Stranded on Jekyll Island Georgia

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Friday was our travel day from Skidaway Island to Jekyll Island. It was going to be an easy one. It’s just under a hundred mile drive and the check out and check in times would allow us to eat lunch before we head out and get there early afternoon. Chris took advantage of the open morning to run a few errands since stores are more convenient at Skidaway. As she drove back from the last stop to the campground, the Jeep started to sputter and had no power and the dreaded check engine light came on. She made it back to the church parking lot about a mile from camp and walked the rest of the way. Since our bikes were already on the car, I didn’t have an easy way to go investigate myself. I discovered there was a Jeep dealer in Brunswick Georgia, a short distance from Jekyll Island. So we finished our packing chores and simply drove the motorhome to the Jeep. I checked a few obvious things and drove the Jeep around the parking lot and didn’t have any symptoms other than the check engine light. So we hitched the car up and headed out using the motorhome as our tow truck. Chris scoped out a Lowe’s and Target shopping plaza with a good sized lot that was a short walk to the dealer.

Fortunately the dealer wasn’t too busy, and they could look at the car right away. I also asked them to check into a clicking noise from the rear end that has been occurring for several months. We found a spot in their parking lot that I could fit into and got a ride back to the rig and towed the car to them. We headed back to the rig to wait to see if there was something quick to be done. We still had 20 miles to get to the campground and really didn’t want to arrive in the dark. So we decided to just leave the car with them and put the bike rack on the motorhome so we would at least have our bikes on the island. There is a fee to drive onto the island but it isn’t a manned station. Chris needed to get out of the rig to access the automated kiosk. It’s $10 for oversized vehicles and $6 for passenger vehicles. We made it to the campground just about at sunset and being the Friday of a holiday weekend (Veterans Day), the place was packed. Our spot was reasonably easy to back into since there was an intersecting road just in front of our site. We haven’t needed to setup in the dark in quite some time and hope to avoid it in the future. 

If there was a place to be stuck without a car, Jekyll Island is nearly the perfect spot. From our island literature, there is a paved bike lane around the perimeter of the island that is roughly 15 miles long. Our first morning, we headed out for a bike ride to survey the island. The campground is near the northern tip of the island. We took a right and headed clockwise along the bike path. We were a bit surprised with just how populated the island is. There are plenty of homes and lots of condos. At the commercial district along the beach, there are lots of small tourist shops and a fair number of hotels. 

Jekyll Island Club Resort

One big section of the parking lot was blocked off and we could see something was going on, so we went over to investigate. There were dozens of kids and adults walking around with the same colored polo shirt with a TSA logo on them. There were about a dozen “cars” being driven around a loop in the parking lot. It was pretty clear the TSA didn’t stand for Transportation Security Administration so we stopped one of the adults to ask what was going on. The Georgia Technology Student Association, is a group dedicated to teaching students about technology. They were having their race today. We didn’t get the complete details, but each group had built an electric vehicle and the contest was to see how many laps each one could complete in a one hour period. We had arrived about 15 minutes into the event. There were a couple different general design styles. There were four wheeled, race car like vehicles with the student driver either sitting upright or nearly laying down. Or there were three wheeled, reverse tricycle designs with bicycle wheels. The amount of money spent was clear as well. Some had sleek fiberglass shells over tubular metal frames while others we boxy plywood contractions. I timed one of the quicker vehicles and found each lap was about 48 seconds which would equate to 75 laps assuming the battery didn’t die before then. We didn’t stick around to see the finish but it was a fun diversion from our bike ride.

Getting Ready to Pass

In for Pit Stop

Patriotic

Boxy

Near the southern end of the island, we discovered another large crowd. This time we found a youth soccer tournament in progress. Since we don’t think there are any schools on the island, the fields are likely setup for mainland teams as a destination. Just south of the soccer complex is Saint Andrews Beach. We stopped to check it out and get a nearby geocache. It was a nice area and not very crowded for a weekend day. With all the side trips to see sights or get geocaches, we ended up doing a 17 mile ride. The good thing is that the island is pretty flat, so there are really no hills to deal with making it a reasonably easy ride. 

Distant Bridge

Mossy Oak

St Andrews Beach

Nearing Sunset

The weather the next day wasn't great but good enough for another bike ride. This time we go counterclockwise in order to see some of the sights we zipped by the previous day on our way back to camp. We do seem to see lots of birds along the shoreline - herons, pelicans and egrets. I don’t always have the right lens to get great pictures but sometimes the birds let me get fairly close. The river side of the island is the “fancy” side. The Jekyll Island Club Resort is pretty fancy and besides the main building, there are many other homes on the surrounding property that appear to be rented out or used for large events. The croquet court in the front had people that looked like they know how to play. They even offer horse drawn carriage rides around the paths. 

