We arrive in the historic district of Savannah, an atmospheric sector of a bigger city. (Advance the slides by hovering over the upper right corner)
Colony leader James Oglethorpe laid out the town in the 1730's around 24 park-like squares, almost all of which survive and are surrounded by 18th and 19th century buildings
The Mercer-Williams house was featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. General Mercer was great-grandfather of local hero, Johnny Mercer
Forsyth Park, with its alley of live oaks, was anticipated in James Oglethorp's plan for the town.
Taken by a friendly guard in City Hall
The old Cotton Exchange building on the waterfront, where most of the buildings were devoted to the trade and survive after being repurposed
These days, the port of Savannah handles containers.
The atmospheric crypt of Revolutionary War hero Nathaniel Green, who prevented victory by the British in the south as they were winning in the north
The National Park Service ferry terminus in beautiful St. Mary's, Georgia. The ferry goes to Cumberland Island National Seashore, much of which is protected wilderness
Awaiting transport to the Island
Departing St. Mary's
We head out on the little-used main road of Cumberland Island under the live oaks. We later moved to wilderness area foot paths
The graveyard of an old plantation family, bought out by the Carnegies
We made nervous jokes about alligators but never saw one
Our first campsite among the live oaks, cabbage palms and saw palmettos. On this day, the temperature in Minnesota was below zero
The Carnegie clan bought up the island in the 1880's and a few mansions remain.
The Carnegies began releasing many of their horses to the wild in the 1920's
Our second campsite was the best - on the bay where dolphins occasionally swam by
We camped near the beach on the ocean side of the island
A live oak buffeted by ocean winds
We used a new ultraviolet water purification gizmo that seems to have worked (so far)
A foggy morning on the beach as we depart our final site
The native holly trees provided some color
After backpacking in the wilderness area, we joined a Park Service tour of the principal Carnegie estate lands, complete with their now-feral horses
The main Carnegie mansion, built by Andrew's under-appreciated brother and his widow, has not survived. The family sold most, but not all, of its holdings to the Park Service only in 1972.
We relax at Park headquarters, waiting for the afternoon ferry
Our reluctant departure to explore a few other islands before catching the plane
At the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island, we learned that "tortoise shell" refers to the Hawksbill sea turtle
One protesting sea turtle was receiving treatment for severe injuries, possibly from a boat hull
The Jekyll Island Club Hotel, where we did not stay
The shrimp fleet at Darien, Georgia, an ordinary town in an extraordinary location on the coast
The oldest lighthouse in Georgia, on Tybee Island, Savannah's Jersey shore