Incredible Day on Jekyll

Get ready... this is a long one!
   We decided today would be the day we explored Jekyll Island.  And, boy, did we ever see more than we could have ever imagined!!  We ate breakfast, I talked with Arlena, and then headed out with the Jeep and bicycles about 10:30.  We parked at the Great Dunes Park(which is where we usually go to the beach) and unloaded the bikes.  The park is lovely with beautiful grasses and flowers, and the pavilions are quite classy for seaside.  I especially love the bright violet berries and the pink grasses.  There were hundreds of dragonflies flying over the grassy area. 

 

Wish I could bring some of this home!

They were too fast to photograph live,
so I found this dead one on the beach

 

 Little did we know that we would end our day here for more than just loading up our bikes!!  We rode into the Historic District which is pretty much the hub of all the activity on the island.  It includes the Jekyll Island Club Hotel, golf course, quaint little shops, lots of places to eat, a turtle preserve, and historic homes and buildings.

Jekyll Island Club Hotel

Quaint Little Shops

This is a T-shirt...remember those whole shrimp we bought...
this is a picture of one

   We visited the museum and learned that J.P. Morgan, William Rockefeller, Joseph Pulitzer, and Cyrus  McCormick are among many business tycoons that played an important part in the success of the island.  Their homes and townhomes have been preserved.

To get away from the public eye some of those business tycoons built
 and lived in these condos for privacy

This was J.P. Morgan's "cottage."

  It is a beautiful area, full of huge old trees covered with air ferns and Spanish moss and there are lots of palms.

Carriage Tour ride

The Spanish moss is everywhere!

This tree is huge...that's me in the middle. 
At night it's lit... it must be beautiful!

This is the right hand side of the tree above. 
It has grown across the road and into the ground.

  We stopped at several of the shops and while looking at some hand made turtles the shop owner told us that there was going to be a "turtle release" on the beach at Great Dunes Park at 5pm.  We felt very lucky to be able to witness this rare occurrence!!  After visiting more shops and riding to a few of the restored "cottages" we ate lunch outside at Café Soltera in the Club Hotel.  We wanted to eat at Vincent's Pub, but it didn't open until 5pm.  Then John suggested that we take a "real" bike ride along a bike path that would bring us out near where we parked.  Shortly after we started out we saw 2 young raccoons but they weren't interested in having their pix taken.  We rode a little farther and I said to John, "I'm going to keep riding until I see an alligator, even if I have to ride to Florida!  We came upon a marsh and I told John there has to be an alligator in here.  And, by golly, there he was... Wally Gator.  He was in the shadows and we couldn't get a good picture, so we decided to keep riding and come back later to hopefully get better pix.  Now, where do you think the trail came out?  The Dairy Queen!!  So we had a Blizzard and then revisited Wally Gator.  I tried to get him to pose better by throwing a pine cone near him.  Wouldn't you know it...I hit him right on his head!  He didn't move, but we got much better pix this time.

Wally just barely flinched when I hit him with that pine cone!

 

  Then we rode on another bike trail on the other side of the island.  We saw a few birds, but that was all.  Then we headed to the Convention Center to check it out.  It is right next to the parking area where we had left our Jeep and the area where the turtle release was going to take place.  By this time it was 3:30 so we decided to walk the beach while waiting for the release at 5:00.  There were sand dollars all over the beach, but they were all still alive, so, of course, we let them be.  The water was still very dirty, so we figured they came out because they couldn't stand the water!! 



Making its way back under the sand

About 4:30 we went over to the fenced in area where quite a crowd was starting to form.  The turtles arrived right at 5:00 in big rectangular shaped tubs.  It took quite a few people to carry them, because one of the turtles, who had been anemic, weighed 80lbs and the other one, who had been bitten by a shark, weighed 200lbs!  They lifted them out with harnesses, showed them to the crowd, and then released them one at a time.  It didn't take them very long to head out to sea.  It was awesome to be able to witness the release!!

The names of the turtles.

The tubs they brought them in.

The release of the smaller turtle... looks like she's waving.

Off she goes!

The 200lb turtle!

There she goes!

She never looked back!

  When we got back to the CG we saw that the site we are assigned to for the 2nd week of our stay was now vacant.  We got permission from the office to move our rig tonight instead of tomorrow morning.  When John started to back in the fellow across from us came over to help.  When he saw we were from PA he asked, "what part?" When we told him Lanc Co, Mount Joy, he said, "no kidding, we're from Hershey and we eat at Mosby's on occasion for their wings."  It was kind of a pain to have to move today, but neat that we might be able to make a connection with Ken and Kathy, the people across the way!  When we got all hooked up outside and set up inside we ate some leftovers for supper and then went to bed.  It was a very long, but absolutely delightful day!!