Fancy Carriage Ride

Perched Birds

Jekyll Island Marina

Further down on the river side is a water park. It’s closed for the season but based on the looks of it, I suspect it’s a popular spot in the summer months. We bike out an old dirt road to a few geocaches. One of them wasn’t going to be accessible since it was just about high tide when we arrived and it sounds like it can be a challenge even at low tide. We had brought our lunch along and found a very secluded spot along the water to sit and enjoy the view. This ride turned out to be just over 17 miles but saw a lot of different sights. 

Water Park

Our Lunch Spot

Windswept Trees

 Not every day is sunny and nice. We knew rain was predicted but we headed out for an early bike ride hoping to be back before it started. This time we stayed on the north side of the island but headed inland. There are numerous old roads that wind around the woods in the interior of the island. We had a few geocaches to go for. Beyond the vehicle gate, the grass and weeds were kind of tall but the road condition was okay. It took a couple wrong turns before I got reasonably close to the one cache. The warning signs about alligators wasn’t real comforting but I kept on the lookout as I headed past the small point the remaining few hundred feet to the cache. Of course, the sky’s opened up before I even got there. By the time I found it and got back to the bikes and Chris, we were wet so we did one more cache before heading back to camp to clean the bikes and ourselves. After the rain passed, we walked up to the fishing pier at Clam Creek.

Covered Fishing Pier

View from Pier

Nice weather returned the following day and for the fourth day in a row, we hit the bike trails. Some of the caches that have a high number of favorite points on the island are what is known as a night cache. The premise is usually the same for each night cache. Go to the posted coordinates when it’s dark and using a strong flashlight, look for small “fire tacks” or reflectors on trees along the trail. Head toward the fire tack and look for the next one. Since we didn’t have our car, we realized it wasn’t likely we would be able to get to these at night so we figured we could try during the day. We aren’t always successful finding night caches during the day but it was worth a try. The one we stopped for turned out to be quite well done and extremely easy to follow during the day. Instead of thumbtack sized fire tacks, the reflectors were large and many of them were glued into the eyes of plastic skeleton heads. The cache container was nearly the size of a steamer chest! The cache owner put a great deal of effort into this one. It would have been fun to do at night. On the way back, we took some of the interior gravel bike paths rather than following the road. It turned out to be just a 16 mile day.

Interesting Mushrooms

Heron on Prowl

Hundreds of Crabs

Tree Sculpture

Beach Scene

Reflectors for Night Cache

Night Cache Pirate's Chest

Ornamental Lion

Later in the afternoon, I went for a solo walk with my long telephoto lens hoping to see some wildlife. Directly across from the campground entrance is a road to Clam Creek Picnic area. It’s about a 3/4 mile walk to the fishing pier. After checking that area out, I headed along the beach to the east for about 1/2 mile before it curves around and heads south. There were numerous birds out in the shallow water along the shoreline. Some would let me approach surprisingly close while others wanted nothing to do with me. Once I get away from the pier, there are hardly any people. The shore along here is called Driftwood Beach and for good reason. There are countless large dead trees scattered all along the shoreline. Some are still standing upright although several feet of their roots are exposed. Obviously those trees were brought here by a storm so I suspect all the trees used to live along the shore. It was an interesting walk but down at the far southern end of the beach were dozens of people. There is parking along the main road and a path to the beach and lots of people like to come out here to relax or explore. I headed back the trail to the road and then back to camp. The total walk is about 3.5 miles although the beach was firm enough that it probably could be accomplished as a bike ride.

Elaborate Fishing Boat - Patricia Lee

Posing Snowy Egret

In Search of Food

Ready to Fly

In Flight

Pelican Flying By

Lighthouse on St Simons Island

Beached Jellyfish

Along Driftwood Beach

Still Standing

All Lined Up

Shorebird on Prowl

We were getting tired of biking everywhere so we picked a few caches that were just south of the campground and headed for them the following day. There are a few dirt roads that even have a handful of houses on them that we hadn’t really explored yet. We discovered that they led us to other trails that were definitely nice to walk on and they did lead us where we wanted to go. Horton Pond is a small pond with a nice wildlife viewing platform. While we were there, we spotted one alligator, one turtle and one owl. None of them were very close, and I didn’t have my long telephoto lens with me. It was a very peaceful setting once we convinced ourselves that the alligator, that had been in the pond but had come up on land, wasn’t headed our way and going to trap us on the viewing platform. In the middle of the pond is a large floating deck which was where the turtle had come to to catch the sun. 

