Georgia!

(click on photos to enlarge)

Feeling that we'd kind of done Florida, we cast off from the dock at Cape Canaveral and made a bee-line for Georgia, 155 nautical miles to the North, figuring we'd log some night sailing while the weather was rather benign.  155 turned into 185 miles as the current was running up to a knot and a half against our course.  The wind "clocked" from a westerly beam reach (too light to sail) to 24 knots right on the bow, to a light easterly (you guessed it - too light to sail) to dead astern (sigh) none of it conducive to shutting down the diesel.  We're doing a lot more motoring than we'd like, but I think most cruisers have the same experience.  

22 hours after our 0620 departure ( that's an average of 8.5 knots!) we dropped anchor in Cumberland Sound, Georgia, and caught five hours of much needed sleep before continuing up the ICW to Jekyll Island. 

We tied up to Jekyll Harbor Marina, had dinner and slept like babies.  The next day's plan to ride the marina's complementary bikes around Jekyll Island was postponed due to all day rain, so we did some boat maintenance aboard Moonshadow. 

But on our second day the weather looked better so we spent the morning riding around beautiful Jekyll Island.  If you like spanish moss growing on huge oak trees like we do, you'll love this little island.  

There's an historical section with restored "cottages" (which are really huge mansions) dating back to post civil war through early 1900s, one built by the some guy named Goodyear.

This place is really beautiful and riding beach cruisers around the perfectly manicured grounds was really a terrific break for us.  

Nothing even close to a day at the boatyard!

You just have to take pictures of the oak trees.  They're huge and beautiful and just covered with moss.  

We don't get this in San Diego!

Deb's dad Ed Monnie loves to grow Sago Palms, so when we saw this HUGE specimen in front of a little chapel, we just had to stop and take a snap.

The homeowners along this lane like to fly their Stars and Stripes!  Maybe the idea will catch on elsewhere.

Jekyll Island is one of the many barrier islands along Georgia and the Carolinas that protect the interior waterway from the ocean.  We took a bike path that led to the beach on the Atlantic to have a look, but had to stop  when we noticed we were being watched.

This guy is probably 12 feet long.  They say you can determine the length of a 'gator by estimating the length from eyes to the tip of their nose so 12 inches there equals 12 feet overall.

We left him alone and he returned the favor!

We reached the beach safely and put our feet into the Atlantic.  

But when we turned around looking to the west, we realized we'd have to ride like crazy to avoid getting drenched by the coming rain squall.  We've seen this scene before!

Just before the downpour, we made it to the Rah Bar, a restaurant on a pier, and ordered drinks and some local shrimp.  This bar, an old wooden structure on a pier has lots of outdoor seating, but with the rain just minutes away, we sat inside at the bar where there are just 8 barstools. The bar had the Weather Channel on (they actually watch the Weather Channel here) so we could watch the rain just outside the bar's windows and from a satellite miles above at the same time.   Pretty soon it was standing room only at the bar.  It was pretty cozy, and those shrimp were awesome -- freshly caught within a few hundred feet of the bar and served with a local recipe sauce, we ate till we could eat no more.

The squall had passed so we jumped on our bikes and headed back to Moonshadow, but the ride of less than a half mile was too long for us to escape the next squall!  Laughing and riding in the rain, we were surprised by a dear that jumped into the road ahead of us then bounded off into the woods.  By the time we returned to Moonshadow, we were drenched but smiling from ear to ear.