Looking Back: Jekyll Island/Amelia Island

Back to the spring vacation:

We left the Okefenokee Swamp with wonderful memories, and made our way to the east and the ocean. We drove to Waycross again but instead of turning south, we went on to the east.

We had to pay to enter Jekyll Island, which I had not expected. I don't remember how much it was. We found our hotel -- literally the only one on the beachfront. We drove around virtually the entire island -- lots of houses, few hotels, few restaurants.  We ended up eating lunch at Dairy Queen.

The island was formerly a very posh resort, and there is still a strong feeling of that here. We drove around the grounds and I will admit to being very impressed by the gorgeous live oaks and Spanish moss.

We visited the Sea Turtle Center, which rescues and helps sea turtles. A wonderful cause but unfortunately we found the center to be only mildly interesting.

The hotel was fine, and had a nice breakfast the next morning, with a wonderful ocean view.

We just didn't connect to this place. Part of the problem, I admit, was the weather. The wind was so terribly strong that we couldn't be out on the beach for more than a few minutes.

But the whole thing was to me too "resort" and "old money".  Not my thing at all.

The next morning we went south to Fernandina and Amelia Island in Florida.  Once again, we just never formed a connection here. The beach itself was lovely, and it was warm enough the second day that we were able to lay out in out bathing suits.

Amelia Island is dominated by resorts, and just reeks of Money and Exclusivity -- as I said, just not our things.

Our hotel was at the northern end and was really only steps from the beach.

This was the view from our balcony (which was actually too small to do anything more than perhaps stand on):

As I said, the beach was lovely, and not at all crowded:

Nicer weather the next day saw us on the beach and in the water -- along with a few other folks:

We then drove to the Jacksonville Airport and flew first to Atlanta, and then to Norfolk. The further adventures will come later!

Looking back: Okefenokee Swamp Park

On Sunday morning we drove the western way around to the north, and Waycross, Georgia. There is the Okefenokee Swamp Park: still part of the national wildlife refuge, but this section is run by a commerical proprietor.

First wildlife we saw was this little guy:

This park also had a zoo area, so you could see the alligators up close. It's not nearly as good as seeing them in the wild, though.

We started out just walking around, including on the boardwalk into the swamp.

This man kept following me! :-)

Saw another one of these cute little guys again, too.

Then came, you guessed it, the boat trip,

The most famous inhabitant of the swamp is an opossum named Pogo, who was a comic-strip character many years ago. He is the one who said, "We have met the enemy and he is us," in reference to pollution.

More beautiful sights.

This alligator swam right to our boat, causing slight hysteria amongst some of the passengers.

Her name was Sweetie and she had young in this area.

Again we saw some laying in the sun, looking more like props than real animals. They are NOT small, by the way, but a good 8-10 feet long.

We then drove all the way back to the State Park and our cabin, which I finally remembered to photograph.

Looking Back: Stephen C. Foster State Park, Georgia

After visiting the NWR, we drove around the southern part of the park to the Stephen C. Foster State Park. The state leases this portion from the National Park Service. Again, we drove directly to the visitor's center, just in time to take another boat trip.

"Okefenokee" allegedly means "the land of the trembling earth". What here looks like solid ground, isn't. It is all floating. So it would certainly "tremble" if you walked on it, or tried to.

Again, we were overwhelmed by what we saw.

We saw a deer, here. this was no longer in the swamp but on solid ground.

And, yes, these critters too. They just don't look real when they lay around like this.

One swimming:

This darling little critter was in a leaf!

We stayed two nights in this park, in a cabin: living room, dining room, kitchen, full bath, two bedrooms, a huge screened in porch. Very nice.

Looking Back: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

In late April of 2013, Norbert and I flew to the US on vacation -- exactly one week after flying back to Germany from my mother's funeral. We didn't really know what to expect from ourselves, either emotionally or physically after her unexpected death and the flights and time changes.

We flew Düsseldorf-Atlanta-Jacksonville and spent the first night at an airport hotel in Jacksonville. The next morning we drove north to Folkston, Georgia, and from there to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.  Years ago, Norbert spent a lot of time working in Georgia, and found a story about this park in our local German newspaper afterwards. He was sorry not to have known about it earlier, and was determined to get there. We finally made it!

Our first stop was, of course, the visitor's center, where Norbert made a new friend.

We then booked a boat trip, on one of these. It turned out to be just us and the guide, perfect! She was a young woman who knew such a lot about the park and was very passionate about it. A wonderful guide.

We soon saw our first 'gator!

But mainly we just looked in awe at the overwhelming beauties of nature.

There were animals, too, like this owl:

And this alligator, which tried to camouflauge itself:

The Closet Dilemma

It is always easier to blame the closet, isn't it? It can't really be my fault that there are so many clothes in there, of course not.

Last night I discovered a clothing-oriented website on which the blogger recommended listing everything in your closet and even makin a spreadsheet of it to keep track of what you do – and don't – wear.

