Steven picked us up early to go to Jekyl Island. He outlined a bike tour for us while he attended an arts council board meeting. There is a bike path around the entire island. We biked through forest of oaks and Spanish moss with palmetto underneath. At times we could look out on the vast marsh. This group of islands are known as the Golden Isles due to the golden color of the marsh.
Our first stop on the tour was the Horton House ruins. There are just a few remains of walls here made of tabby, a concrete like material made of lime, sand, water and oyster shells. They got the lime from burning oyster shells.
William Horton and later Christophe DuBignon ran an isolated, self sufficient plantation here for over 100 years. Horton had indentured servants and DuBignon, 57 enslaved people. They grew potato’s, barley, and their main export crop sea island cotton. There was an orange grove on the property. I cannot imagine how hard it must have been for the slaves trying to weed and pick the rows of cotton in this marsh.
We then moved on to Driftwood Beach, which felt like a burial ground for trees. They lay with their roots exposed and cleaned by the ocean.
Horton Pond was next. There is a wooden platform in the middle where alligators and turtles come to sun. It was not sunny but one alligator had crawled out. A lady there let us take a picture of her photo (telephoto lens).
Then on to a path along the beach and into the Jekyl Island resort where wealthy Americans gathered in lavish homes in the 1900’s. In front of one of the buildings is a croquet field. There is a club that plays properly in white uniforms and hats. Steven is trying to get in on this.
One of the old homes, the Goodyear Cottage, has been turned into an arts studio and gallery. Steven has some of his art there. The basement is a pottery studio and there was a potter working there, Mark. He is planning a trip south in January on a Trawler. The middle floor is gallery and the upper floor is the weaver’s guild with looms in every room, including the bathroom. All kinds of artwork was displayed and sold there. There are also classes.
We returned to the boat to fuel, fill water, clean and decorate. Steven and Christina came over for a tour before a southern dinner , hot chicken (we had novice, not too hot) brussel sprouts, Mac and cheese.
