Nolen Family Vacation 2017: Day 9

Sunday, April 23rd

Savannah and Jekyll Island

Despite poor sleep from the night before, we were glad to get up and get on our way. The manager was very accommodating and gave us a full refund.

Before leaving town, we drove to Chippewa Square to see the bench that Tom Hanks had filmed on in Forest Gump, only to find that it had been removed and placed in a museum. Forsyth Park was another recommended spot to visit so we checked it out. It was a large park in the city. Not a whole lot going on, but it was peaceful and had a beautiful fountain.



We then moved on to Jekyll Island, just a couple hours away.

Since we arrived at such a good time, we headed straight for the beach. Driftwood Beach, to be exact. This beach was gorgeous and absolutely packed with neat critters. We saw more here in half an hour than I've seen on all the other beaches I've visited combined!

[caption id="attachment_3752" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Finding treasures[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3754" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Blue jelly[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_3761" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Beach combing with Karen[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_3763" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Incoming![/caption]



[caption id="attachment_3766" align="aligncenter" width="300"] One of half a dozen live sand dollars Luke found.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3767" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Seaweed[/caption]

We didn't keep anything we came across. Just snapped pictures and let it be.







After a while we were all starving so we found a little restaurant with outdoor seating.  The main beach was right there so after eating we decided to check that beach out, too. Great Dunes Beach had soft, fine, white sand and large dunes with grass. There wasn't much going on here and the wind really started to pick up so we didn't stay long.

St. Andrew's Beach was at the Southern end of the island so we decided to check it out to see if we were missing out on anything. This beach was the worst. Just yucky with lots of little trash and seaweed.

Everyone was worn out so we headed back to the hotel for showers and naps. The boys just wanted to relax and watch T.V. for a bit so we adults let them stay behind while we walked along the path near our hotel.

[caption id="attachment_3760" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Our hotel[/caption]

We'd seen a lighthouse earlier in the day, while at Driftwood Beach, so we decided to go in search of it. We found it on the nearby island of St. Simon.

[caption id="attachment_3768" align="aligncenter" width="200"] St. Simon Lighthouse[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_3771" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The pier[/caption]

The sun was setting and the wind was really strong, but we walked out on the pier anyway and were rewarded with a dolphin sighting.

We finished the evening with a a walk along the strip and  some gelato. It was dark and starting to get a bit chilly so we called it a night and decided to try and catch up on some sleep before our upcoming drive to Florida.

In retrospect, I wish we'd spent more time at Driftwood Beach and not have bothered about the other beaches. Of course, there's only one way to find out and that's part of the adventure. During every vacation there's a place or two that I wish we'd had more time for and Driftwood Beach in one of those places, for me. I hope I can visit again some day!