannons at things. All the locals were able to do was jump up and down and holler, shoot a couple rifles and swear a lot, shake their fists. There was no real fighting around here, the guy that burned Darien down in 1863, Montgomery, did it because he was deranged and just plain hateful. There was nobody here, they were all off somewhere else in the South fighting. He was based on St. Simons, I believe, and was just bored to death, they had such total control over everything off of the mainland, there was nothing to do. The most exciting action around here was the local militia was going to have a meeting, so they posted all the particulars in the Savannah paper, the time and place just outside of town here, at The Ridge. Well, the Yankees had a spy or two in Savannah, so they read all about it in the newspaper and just landed some men, surrounded the meeting house and took them all prisoner. It was just old men and young boys, all the able bodied men being somewhere else. Whether they ran there or were left there, I guess you couldn't even call them slaves because there sure wasn't any massuhs out there to mess with them.

Yes, that's "Skippers" down there on the waterfront. There are also other places scattered all around the backwater places. There is a surprising number of people living out in the sticks, hidden here and there.

[Bill Perkins]

Interesting link to the Darien info .I have a one ton wooden outboard launch on the coast and am always on the lookout for marinas that will launch her with straps . I know 2 way has a travel lift and there's an old overhead crane up by Savanna that will do it .Many of the overhead crane set ups now just want to launch with the 3 point hichup found on glass boats .They turned me down at Shellman's Bluff for instance. Can you think of other places that might launch the boat North of Darien ?

[davebrown]

i am dismayed to observe that there seems to be no way to rent a wooden rowboat, or a little daysailor. savannah would be such a good place for that. not that you can anywhere else, except maybe seattle, which i have done.

[Bill Perkins]

You can rent sea kayaks ,which are good in the marsh .Tybee Island has a good shop,with good waters for paddling .They'll take you on a guided tour if you want .There are tours available from a company on St.Simons too ; including paddles on the Altamaha complex .

[Bob Triggs]

You can rent sea kayaks ,which are good in the marsh .Tybee Island has a good shop,with good waters for paddling .They'll take you on a guided tour if you want .There are tours available from a company on St.Simons too ; including paddles on the Altamaha complex .

YEP! Thats the people I linked to above! They do paddling trips, birding, nature, history, fishing... a great trip.

Here's the link to them again: www.stsimonsoutfitters.com (http://www.stsimonsoutfitters.com) Tel: 912-638-5454

[SamSam]

Interesting link to the Darien info .I have a one ton wooden outboard launch on the coast and am always on the lookout for marinas that will launch her with straps . I know 2 way has a travel lift and there's an old overhead crane up by Savanna that will do it .Many of the overhead crane set ups now just want to launch with the 3 point hichup found on glass boats .They turned me down at Shellman's Bluff for instance. Can you think of other places that might launch the boat North of Darien ?
I can't think of any. Here's others in that area... Dallas Bluff 832-5116, Fisherman's Lodge 832-4671, Pelican Point 832-7012.
Blue And Hall 437-4677. The last is a rough jewel, private/public club on public land, $50 membership fee, $10 launch for members. It was wiped out by a tornado last year but is recovering. I launch my pontoon boat there. They have a lift and a ramp, ice bait ,etc.

What are the dimensions? Some of them have spreader frames for pontoons or things, maybe if you had your own straps. If you had your own lift frame with straps, you would be set for just about anywhere. It wouldn't take much for 1 ton, some sort of rectangle (maybe knockdown) to keep things spread side to side and fore and aft, and some straps. Do you trailer launch?

[Bill Perkins]

Thanks for the numbers .I don't think my 2 wheel drive Ford Ranger can reliably pull the boat up the ramps .I store the boat on a rack and she's launched by a forklift .The boat's 24 feet long by 7 ft.beam.A shallow planeing hull.

Maybe I should invest in my own straps as you suggest .Aft the strap could hang from a stout crosspiece . Above this spreader 2 big eye bolts would provide the connection points the operator is set up to deal with . Below the spreader the sling would be shackled to big eye nuts on the other end of the bolts .On the forward stretcher , a chain bridal would lead from the eye bolts to a central lifting shackle .I've got a straight keel .The question is ,if I showed up with this gear already installed would they lift me ?

