May 27, 2018. Another Quiz for Grandchildren.

May 27, 2018.  Another Quiz for Grandchildren.  Hello kids.  There are ten photos above. The contestants must identify the day of the blog in which the picture appears.  Some are easy. But, some will be more difficult to find.

You can again expect I will grade gently because I want everyone to win.  The deadline will be next Friday, at 8:00 PM.  Of course, you don't have to wait until Friday to submit your responses. If I get them all early, I'll announce the winner(s) early.

First place prize is $30, second gets $20 and third place gets $15. Good luck to all.

Goodnight.

May 26, 2018. Saint Simons Island on a Trolley.

May 26, 2018.  Saint Simons Island on a Trolley.  Saint Simons Island was inhabited by indigenous people 2000 years before the birth of Jesus.  In the 1730s, Anglican minister, John Wesley, was a minister in Savannah.  He came to Saint Simons to convert the inhabitants to Christianity.  He met with little success and retreated to England where he founded the movement known as Methodism.  His brother, Charles, delivered a sermon under a live oak tree near Christ Church in 1836.  The tree is depicted above.  It has survived for 400 years despite being topped by a lightning strike.

Later in the 18th Century, the ownership of the island was contested by the English and Spanish.  In 1842 the English drove off the Spanish in the Battle of Bloody Marsh when the Spanish troops were ambushed and defeated by a much smaller army of Brits, primarily Scottish soldiers.  The English army was under the overall command of General James Oglethrope.  Following the defeat, the Spanish relinquished their claims to Georgia. 

Saint Simons became a plantation island.  Sea Island Cotton and rice were the primary products grown on the plantations.  Of course, the plantations were farmed by slaves prior to the Civil War.  The cotton grown here was considered to compare favorably to Egyptian Cotton.  The Civil War ended slavery and doomed the big plantations.  There was an economic revival caused by the lumber industry.  The live oaks on the island are an extremely hard wood.  Live oaks harvested here went into the construction of the USS Constitution, now in the Baltimore Harbor.  The USS Constitution is also known as "Old Ironsides" because cannonballs bounced off the live oak planking of its sides.

Today, the main economic driver on the island is tourism.  More than 25% of the residences here are rental properties.  The draw for visitors are the climate, beaches and the history of the island, all of which we have enjoyed.

The pictures above include Kevin, our tour guide, one of the many Spirit Trees on the island which feature faces carved in trees, one of the few slave graveyards (most were buried in the woods with no headstone), an African church founded in 1859, the Wesley Tree, the entry to Wesley Gardens, Christ Church originally constructed in 1810, the trolley, Musgrove Plantation (venue of President George H. W. Bush's first cabinet meeting), a slave cabin constructed in 1810, a private jet landing at the airport and Avenue of the Oaks on Retreat Plantation planted in 1850.

That's all for tonight.  Goodnight.

May 25, 2018. Jekyll Island Historic District. Millionaires' Club.

May 25, 2018.  Jekyll Island Historic District.  Millionaires' Club.  Wednesday we returned to Jekyll Island and toured the Historic District on a trolley.  It was an interesting 90-minute history lesson.

In 1733, General James Oglethrope named Jekyll Island in honor of Sir Joseph Jekyll (actually, the correct spelling has only one "l" according to our guide), his friend and financier in England.  The island changed hands several times before becoming an exclusive hunting club for men who made untold fortunes in the late 19th century; Rockefeller, Morgan, Vanderbilt, Pulitzer and others.  At its peak, the island was owned by 100+ men whose combined wealth was equal to 1/6 of all the wealth in the world at the time.

Initially, 53 memberships were sold.  A clubhouse was constructed which provided space for 48 of the members.  Other members bought lots and constructed "cottages" for their families.  At least one of the "cottages" consists of 10,000 square feet.  By today's standards the cottages would qualify as mansions.  Most showcased all of the amenities available in the early 20th Century.  The members were accompanied by their personal servants.  The ratio of servant to member was 6-1.

By 1875, the island came under the ownership of John DuBignon.  With the help of several well-placed friends, shares were offered to wealthy investors.  The shares were marketed as a winter retreat for those who could afford to flee the harsh winters in the industrial north.  The "season" for members was January through March.

The private ownership of the island continued until the second World War.  Interest waned as fewer and fewer children or grandchildren of the original members returned to the island.  In the 1940s, the Island was acquired by the state of Georgia.  After failing to purchase the island, the state condemned it.  The entire island with structures was valued at less than $700,000.  Most of that money went to local governmental authorities for back real estate taxes.  The island now has its own governing body even though it is owned by the state.  However, it is completely-self supporting.  No state money is spent for the preservation of the structures.

The pictures show the original clubhouse.  It now has an annex and is operated as a hotel.  The Faith Chapel displays a Tiffany stained glass window.  It was built in 1904 and was used a non-denominational chapel until the state acquired it along with the island.