What's the point of it? Well, I have gotten to the point in life where I want to get rid of things rather than accumulate them. This has to do with clothes as well.

We have a very casual lifestyle. We don't “do” parties, fancy dinner parties and so on. With my working at home, I certainly don't have to dress up at all.

I do love clothes though, and always have. I love to look in the stores and while I am in no way an overshopper, I do have more than I can wear.

So I took the first step this morning.  Listed every single piece of clothing in my armoire (remember, we don't have closets in Germany!) It was --- eye-opening.

I took every piece out and looked at it and wrote it down. Along the way, I did manage to discard three short sleeve cardigans, a blouse and a handful of scarves, all of which I realized I didn't really wear or was not satisfied with.

So from here out, the plan is to note everyday what I wear. With this list, it will be easy. Everything is listed by category, so all I have to do is tick this things off:  these pants, this top. The theory sounds good, at least!

I will also try to photograph my outfit each day, so I an see how it really looks and if the pieces go together as well as I thought they did.

One other idea I had: I have a lot of long sleeve cardigans in the closet at the moment. With summer having finally arrived in Germany, I will most definitely NOT be wearing them for another rmonth of so at least. So I think I will remove them from the closet and from the list for the time being. An emptier closet will be helpful.

Speaking of which, this is what the situation looks like. Here is a general view:

Top shelf has: scarves (which need desperately to be put into order; camisoles; shorts
second shelf is: blue t-shirts/tops; pink t-shirts/tops; white t-shirts/tops

The hanging section is sorted by type of clothing, and then by colour. From left: dresses; blouses, overblouses, jackets, cardigans (blue, pink, white, gray); slacks (one hanger with jeans, one with linen summer slacks, one with capri pants); one rack of skirts; belts; outerwear jackets; bathrobe.






It is too full, actually. It would be easier to find things if it was emptier and it would also be better for the clothes if they aren't jammed in together.

If and when I get this in hand, then I can tackle the shoes (don't have that many, actually), handbags and jewelry.

It might sound odd, but this is my idea of fun!

Some new beaches

So where were we..... deep in the swamp!

Got up Monday morning and checked out of our cabin and said goodbye to the Stephen C. Foster State Park.  Had a wonderful time there!

Drove back to Waycross, Ga., which I believe to be the home of Burt Reynolds, by the way, and once again hit the Starbucks in the Kroger store. (Is it just me, or does "Starbucks in Kroger in Waycross, Ga." sound odd?)

Anyway, instead of turning southwest towards the swamp, we headed due east and in about an hour or two (me driving) came to the beachy area. A HUGE bridge loomed ahead of us, but we turned off just short of it and took a shorter bridge over to Jekyll Island.

Lots of rich people have spent a lot of time on this island, and it shows. Relatively few hotels and restaurants. But lots of beautiful old live oaks absolutely dripping with Spanish moss -- very intriguing and fairy-tale like.

I think we drove all the way around the island. Unfortunately, the weather was awful. Dry and sunny, but cold and exceptionally heavy wind. We did pop out on the beach but only very briefly as it was really uncomfortable. The beach looked nice, though.

We "dined" at the Red Bug Pizza, and had an excellent hand-made pizza.

Back to the mainland Tuesday morning and headed south to Florida again. Hit A1A and drove east to the ocean, on Amelia Island. Our hotel, the Seaside Amelia Resort, was on the far northern tip of the island. We were not too satisfied with it. We checked in and went to our room, which was probably the tiniest double I have ever seen. There was about one foot of space around the bed, no chairs, and even the TV hung on the wall. It was impossible to think of spending two nights there.

Went down and were able to upgrade to another room. This one had a slightly larger bed area as you walked in, with small but compete bath, and then a living area with sink, counter, microwave, fridge, sofa, tv, etc.

But no lights!  One tiny decorative lamp in the living room, which provided virtually no light! And only one lamp in the bedroom area. And to top it all off, the air conditioning died the second night. Fortunately there was a ceiling fan in the bedroom, so we were able to stay comfortable. But you can bet that I will be in touch with them about a few things........

Once again, the island didn't terribly impress us.  Lots of OLD people, like really made me feel young! Nothing against old people, of course!  Again, surprisingly few restaurants, and the one we ate it was not terribly good.

Wednesday morning we headed back to the shopping mall by the airport, which we had visited when we arrived.  Had a wonderful time poking around in it, and yes, I did manage to buy a thing or two.....

The weather had finally decided to co-operate, so after a nap, it was bathing suit time for the first time this year! (Always a dreadful thought.....) We took of snow-white bodies down to the beach and stretched out for an hour or two.  It felt so wonderful -- warmth, sun, the surf in the background.  We aren't usually the types to lay on the beach, but this was good.

After our disappointing restaurant experience the previous night, we decided to dine on the snacks we had with us and which we didn't want to transport on the next leg of our trip.

Off to the Outer Banks tomorrow!