Jekyll Island Adventure

Originally Posted:

Friday, August 4, 2006

12:14:00 PM CDT

Feeling Silly

Sheila came for a short visit this week just for something to do. She got here later Tuesday night and left early this afternoon. On Wednesday she, Kat and I went shopping around Savannah to the more unique, fun shops downtown (One Fish Two Fish, The Paris Flea Market, ShopScad, Folklorico) then hung out around the dorm in the evening. Sheila got the full dorm experience complete with pop in visitors, loud neighbors, limited space and Mess Hall food. Thursday was much more fun. Actually, it was an adventure. Any time I drive in unfamiliar territory it's an adventure. Going back to the "geographically/directionally challenged" description of my sense of navigation, anyone who rides with me should automatically know that given the opportunity to make a wrong turn or miss a turn, I will.

Thursday morning started the hunt for alphabet photos so that became a secondary goal of our trip to Brunswick, GA and Jekyll Island. (The first goal was just to get there...after all, I was the one driving!). We picked up Kat and no sooner than we hit the end of her block did we find the letter "C" on a house so I slammed on my brakes to take a photo. That pretty well set the tone for the entire day. We hit the road south and got so caught up searching for letters that we totally missed the "Jekyll Island" sign. Thanks to the officer who pulled me over for speeding (No ticket!) we got directions. The officer was laughing with us (more like at us) because he probably thought we were the biggest sober idiots he'd ever pulled over. Here's how the conversation sort of went: "You're not from around here, are you?" No. We're very lost. "Where are you trying to go?" Jekyll Island. "You didn't see the BIG Jekyll Island sign?" No sir, I didn't (giggle, giggle, giggle, smile). "It's a BIG sign before the bridge. You didn't see the BIG sign?" (still smiling) No, I really didn't! Did you all see the sign (motioning to Sheila and Kat)? "You need to go back over the bridge and the BIG sign is on your left just as you get to the end of the bridge." Okay. Thank you. Are you going to give me a ticket (smile, giggle). Please don't give me a ticket (BIG smile). "If I was going to give you a ticket, I would have already." So we did a U turn and headed back over the bridge. And what do you think we saw? THE BIG SIGN!!! It wasn't just a BIG sign, it was a 15' high brick entrance wall with "JEKYLL ISLAND" in fancy letters plastered on the wall. Not only are we idiots, but we are blind idiots!!!! The problem was that we were too focused on taking a photo of the letter "H" that the bridge structure made that we were not paying a bit of attention to the turn off. Duh!

From the cartoon Jekyll Island map it looked like there was going to be a full day of sight seeing and things to do. Wrong-o. We went to the historic district and didn't feel the need to stop so it was on to the cemetery and ruins. Along the way we found the Horton House which was built in the 1700s and is now just a shell of a house. The thick walls are made of an oyster shell type of concrete mixture covered in a pink/yellowish color plaster. The interior was totally gutted with only one wall and a partial fireplace still standing. It was like a kids playhouse, but full scale for adults. That provided a few minutes of entertainment, especially as I tried to use the timer on my camera to take a photo of all of us together and I would have to book it from the camera to the house and get in position before the shutter released. It took several tries before a couple driving by stopped and took the photo for us. Who knows how long they were watching the scene of me running back and forth before they came to my rescue. The cemetery had about five people in it and the "ruins" turned out to be a 2' high x 4' long beat up wall left over from a brewery. Nothing to see there...keep on moving. We went to the fishing pier, which stunk like fish and dirty water, and looked out at Driftwood Beach which we didn't feel the need to walk to from there because it wasn't too exciting. We finished our drive around the island with a stop to look for the sea turtles on the nature trail. We didn't find any so we called it a day at Jekyll Island and headed to see Brunswick.

We headed back over the bridge to Brunswick, passed up the turn a couple times (a couple times because we'd see the sign, turn around, then we'd miss the sign again!) then finally made it to downtown Brunswick. Now, here's the deal...Brunswick was supposed to look similar to Savannah because the same guy (James Oglethorpe) created the town plans for both places. Brunswick looked nothing like Savannah! It was a typical Small Town, USA. There were no squares. There were no neat houses to speak of. Maybe we were missing something, but I don't think so.

We stopped for lunch at a downtown cafe in Brunswick, but we didn't realize lunch came with a show. The "show" came in the form of a lady who clearly had a mental disorder of some sort. I assume she is a regular at the cafe because the staff knew her and served her quite quickly. The rest of us; however, couldn't help but look as she conversed with her imaginary dining partner and kept flashing crotch shots at the gentlemen seated at the table nearest hers. Since it was obvious that her watermelon size breasts were not being restrained by a bra (you all know my motto: Wrangle'em, don't dangle'em!) under that tank top she was wearing, I'm pretty darn sure that there were no undies under her skirt that was cinched up her thighs while seated at her table. She sat like a man (legs open) and kept shifting toward the men. I swear, the man facing her could not crane his neck in the direction of the ceiling enough to avoid the view. It was really quite funny.
We took the scenic route back to Savannah (that's code for "Tracy missed the highway exit") and found the Smallest Church in America. Serendipity at best! The wrong road took us to the right place ;-) The glass is half full!!! Anywho, The Smallest Church in America was worth the stop, if for nothing more than the sign that caretaker Effie Young posted about not leaving dead animals at the church. Poor Effie. Poor, poor Effie. Yuck!!!

When we got back to Savannah, Sheila and I took a short break at the dorm then went for fried strawberries at Dockside Restaurant. They are not good for you, but they are so good! If you are looking for something different, and deep fried, to serve for a special, filling, dessert, then this is a good option.

I found the following deep fried strawberry recipe online. It's the closest recipe to how I was told the Dockside restaurant makes them.

• 1 cup pancake mix


• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk


• 24 large strawberries


• Vegetable oil


• Sugar and cinnamon or powdered sugar for sprinkling after being deep fried

• Combine pancake mix and milk, stirring well. Dip strawberries in batter and deep fry in hot oil (375 degrees F) until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.


• Sprinkle with topping of your choice. Serve strawberries immediately.


• Yield: 2 dozen.