GeorgiaRoller
Exit Stage Left
Me and StreetBetty took the last 3days and got away to the Georgian Coast...better known as the Golden Isles. Georgia has about 100 miles of coastline on the Atlantic but we don't have any mainland beaches. The entire 100 mile coast is made up of barrier islands & salt marshes. It's a terrific place for migratory birds and it has excellent shrimp. By motorcycle you can visit Tybee, Wilmington, Skidaway, St. Simons, Sea Island & Jekyll Islands. But many of the islands are only accessible by boat such as Cumberland, Little St. Simons, Sapelo, St. Catherines & Ossabaw islands.
What I find nice about Georgia's coast is that the majority of the islands are not over built tourist traps. Some entire islands are nature preserves and are protected from development. For instance Jekyll Island is a State Park and is the prime nesting ground for Loggerhead Turtles. Cumberland Island is a nature preserve with wild horses running free as well. Sapelo island has two wildlife refuges located on it.
So since I'm somewhat of a naturalist at heart I'd much rather go here on a bike instead of say...Daytona beach. So we rode down to Savannah, walked river st., had some killer food, visited Tybee, St. Simons islands and stayed two nights Here on Jekyll Island. With it being a State Park it has to remain 65% undeveloped which made it very nice!
I ended up taking 166 pictures :blink: ....but I"ll only bore you with about 20.
First we rode out to Tybee Island and saw this dude kite surfing.
At times he'd get about 20' air off the ocean. It was very windy and he was hauling ***!!!
Then we walked downtown Savannah and looked at many of the historic sites.
We went out to dinner at Jazz'd Tapas and man was that good! :yahoo:
After starting out with some local "She Crab Stew" we got some "Cuban Rubbed Beef Satays" & "Martini Marinated Tenderloin Tips"
Then we had to get some "Prosciutto Wrapped Scallops"
And finally some homemade "Rum Bread Pudding"
Then we rode down to Brunswick and crossed over the bridge to get to Jekyll Island.
Jekyll Island was a private island for the elite of America a little over 100 years ago. The mega rich and most notable people of the late 1800's and early 1900's such as J.P. Morgan, Marshall Field, Joseph Pulitzer as well as the Rockefellers & Vanderbilts made Jekyll island their exclusive winter retreat here and they all built "cottages". All of the orginal cottages still remain and are in terrific condition. Here are just a few of them.
Here are some of the sights we seen around the island.
Massive Live Oaks with Spanish Moss everywhere.
Inter-Coastal waterway.
Lots of nesting birds along the salt marshes.
The Atlantic ocean beach side of the island.
Driftwood beach...north end of the island.
Old building ruin.
More live oaks with spanish moss.
Weird stuff growing everywhere.
Then we rode back over the Brunswick Bridge and came down to visit St. Simons Island and found this guy chilling at the pier.
St. Simons is a big nesting ground for several speices of Terrapin turtles. As you ride down the causeway over the salt marshes to reach the island from the mainland you'll notice Terrapin Turtle crossing signs along the road.
Along the entire 4 or 5 mile route they have built passageways at the bottom of the cement median to allow the Turtles to cross the road.
We rode 660 miles and had a great time. The bike was perfect. We had plenty of room for gear and I used the throttle lock a lot as we had to cruise at 80mph on the interstate to get down there. Even though I'm a self proclaimed "mountainman" I have to say visiting the coast is something I'll have to do more of!
What I find nice about Georgia's coast is that the majority of the islands are not over built tourist traps. Some entire islands are nature preserves and are protected from development. For instance Jekyll Island is a State Park and is the prime nesting ground for Loggerhead Turtles. Cumberland Island is a nature preserve with wild horses running free as well. Sapelo island has two wildlife refuges located on it.
So since I'm somewhat of a naturalist at heart I'd much rather go here on a bike instead of say...Daytona beach. So we rode down to Savannah, walked river st., had some killer food, visited Tybee, St. Simons islands and stayed two nights Here on Jekyll Island. With it being a State Park it has to remain 65% undeveloped which made it very nice!
I ended up taking 166 pictures :blink: ....but I"ll only bore you with about 20.
First we rode out to Tybee Island and saw this dude kite surfing.
At times he'd get about 20' air off the ocean. It was very windy and he was hauling ***!!!
Then we walked downtown Savannah and looked at many of the historic sites.
We went out to dinner at Jazz'd Tapas and man was that good! :yahoo:
After starting out with some local "She Crab Stew" we got some "Cuban Rubbed Beef Satays" & "Martini Marinated Tenderloin Tips"
Then we had to get some "Prosciutto Wrapped Scallops"
And finally some homemade "Rum Bread Pudding"
Then we rode down to Brunswick and crossed over the bridge to get to Jekyll Island.
Jekyll Island was a private island for the elite of America a little over 100 years ago. The mega rich and most notable people of the late 1800's and early 1900's such as J.P. Morgan, Marshall Field, Joseph Pulitzer as well as the Rockefellers & Vanderbilts made Jekyll island their exclusive winter retreat here and they all built "cottages". All of the orginal cottages still remain and are in terrific condition. Here are just a few of them.
Here are some of the sights we seen around the island.
Massive Live Oaks with Spanish Moss everywhere.
Inter-Coastal waterway.
Lots of nesting birds along the salt marshes.
The Atlantic ocean beach side of the island.
Driftwood beach...north end of the island.
Old building ruin.
More live oaks with spanish moss.
Weird stuff growing everywhere.
Then we rode back over the Brunswick Bridge and came down to visit St. Simons Island and found this guy chilling at the pier.
St. Simons is a big nesting ground for several speices of Terrapin turtles. As you ride down the causeway over the salt marshes to reach the island from the mainland you'll notice Terrapin Turtle crossing signs along the road.
Along the entire 4 or 5 mile route they have built passageways at the bottom of the cement median to allow the Turtles to cross the road.
We rode 660 miles and had a great time. The bike was perfect. We had plenty of room for gear and I used the throttle lock a lot as we had to cruise at 80mph on the interstate to get down there. Even though I'm a self proclaimed "mountainman" I have to say visiting the coast is something I'll have to do more of!
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