May 15, 2018. Our First Day on Saint Simons.

May 15, 2018.  Our First Day on Saint Simons.  Today was a rest day for the most part.  Some of us slept late while others scoured the news, both national and local.  We sauntered out before noon and looked for a place to eat.  There is a Bonefish Grill not far from where we are staying.  We discovered to our disappointment that it doesn't open until 4:00 PM.  That was okay.  We prefer to sample local cuisine when we travel anyway.  There are a couple of Bonefishes back home.  Nearby, we found a local barbeque called Southern Soul.  The parking lot was full, so we stopped and tried the pulled pork.  It was really good.  The meat is smoked with oak wood.  I could taste the smoke in the pork.  I don't recall that ever happening before.  I love almost any barbeque but it is usually the sauce which makes the difference.  Today, I really tasted the smoke and it was excellent.

When last I wrote we were north of Nashville in Tennessee.  The following day we drove to Dublin, GA, where we spent the night.  I really expected the drive through Atlanta to be easy since we approached after noon on a Sunday.  And it was, until we reached downtown Atlanta.  I have no idea what happened.  However, six lanes were suddenly filled with vehicles.  We crept along at ten miles per hour for the next half-hour.  Traffic seemed to clear some, then twenty miles south of Atlanta, we hit another backup.  Again, three lanes slowed to ten miles per hour for another thirty minutes.  We never saw the cause for either of the jams.  We concluded there were just too many vehicles and too little highway.  Why would anyone want to live near Atlanta?  Life is too short.

We arrived on Saint Simons Island about noon Monday.  We settled into the condo and went to the grocery store.  That brings you up to date.

After lunch today, we returned to the Winn-Dixie grocery store to pick up a few things we forgot yesterday.  Winn-Dixie is a regional grocer with stores in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.  Things are laid out a bit differently than the local Hy-Vee back home.  But, I think we finally found everything.  Shopping in a different store results in a higher bill.  While you are looking for something you need, you see lots of stuff you don't need, but want.  I think the stores know that and purposely lay out their stores in a different pattern.  Stinkers.

Tonight we tried to get our bearings geographically.  Saint Simons lies between Sea Island and Jekyll Island.  Together, they are known as the Golden Isles.  They are so named because they were discovered 400 years ago by Spanish explorers looking for gold. Instead of gold, they found beauty, mild weather and a naturalness that resulted in the name.  There are beautiful beaches on each of the islands.  We will do some exploring on our own tomorrow.

I don't have many pictures for you tonight.  I figured you were tired of barns and traffic isn't very photogenic.  Above are pictures of a rest stop in Tennessee, the Nashville skyline, the Cumberland Plateau, and Atlanta traffic.  Finally, there are a couple of mallard ducks cleaning up under the bird feeder hanging from a tree in front of our patio.  I assume they are nesting here since one is a drake and the other is a hen.  See the curled feathers on the tail of the drake?  Those are found on all mallard drakes.  They actually consist of four feathers which twist together to form the two curls.  Bet you didn't know that, did you.

I am done.  Goodnight.