Uh Oh ; thread drift.

[Paul Denison]

Make sure to watch this movie before you travel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_in_the_Garden_of_Good_and_Evil

[PaulC]

I have always been curious about how hard paddling something like a wee lassie would be against the tide. What are the things a kid from Michigan should be aware of or watching for?

It is a very pretty and interesting area. I was looking for this picture for the photo's in Misc.Boat... but it does go well here. We have been here other times when the water was just rushing by.

I like to get off of 95 too!

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/paulc-100/D_Ga.jpg

[SamSam]

I have always been curious about how hard paddling something like a wee lassie would be against the tide. What are the things a kid from Michigan should be aware of or watching for?

It is a very pretty and interesting area. I was looking for this picture for the photo's in Misc.Boat... but it does go well here. We have been here other times when the water was just rushing by.

I like to get off of 95 too!

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/paulc-100/D_Ga.jpg
That photo's off the Darien bridge, looking east. Fort King George used to run canoe trips from the Altamaha regional Park down to Darien. We have 6-8 ' tides and you want to go with the flow, for sure.

Here's a piece of info...
http://www.sherpaguides.com/georgia/coast/central_coast/altamaha_river_bioreserve.html
That Barrington park is nice, and free I think, but it's in nowhere with little supervision and as everywhere, there can be some shiftless, sorry people sometimes. I think they closed the bathrooms because of vandalization. Sometimes there are drunks and their problems. The ARP is regulated, with a store and all, at least before the recent floods.

http://www.glynncounty.org/index.aspx?NID=992

http://altamaharegionalpark.com/

[SamSam]

The question is ,if I showed up with this gear already installed would they lift me ?


Probably. Just tell them you've done it that way for years and no one anywhere has ever been concerned about any problems. And then stand off to the side acting unconcerned while they lift it. ;)

Unless you have an aluminum or heavy galvanized trailer, it will fall apart within two years of dipping it on ramps.

[Bill Perkins]

Paul; a friend and I put in way up on Cat head Creek at the very top of the tide .High there is about an hour after Darien .For the first 15 minutes we were paddling against the incoming tide. Then we passed through a stretch of slack water High .From there on we rode the ever strengthening ebb down to Darien ,where it was running like a mill race at mid tide . That's a good paddle .Now there's a little inn on the river bank ; the Sailfish.

I plan my paddling trips around not opposing the tides .The tables are on line http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/index.shtml .At mid tide you'll find it hard to fight .Below Rt.17 I wouldn't use a small open canoe like the Wee Lassie .It can be rough ; especially when wind opposes the tide . Even big power boat wakes could threaten such a boat in those constricted waters .You see the size of some of the shrimp boats useing the river . The banks are soft mud so you really need a boat that allows you to self rescue .I carry an inflatable paddle float on my sea kayak.

[PaulC]

Sam, Sam
Thanks for all of the info. It is an interesting area. Are there other places close to the coast that are more paddle friendly or is it all more in the upland areas?

Bill,
Thanks for the insights too!

[rbgarr]

Are there other places close to the coast that are more paddle friendly

Tybee and Wassaw Islands camping trip report (see photos and satellite images)
http://www.clubkayak.com/fska/treports.asp?trip=37

Kayaking outfitter
http://www.savannahcanoeandkayak.com/half_day_tours.htm

Launch ramps
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=105746423827158840385.00045216e46d3185b748d

[JimJ]

Fort Pulaski National Monument
Well worth a visit

[Stan D]

Vinnie Van Go Go's for pizza right in downtown Savannah. It keeps the college kids going. And Uncle Bubba's for the best steak. It's on the road out to Tybee, and owned by the brother(?) of Paula Deen. And out on Tybee is a great little breakfast joint, The Breakfast Club. Key word "joint". Not much to look at, but good food. You can tell what I do when I'm down there.

Besides eating, there is a railroad museum in Savannah. Not much in the way of restored equipment, but a good display of old shop tools. It was a few years ago when I was there, so things might have improved. They were just starting out.

[Stan D]

Oh, and we plan to retire there, and my plan is to open a boat rental place there.

