Arrival at Jekyll Island

 

After an early morning departure from the Baxley, GA Walmart, we arrived at Jekyll Island for the 35th New Year’s Bluegrass Festival.  Not only the convention center but also the shops across the street from it have been razed for construction of a new convention center and park. The shops and post office have been moved up the beach and are now housed in trailers. Zachery’s restaurant has moved to Brunswick.The airport is closed to provide motor coach parking for the festival, and we are parked on the edge of the runway facing the intercoastal waterway.  The We saw a few boats travel up the waterway and the sun set over it.  The Sidney Lanier Bridge is visible on our right side. 

                

After repairing a flat tire on George’s bicycle, we biked to the historic district to see the temporary facilities for the bluegrass festival, and we were pleased with the size and quality of the facility.  We checked out a couple of restaurants in the historic area and just enjoyed bicycling.  We ate dinner at a restaurant on the Atlantic side, Driftwood Bistro, which was praised on web reviews for its vegetables, and we thought the squash casserole and fired okra (cut like french fries) were exceptional.

We look forward to the first day of bluegrass tomorrow. 

               

Warmer Weather–Music to our Ears

 

It’s time to begin our annual migration south in search of warmer weather. In fact we’re a little late as the really cold weather has come early this year. We will depart December 28 for our fourth visit to the Jekyll Island New Year’s bluegrass festival. This year the concert will be held in quite impressive temporary quarters in the historic district while a new convention center is being built on the site of the old one. RV’s will park at the airport this year. We’ll miss the Atlantic views, but look forward to views of the intercoastal water way, the “Marshes of Glynn,” and the Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick. As always, biking around Jekyll’s bike paths will be keenly anticipated as will the local seafood.

After Jekyll, we’ll travel a short distance to St. Mary’s, Georgia, home of the Kings Bay Nuclear Submarine Base, where we will visit the submarine museum. Next, we’ll visit Fort Clinch State Park near Fernandina Beach, Florida, which will be the first in a string of Florida state and county parks we’ll visit as we travel down the east coast of Florida, eventually reaching our old haunt, Key West.