Bayous to Beaches Oct 19. Day 8 Islands in the Stream (or Atlantic). Jekyll, Tybee and Hilton Head

[WileyCoyote]

Tuesday 8 October

Yesterday is HERE

As a reminder, we are now into the non Florida leg of this trip. We will return to the sunshine state at the end of this week. Today we look around Jekyll, visit Driftwood Beach, Have lunch at Tybee and arrive at Hilton Head Island

We were awake at 6.30 and a bit disappointed to see the sky was still overcast

And we had scored yet another dismal view of a/c units and the car park.erm:

Undeterred we headed for the free breakfast which was pretty typical Hampton Inn fare.

Andy had scrambled eggs and sausages with toast.

I made my own cinnamon waffles and was v pleased with the result

I didn’t partake of the smoothies - a bit too green for my liking

There was cereal and fruit on offer too

We thought this was a pretty good set up

On the way back to the room I picked up some brochures in the lobby for Dibber smithlane and had a read about the turtle hatching.

If you do stay around here they supply special red light torches for night beach walks so that the turtles aren’t startled by bright phone lights. I would like to come back one day during turtle season.

We loaded up the car

and then doubled back to take a look at the beach

Passing the hotel pool

And along the wooden walkway

It was really windy - still warm though - and it was a shame it was overcast as I am sure it would be beautiful on a sunny day.

My glasses go dark in the sun and wind and I thought this was a tiny turtle - turned out to be snails on a stone

We finished off with a windswept selfie

All checked out , it was time for a drive round to see some of the sights.

Our first stop planned was Driftwood Beach but we initially drove straight past it and ended up at the pier via the Tabby House

Jekyll was so named in the late 1700's by an English General in honour of his friend( the financier Joseph Jekyll) .

Said General was Sir James Oglethorpe and he was clearly a very busy boy back in the day as his name pops up quite a bit around the Georgia and S Caroline area.

The Tabby House (Tabby is local construction material) belonged to Major William Horton who was stationed there to protect the Fort on St Simons and the Sea Cotton and barley/hops trade.

The house is listed as one of the oldest buildings in Georgia and is apparently a big wedding venue too ! They put up marquees alongside it ...

There are a lot of bike trails on the island and that would be a great way to explore this and the other historic sights.

Completely out of character, we took a wrong turn and ended at the pier

There we saw the recovery effort for the container ship that had keeled over in St Simon Sound. It was certainly a windy day for the rescue helicopter.

Edited to say ... the ship is still there

We turned back and made it to Driftwood - we had driven straight past and missed the pull in.

Driftwood Beach is a natural phenomenon.

Andy was convinced it had been man made but the info all says not. Appaz sand erosion was/is causing the trees to uproot

There were a few people there so avoiding them in the pics was tricky as I was trying to take another wedding wishes pic for Dibber Goodevans.

It is very atmospheric

The trees were alive with tiny creatures - proper creepy crawlies and little crabs

We saw this fiery fella on the walk back to the car

I really liked it there - so striking.

Our last stop was the historic centre

In the 1800s, Jekyll became a resort for the very wealthy families like Vanderbilt, Rothschild, Pulitzer, Rockefeller etc and the Jekyll Island Club was once regarded as the most exclusive place in the world.

There are fabulous houses

The famous club - now a v expensive resort

Other houses and cottages are dotted around the large town green area - you can do guided tours of places like Moss Cottage but we were on a schedule to get to Hilton Head so it was strictly car window touring today

Around 11 it was starting to brighten up and we headed over the bridge to Brunswick

Lots of Eagles overhead

Bye Bye Jekyll - we did like you even though we got off to a bad start last night!

Brunswick we didn’t like so much

Our destination here was the Lovers Oak - which uncannily we also managed to drive past several times, I mean its not big or anything

It was a famous meeting place. For Lovers. Hence the name

Andy was by now completely overwhelmed with todays arborial adventures, dead trees and tall trees.

Its the stuff of holiday of dreams

We now had a couple of hours ahead to reach our lunch destination of Tybee Island.

Random signage occupied my time

And pumpkin shaped snacks