5. USA: St. Simons Island, Georgia.

Thursday, June 20, 280 mile drive, 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Kissimee to St. Simons Island, Georgia.  Friday, June 21, St Simons Island. 

Two weeks (!) into our journey, we turn north for the first time.  We speed through Jacksonville on the freeway, noticing its port, but pause to wander through St. Augustine, before stopping to visit my former secretary, Fran, and her husband, Bill.  Fran retired at the end of 1990, after working for me for seven years (in spite of not selecting Fran when she first applied to the firm).  Fran and Bill returned to northeastern Florida, to be near most of their children and grandchildren.  We park and wander around the touristy shops in Fernandina Beach, a charming  little town, before ask directions at the jewelry shop owned by Fran and Bill's son. 

Fran and Bill's apartment overlooks what today is a rugged surf.  We have a pleasant visit, catching up on friends and family and take a walk along the sand.  After a couple of hours, however, we must leave for St. Simons, which itself involves a bit of family history: when I told my father where we were going, he was reminded that, when he was a boy, his father used to come to Little St. Simons in the winter for party political meetings.

We arrive late.  Once again our condo is lovely, though there is a mix up.  We are in the right apartment number, but the wrong building.  In the morning we have to move, but our new apartment is even nicer than the first.  From our fifth floor room on the north side of the building, we have a splendid view of the beach and the shrimpers out on the ocean.

We spend the first day of summer on the long, flat beach.  The ocean is not clear like the Gulf, but silty brown like the sand.  The water is pleasant, warmer than California, but not as warm as the Gulf.  Mara suffers the first casualty of the trip, a jellyfish sting, but that does not stop her from attaching herself to girls her age or size, as if they had always been friends.  Thomas makes tea with sugar (sand) and "wa-hoe" (water).  Robert never leaves the water.  Jeffrey, Mara and Robert all watch, fascinated, as "Captain Ackers" and his boy catch crabs, trolling a piece of chicken along the shallow bottom, next to the swimmers. 

Robert with Sun Protection and Thomas at St. Simons

Enjoying the Beach!

The Beach and Long Tides; The Pool

 The tide covers tremendous distances and by afternoon the ocean has moved out about 100 feet.  Cathy is left abandoned on her towel, as most everyone else moves closer to the water.  We visit the pool after the beach and have dinner at Crabdaddy's, with a casual walk around the Island shopping district to finish our day.