Horton Pond

Reflecting Pond with Owl

Rather than backtracking and risking a run in with our alligator, we headed out to the main road and followed the bike path up to where Driftwood Beach starts. Chris had yet to experience it and although the tide was high and the wind was quite strong, the water hadn’t covered enough of the beach to prevent making it to the fishing pier. Not as many birds were out during this walk. Although we did see a group of 6 pelicans fly by in formation just above the water. After lunch back at the rig, we took the short walk over to the Horton House. The place is old, very old. Built in 1743. All that remains are the four walls of the home - no roof, no windows, no doors. The walls are quite thick and made of tabby. I’ll admit I had not heard of this before. It’s basically a type of concrete made from burnt oyster shells which produces lime and mixed with sand, ash, broken oyster shells and water. Obviously it is rather robust as a building material given this home is 275 years old! 

Stump on Beach

Foamy Water

Six Pelicans in Formation

Horton House

Close View of Tabby

Heron

Nearly a week into our 8 night stay, we finally got word back from the Jeep dealership. The issue with the engine was remedied with new plugs and replacing a damaged coil. The clicking noise was finally isolated to the transmission! Definitely not what we wanted to hear. Since the main warranty period is over, I figured we would just live with it, but then I remembered the powertrain warranty is for 5 years and we have about 3 months left. The service manager realized we have a time constraint with our travels so we will need to follow up with another dealer at one of our longer upcoming stops.

It was nice to get the car back and the following morning, we used it to head to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. This turned out to be a pretty interesting stop. They have a decent size facility with a visitor center that has all sorts of displays describing the life cycle of sea turtles as well as the work they do to help injured turtles. We were fortunate to be there while the doctor was in. There is a big glass window looking into the examination room. When a patient is brought in, they hang up a whiteboard with the patient’s name, reason for being at the center and what the doctor and nurses will be doing to the patient. A small green sea turtle was brought in and the nurses weighed it before drawing some blood. It’s a bit strange to be watching the activities but the one nurse even got on the intercom to give a bit more detail. So much for doctor/patient confidentiality. 

"Let GO!"

"How Embarrassing!"

Out back is another building that houses the patients while they are here. There are 8 or 10 large holding tanks. If there is a patient in a tank, it has a name tag out front so visitors can identify who’s who. There were a lot of empty tanks which I suppose is a good thing since it means they didn’t have too many patients. When we came back in to the main room, there was a new turtle being cared for. This guy was a box turtle and had some sort of infection under the shell. This one needed to have a plastic cup placed over its head to prevent the nurse from getting bit. Based on how much the turtle was squirming, it was definitely not enjoying the doctor’s bedside manner. The strangest thing we saw was when he probed under the shell and brought some small piece of something out with the tool and instead of looking at it intently, he smelled it! We probably should have knocked on the glass to ask what was going one since now we will never know. If you make it to Jekyll Island, this should be on the list of stops.

Patient in Holding Tank

More Holding Tanks

Box Turtle Waiting for Checkup

Even with our car back, we decided to get one last bike ride in since the weather was great and it was going to be our last full day here. We had several more geocaches we wanted to attempt. The first stop was back on the very southern end of the island at Saint Andrews Beach. There were two geocaches we hadn’t gotten although both of them were not accessible via bike. So I left Chris on the beach with the bikes while I tried to find my way to the caches. I managed to find both but Chis pointed out my bloody leg when I returned from the second one. Such is the life of a geocacher.

Chris Waits in a Tree

On the way back up the river side of the island, we stopped at the Tidelands Nature Center. It was close to closing time, so it wasn’t clear what goes one there. There is a large pond that had a dirt road around the perimeter and we followed it to find another geocache. It was quite a nice place on this late afternoon. Several birds were on the dock and in the water near the cache but they didn’t seem to mind our being there. This ride ended up being our longest at 18.5 miles. I’ll have to admit, I really enjoyed our stay at Jekyll Island. Since we didn’t have a car to explore what there is to see and do back on the mainland, we cannot really comment on the rest of the area. Many of the campers at this campground are seasonal residents that will be here for the rest of the winter. When I checked on the historical temperatures for the area, I found them to be fairly warm during the winter months. Not Key West warm but not too bad. I could see us putting this onto our list of winter hideouts in some future year.

Reflecting Bird