Homeward Bound :(

 Today we discovered a whole new part of Florida that I'm sure a lot of people don't know about. St. George Island. Beautiful nice quiet beach area.

 The lighthouse was about to fall here in 2005 and the residents wanted to make sure that it was preserved so after it......

 fell into the ocean, the locals all went out and found all the bricks and it was rebuilt closer inland.

 View from top

 These are not original steps to a lighthouse, (since we have climbed quite a few) but they said each step was hand made to fit. Plus, they were much easier to climb than the older ones we have been to.

 Buddy said that someday, he would like to have this little spot on the ocean.

 

 Tonight we are at Panama City, and just let me tell you, I am much happier at the quiet small beach areas. 

Amelia Island to Apalachicola Florida

Last night was our last day on Amelia Island. We had a great time there and for those that are looking for a very quiet, historical town, that is not commercial like so many other beaches, then this is the place to go.

We had the pleasure of seeing this beautiful unusual rainbow last night.

Our last morning sunrise. 

 We drove across Florida to the Pan Handle. First stop was St. Marks Lighthouse.

The lighthouse is also in a Wildlife Refuge

 We were just a little early, but there were hundreds of monarch butterflies here. They migrate here in October and stay until mid November. They were everywhere.

On down the road was Crooked River Lighthouse. Not your usual structure for a lighthouse. We couldn't climb it, because it is only open Saturday and Sundays for climbs.

Tomorrow we are going to a few more lighthouses, but it is suppose to be rainy so pictures probably won't be so good. Then we will be going on across the Panhandle of Florida and then headed home.

Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island

Today we drove up to Jekyll Island. We drove around the island and looked at the high $$$$......

 Inns and some houses where the wealthy and elite families of the late 1800's had winter homes. This is the Jekyll Inn. Our main reason for going to the island was to visit the.........

 Sea Turtle Center. We saw a couple yesterday that told us about it and was telling us that you can adopt a sea turtle and follow it for as long as it lives. We watched a movie of the life of a sea turtle that was very interesting. The sea turtle's have a rough life and not many of them make it. Inside the museum they had a lot of hands on things to learn about the turtles.

 This turtle is 3 years old and will not be able to be released back into the ocean because he wouldn't have the instincts of how to protect himself.

 They weren't working on any of the turtles while we were there, but they had the turtles that are about to be released in tanks. This coming weekend they are releasing 5 turtles that have been in the hospital and ready to go back out. They have GPS transmitters on them so they can track where they are. Some of them are so injured they will never be released. If you want to read more about them this is the web site. http://georgiaseaturtlecenter.org

Little & Big Talbot State Park

Yesterday we drove south from Amelia Island and went to Little Talbot State Park & Big Talbot State Park. There were lot of these tracks in the sand, not sure what from, but my thinking is sand snakes. Also these.......

Amelia River Cruise

 This is looking down the street of Fernidina Beach. Pretty much just a one street town. Very quaint.

 This was our captain and tour guide on the river cruise. He was Jeff Gordan's twin. Even talked like him. The cruise was 2 hours long and very informative of the area.

 This is a mill where they grind up the trees to make paper bags.

 The black clumps along the shore are oyster beds.

 Can't remember what this bird is called, but they are pink like a flamingo. The more shrimp they eat, the pinker they get. 

 This is just one of the houses on Cumberland Island. Only the really wealthy have houses on the island. 

 This is view of Fort Clinch from the water, that we went to on Sunday.

 We we able to see several of the wild horses on the island.

 This house is still owned by one of the original family members that bought the island in the 1800's

The Greyfield Inn is an exclusive hotel on the island. It costs $600 a night to stay there. Several weddings are done there throughout the year. Wedding package starts at $47,000.00 for 75 guests. http://www.greyfieldinn.com/weddings3.html