Jekyll Island, Georgia

April 7, 2024

Finally, we are free to once again roam about the country! While it was nice to have Florida weather for one more month (four months this year compared with three months last year), we were really itching to get a move on. Besides, Julie was afraid if we stayed too much longer, Rick would find more things to fix, even if they weren't broken 😉.

There is always a slight amount of trepidation when we move the camper the first time in a while. Will we forget to do something really important, like lock the refrigerator door and have food fling out all over the camper, or hook up the hitch improperly and have the camper detach on the highway? Being middle-aged, we have lists for these obvious things, but what about the wheel bearings that Rick greased, or the slide that we took apart and put back together? Fortunately, we had no calamities, and we made it to Jekyll Island with only the usual traffic delays one has when trying to leave the Tampa Bay area. Well actually, there was a pretty bad multi-car pile-up which made for a longer-than-average delay, but the fact of the matter is the Tampa area is pretty congested most of the time anyway.

That's quite the load for this flat-bed trailer!

Finally found Waldo!

Our trip to Jekyll Island was extra special because Julie's sister Stephanie and her husband Eric came to stay with us a few days. We had a wonderful visit with them, and they treated us to dinner the same night we all got to Jekyll.

Dinner at Tortuga Jack's right on the beach

Although tightly packed in some places, the campground was quite nice, and we were happy to be surrounded by so much nature once again after a winter of sparse vegetation at the RV park

Ah, trees!

The campground bird squirrel sanctuary

Jekyll Island has fantastic bike trails that take you anywhere you want to go on the island, so we took advantage of them on Tuesday. Stephanie and Eric rented some bikes at the campground store, and let's just say they were not in the most tip-top of condition.

Eric's bike wasn't bad, but Stephanie's needed a lot of coaxing to keep it moving

Our first stop was the famous Driftwood Beach, and it was certainly a surreal setting. It had once been a forest, but the ocean had other plans for it over time.

No shortage of beached jellyfish here

We continued our bike trek across the island, but after a while Stephanie's bike began to get quite burdensome. It wasn't so bad if you didn't stop peddling (well, actually it was pretty bad), but if you dared to coast, it took a while to get the bike pedaling again.  We ended up switching off who rode Stephanie's bike because it was such a chore to ride. Julie took a turn, and after a while, Rick offered to ride the beast. 

Don't let its innocent pink appearance fool you

After a picnic lunch, Rick decided enough was enough, and took drastic measures with the bike.

Rick: "I have a bungie cord and tie wraps. Julie's ebike can tow Stephanie's Barbie-zilla bike." Stephanie and Eric: "We are dubious"

The men bravely tested the system out and deemed it "safe"

Stephanie and Julie were a little tentative at first, but it turns out that you can tow a bike with a bungie cord and a few tie wraps quite easily. It made for a much more pleasant riding experience for Stephanie, even despite the occasional stare from passersby.

Our next stop was the historic district where the Astors, Rockefellers, Morgans, etc. of the original elite Jekyll Island Club built their "cottages".

The little girl inside this princess coach had a look as if to say "I thought this would be more amazing"

We walked around inside the original Jekyll Island Club. Once considered the most exclusive club in the world, it is now a resort open to anyone.

Jekyll Island Club Resort Yes, those are people playing croquet out front

The Grand Dining Hall

The bike trails were quite lovely

Back at the camper, we enjoyed Rick's grilled Italian sausages for dinner and a pleasant evening out on the deck. Alas, the fine weather was not to last, and the next day was a rainy one. Deciding that there wasn't anywhere in particular we wanted to go in the rain, we just hunkered down and worked on a puzzle for much of the afternoon.

The weather cleared by the next morning, and we took a walk back to Driftwood Beach before Stephanie and Eric headed off later that afternoon.

Clear blue skies today

There were shells growing on this little tree 😉

The weather became progressively cooler and windier as the week went on, but at least it was sunny. The day after our guests left, we took a bike ride around the areas of the island that we missed earlier in the week. We were impressed with the variety of scenery--everything from tidal marshes to coast line to quiet neighborhoods to jungle-like forest--all on one island.

St. Andrew's Beach

There were a ton of beached jellyfish here

This picture doesn't show it well, but the water surrounding Jekyll Island is a brown color. Not slightly brownish, but dark, opaque brown. Between that and the jellyfish, we had little desire to go in the water.

Weaving through the dead trees driftwood at St. Andrew's Beach

We enjoyed riding our bikes on a long stretch of beach along the southern tip of the island where there were no people

Back at Driftwood Beach

Love the live oaks!

Saturday was quite cool (high of 61F), so we hung out at the camper most of the day. That evening graced us with a gorgeous sunset, though...

On Sunday, we took a walk from the campground to Horton Pond. 

Check out the cutaway of the alligator stomach

Looks like the turtles were trying to stay clear of the alligators

Next stop...Savannah!

Rick's Corner: (perhaps we should rename this calamity corner???--Julie)

Hmmm . . . the phone we use for the internet appears to have gotten fat.  It's probably not surprising that a cheap phone that is always plugged in would develop a bulging battery, but it's still disappointing.  It still works, but this doesn't seem healthy.  Upon discovery of the phone fatness, I had a bit of a panic, as this is our access to the outside world, and it's not easy to get a replacement on the road that will work with our Visible service. 

We had upgraded phones last year to replace Julie's old Pixel 3a with the cracked screen.  Luckily, I still had this old phone, and it was quickly reset and put into action.  Seems Visible is happy with a Pixel 3a, and looking at the frequencies of the cheap phone and the Pixel 3a, it looks like the 3a should work in Canada as well. Whew! 

I still wanted the other phone as a backup in case the 3a doesn't work in Canada, or we have some need of 5G service (it was a cheap phone but still had 5G!). Turns out, the back of the case was a snap-fit and removeable, so off it came and out came the bloated battery.  I would really like to just use the phone without a battery, but unfortunately it won't boot with the battery removed.  "Ask the Internet" is always the answer to these sorts of issues, and the Internet told me that you can remove the little circuit board from the old battery and plug that back in, and the phone will at least boot somewhat when plugged into a charger. However, it looks like the charger can't provide enough current for a full startup.  No worries, the Internet suggested just wiring in one of the cylindrical lithium batteries to the circuit board.  The cylindrical batteries apparently are more durable and don't puff up when plugged in all the time 🤞.  A quick hole in the back of the case and a bunch of electrical tape and it seems to boot up and work!  I'm  going to test charging up the battery to full and make sure it doesn't get hot. Later on, the sim card can go back in and make sure it still all works so it can be our "emergency" phone in case the 3a isn't suitable somewhere.

That is one UGLY phone, but it's no longer bulge-y!

There is a google group email list which can send you an email when there is a new blog post. Instructions for signing up here: Subscribe OR directly join here: Google Group