Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island

...Because...
who wouldn't want a beach day while driving the 6 hours between Charleston, South Carolina and Orlando, Florida?
Jekyll Island, Georgia is pretty much the half way point between the two and only some 30 miles north of the Florida state line. I'd driven past the area a few times and always had it on my 'to do' list... and since I was now having a free day and with no amusement parks to till my void I looked up things to do and came across something called Driftwood Beach... and it seemed like the perfect rest stop to make along my drive. I could have used a nice 'relax day' on the final day of what was a 14 day / nearly 4,000 mile trip (some 60 hours of driving!) from Orlando to Boston and back... with several out of the way stops along the route! haha. Annddd since I'm also a fan of finding some semi-off-the-beaten-path places... it seemed perfect.

Woo.

After crossing over onto Jekyll Island and driving to the northern tip of the island.. I found what I hoped was the right place.. parked my car.. and headed down a trail into the woods.

leading to the beach...

Woo, Driftwood Beach!

The best way to describe the place would be...
a tree graveyard.

Over time the beach eroded away and the trees along the shore died, fell over, and became sun bleached and such.

Leaving the area covered in massive parts of trees in all sizes and shapes and levels of decay,

It was hauntingly beautiful.

yup

Hey look, I'm... enjoying.
After taking a whole bunch of photos, I had a nice couple of hours at the beach... that I had pretty much to myself! And enjoyed a swim and other beach type activities before deciding it was time to head out and finally head home.

And back down the trail I head to my car to complete the drive to Orlando... with a stop in JAX for some foods, good foods. <3

Woo, adventure.

Atlanta Time? More like PANDA TIME!

Well, uh, no trip to Atlanta would be complete with a side trip to Zoo Atlanta, home of the Giant Panda! Atlanta is one of just four zoo's in the US to have pandas (the others being DC, San Diego, and Memphis) So despite it being barely over freezing with off and on rain... I made the trek out to the zoo... so I could wave at the Pandas...
and such. Because uh, well..... yeah.

But oh man! Pandas!
🐼 🐼

Just kinda chillin'
🐼 🐼

Snacking on some delicious bamboo.
🐼 🐼

Being a Panda
🐼 🐼

...doing Panda like things...
🐼 🐼

Like eating bamboo.
🐼 🐼

Oh hey look... That guy, and uh, a Panda!
And lastly.....
🐼 🐼

Ooooh Panda Tree, OOOH PANDA TREE... something, something, panannnddda-treeeeee.
🐼 🐼

I don't know.

Pilgrimage: Completion

So on New Years Day 2016, I got myself up at 6 am having spent the night before at Epcot for New Years Eve fireworks... And drove myself up to Atlanta to hang out with Deka for the weekend and go to Six Flags.. and stuff... Well, after spending the day at Six Flags Over Georgia, we needed to eat... So we headed out of the park and into Atlanta to get ourselves some dindin. Ending up at some local restaurant.

Woo, and the first meal of 2016 was at Moe's Southwest Grill!
But this isn't just any Moe's...

Its the very first one, ever built <3

Yup... Looks like any other Moe's

But that's ok, its one of my favorite places to eat.

I got myself a Salad Bowl :D
woo
((and a cookie))

Yaayyy!!!!
Totally worth the +6 hour // 450 mile drive!
Uh, yup.

32°0′24″N 80°50′58″W or, uh, Tybee Island?

That one time we all went out to Tybee Island and climbed the light house...
(Also, we flew kites!)

Sweet, the eastern most point in the state of Georgia and the place where an Atomic Bomb was accidentally....lost.

Oh, and there's a climbable Light House there to add to my ever growing list. ha. Since we were staying in Savannah for an extended birthday weekend, it only made sense to plan a beach day while we were at it.. And that's how we ended up at Tybee. (as if any of us would complain)

Woo, the Tybee Island Light Station
Opened to the public since 1985.

Info on the Lighthouse as well as the other buildings on the grounds of the little complex.

Tybee Island Light House

At 154 feet, its the tallest lighthouse in Georgia
Its also the oldest, built just 4 years after Georgia became the final original Thirteenth Colony.

The original Light was built in 1736, the current in 1867.
(but the 1867 Light uses the base of the 1773 Light!)

Model of the area...
Although, this looks nothing like the current site.

The inner construction workings of the Light.

Woo, lets get climbing!
Right after we got our tickets we were warned that a large group of field trippers were on their way and due to capacity limitations, we should make our climb first and then enjoy the rest of the grounds.

So... up we go.
Just 178 steps left!

Along the way up there are a few windows... but because I didn't wanna ruin the surprise, I made sure not to look. Although I did enjoy them (and the signs and such) on the way back down.

Uh, the beacon, still functioning and still using its original lens.
(a second order Fresnel lens)

The Light Station complex.

Looking west from the top of the Light

Looking to the north, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina can be seen in the distance.
And the mouth of the Savannah River

Looking south east toward the city of Tybee Island.
(Where the original Days Inn was located!)

And east itself, the beach and the Atlantic Ocean!

144 feet down from the observation platform...
(the maximum height is 154)

Because, well, you gotta have a Jolly Roger flying....

Maannn, that beach sure is inviting...
Fort Screven/Battery Garland is the building in the foreground.

Another photo of Fort Screven

Down the stairs... to explore the rest of the little complex.

Clearly, Paul is incredibly interested in being here.

Little garden <3

Yaayyy
(Uh, Photo of the Day?)

Across the street from the Lighthouse is Battery Garland and Fort Screven. We didn't actually explore around here, just in passing to get to the beach.
(everyone else was.. stairs'd out after the Light climb)

Battery Garland

Uh... Danger what?

And... again, because its so exciting looking.. Battery Garland

Sea life signs... and stuff

Sorry Chelsea, no nudity on the beach.

From the street, there's a short little boardwalk over the dunes to access the beach.

Protected beach dunes

:O Shorebirds guide sign! Sadly, I didn't really see any of them
:(

North Beach
Cleverly named such because its the northern most beach on the island.

artsy fartsy
(but it is a neat shot, right? maybe??)

Beach..stuff
OK, time to swim!!!

Maannn.... I hadn't been to the beach to swim in far to long.
It was cool-ish but once you got in, it felt amazing and we spent a good few hours just enjoying.

This stupid Container Ship passed by us on its way out to sea and made a mini tidal wave that took everyone on the beach by surprised and nearly ruined all of our belongings, had I not been next to our stuff at the time... some of it may have been swept out into the ocean. It was pretty horrifying yet neat to witness.

Yaayyy, the ocean!
Also, also... because I'd never flown a kite before in Georgia..... We alllllll flew kites!

And since I couldn't find my amazing pterodactyl kite in time... I ended up with this one from Five Below.

Like a Boss.