The phone pictured above symbolizes the first transcontinental phone call which was placed to the island and included Alexander Graham Bell, Woodrow Wilson and other important people whose names I cannot recall.  The call was connected to San Francisco, New York, Washington, DC, and Jekyll Island, where the President of AT&T was recuperating from an injury.

Our friend, Fred, worked at Crane Company for several years.  Fred, the Crane Cottage, fourth from the bottom, was built by Richard Teller Crane, founder of the plumbing fixture company.  It is the largest, most lavish of the cottages.  It, along with many of the other cottages, is a popular wedding venue today.

That's Jekyll Island from a historical perspective.  The final picture is a blue heron.  I include it as a reminder that the island's initial attraction was its natural beauty and its wildlife.  It has been well preserved in a fashion so as to allow us to view many of the same features which existed 100 years ago and 400 years ago.  If you are in the area, it is worth a day to see it.

Today, we toured Saint Simons Island on a trolley.  The next blog will show you many of the things we saw today and tell you a little about Saint Simons.  Goodnight.

May 23, 2018, Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island.

May 23, 2018,  Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island.  I was in the living room tonight after dinner when Annie called me to the walk-in closet in the bedroom.  Domesticated as I am, I responded immediately.  When I entered, she was pointing to the shelf above the hanging clothes.  There, on the shelf, were two biking helmets for use by guests of the condo.  So now, we are two people with two heads, two bikes and eight helmets.  Just thought you'd like to know . . .

Several days ago, we went to Jekyll Island.  Jekyll is 2.2 miles off the south shore of Saint Simons Island (you can see the Saint Simon lighthouse across the water, above), yet it takes about 40 minutes to get there by car.  On the north end of Jekyll, is Driftwood Beach.  The beach has dead trees littered about.  Most are bleached by sun and salt water.  Others are barnacle-covered stumps peeking up through the wet sand.  The beach is different than most we've walked.  Most beaches are loose sand with shells and sea gulls.  Driftwood is one piece of nature's art after another.

We drove through the historic district of Jekyll, but didn't stop.  Jekyll is called the Millionaires' Island because it was once owned by many of the wealthiest men on earth.  In 1910, a handful of bankers and politicians met secretly at the Club on Jekyll and wrote legislation which created the Federal Reserve Bank.  Those men held 25% of the world's wealth at that time.

Owners of the island in the first part of the 20th Century included Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, JP Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer and other barons of industry.  We went back today to learn more of the history of the island.  I will include pictures of the cottages of the rich and the Club in the next blog.

Goodnight. 

May 19, 2018. The Village on Saint Simons Island.

May 19, 2018.  The Village on Saint Simons Island.  The village is about a mile from our condo.  It consists of 4-5 blocks of tourists shops, restaurants, a pier and a lighthouse.  There is a park and museum.  We were there late morning earlier this week and saw three busloads of tourists unload.

The pier hosted 5-6 fishermen and women.  We saw one pull in a foot-long silver fish of unknown species.  I wasn't quick enough with the camera to show you what we saw.  Doubtlessly, if I had been, one of my knowledgeable readers could tell us all what it was.  The fisherman raised the lid of a cooler and tossed it in before I could get a good look. 

There was a pelican sitting atop the railing along the pier.  He was banded and absolutely fearless.  When photographing wildlife, I always take one picture from a distance in case the subject is flighty and flees as I approach.  If it doesn't run away or fly off, I get closer and take more pictures.  This bird allowed me to get within three feet of him/her.  She locked her eyes on me when I was close enough to reach out and touch her.  She did not flinch and she did not look away.  One could almost conclude she was domesticated and put on the pier by locals for the fascination of tourists.

About two blocks from the pier is the lighthouse.  It is one of the best maintained lighthouses we've seen, including those in Maine shown to you last fall.  The original lighthouse was constructed in 1810.  It was destroyed by Confederate troops during the Civil War to keep it from falling into Federal hands.  The lighthouse is said to be haunted by the ghost of a former lightkeeper who was slain in a duel with his assistant.  The duel is said to have been over inappropriate advances made by one to the wife of the other.  Accounts differ as to which was defending the honor of his wife.  The current lighthouse was built on the same site in 1872.  It underwent a major restoration in 2010.

There are several banyan trees around the lighthouse.  A feature of a banyan tree is that its limbs will often dip down to the ground, take root and jut skyward again.  There is one in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, which covers two acres and has rooted into 16 major trunks.  Those here are not nearly so majestic, but are attention grabbers, all the same.

We had lunch at the Iguana Seafood Grill.  The Iguana has a giant iguana painted on an interior wall.  She is wearing sunglasses.  Why she wears sunglasses inside, I do not know.  And, I did not ask.  I suppose it was supposed to be whimsical.  I have used feminine pronouns here because of the name we assigned to the iguana.  We decided to call her Lajuana the Iguana.

We have no plan for tomorrow.  Sea Island is nearby and is said to be worth the ten-mile drive.  Jekyll Island remains on our itinerary.  Or, we may do nothing.  Sunday is a day of rest, you know.

Goodnight.