[ahp]

The way I heard it was that Sapalo Island had just one plantation. The owner was a bit different. He trained his slaves to use fire arms. Most slave owners were afraid to have slaves with fire arms. Anyway, when us Yankees came he and his slaves went inland. After the war many of the slaves drifted back, and their desendents are still there. Some offer over night accommodation and meals.. There is no resturant on the island, just a little snack place. There is also a black lady who gives tours , and I believe you can rent bicycles.

[Liam English]

We lived and worked in Savannah 1980-1993 and found it an interesting experience, teaching us,among other things, that this is an amazingly diverse country we live in. Some thoughts... definately read "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". Much better than the film and gives the reader much insight into the minds of white and black Savannians. We knew many of the people writen about in the book and can attest to its essential truths.

Have a meal ar Mrs. Wilks Boarding House on Jones Sreet. Inexpensive and really southern. Lunch time only, I believe.

Make an effort to go out of town to eat at the wonderful sea food restaurants. Especially go to the Crab Shack just before you get to Tybee Island. It kind of distills a lot of Savannah in its food and atmosphere.

Don't bother with most of the restaurants off River Steet. Boring and overpriced to say nothing of being full of tourists. The bars down there can get pretty rowdy, as well. River Street is wonderful to walk along. That costs nothing, but is worth much.Take a river cruise from River Street, though. You will go up river a ways and see the huge Savannah Ports Authority area and then (or maybe before) go seaward to Tybee. Well worth the trip. Re: the railroad museum mentioned above. It was the principle shooting loacation for the wonderful movie "Glory" in the 1980's and many years before that, an important shop facilty for the Southern Railroad. They could make entire steam locomotives there. Must have been a really cool place to see as recently as the early 1950's.

One of the most interesting things to me was how 21st century development in Savannah outside the historic district is just like 21st century development in the rest of the country. The car is king and chain restaurants, malls, and shops cover the land. Once outside the historic district, skip another 20-30 miles and get out into the country. The dialects spoken there will defy your ability to understand the simplest sentences. But worry not, people will understand you... They watch television and have learned to understand standard English!

[Stan D]

Oh yeah. I forgot about "The Book". They almost treat "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" like the Bible. So if someone approaches you and asks if you've "read the book", it's not a Bible reference.

[bugeye]

It seemed like this thread died a while back, and I stopped looking at it. Glad I looked again. I really appreciate all of the insights and suggestions. All of the travel info we've looked up or sent for shows nothing but a bunch of goofy looking people in their golfing outfits. Figured it wasn't all like that. I'm pretty excited to get out of Dodge. This will be the first time that my wife and I have gone anywhere on vacation that wasn't visiting family. Well, at least the 4-5 days in GA. After we leave GA, we're going to Florida to visit the in-laws. I'll need to do some drinking there, I think. Thanks again all. Keep it coming, if anything else comes to mind.

[OconeePirate]

Oh yeah. I forgot about "The Book". They almost treat "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" like the Bible. So if someone approaches you and asks if you've "read the book", it's not a Bible reference.

One of the ladies that works in the antique store next to my shop is the niece of Jim Williams. He is the one that got her started in the antiques game. Apparently he found that the people he was trying to buy from, usually older women, were more likely to trust him when he had a young woman with him. Anyway, her memories of him are much nicer than the image portrayed in the book and movie.

[MiddleAgesMan]

The Crab Shack has been in decline since you left, Liam E....the food anyway. The atmosphere is about the same but you'll get better seafood at Red Lobster. :( For good seafood at Tybee I like A. J.'s Dockside, on the Back River.

There are a few gems downtown, Skyler's and The Pink House. Both are reliably excellent and Skyler's prices are surprisingly reasonable for what they provide, including very good and very professional service.

[Bill Perkins]

I've heard of a restaurant sited where rt.17 crosses the Ogechee. Has anyone been there?

[MiddleAgesMan]

That would be Love's, Bill. Many years ago they were just another red-neck seafood dive but they redecorated, redesigned their menu and prices (it's pricey for what you get IMO) but when I tried the "new" Loves three or four years ago I wasn't impressed with the food. Someone with more recent experience might disagree.

[Mrleft8]

Cross country skiing..... Sledding.....:D ;)