The weather this morning was questionable at best but our goal was to both ride our bicycles on the wonderful bike paths at Jekyll Island so we went anyway. It was too windy on the ocean side of the island so we decided to try the leeward side of the island. It was lovely riding along under the live oaks with views of the marshes until the occasional rain drops intensified to the point that it was really raining. I made it back to the car only slightly wet but Harry who was going much faster and therefore further was pretty much soaked.
We ate our picnic lunch in the car as we headed over to St. Simons Island to try an indoor activity. Along the way the high bridges that span the Intracoastal Waterway offered a birds eye view of the coastal marshes.
We decided on visiting the St. Simons Lighthouse and Museum. The first lighthouse on this site was destroyed by Lee’s confederate forces in 1861 to prevent the approaching Federal troops from using the beacon for navigation. There are only five surviving lighthouses in Georgia. Given the wobbliness of my knees after the bike ride and the likelihood that the view would be obscured I decided to pass on climbing the 129 steps to the top.
The small museum is in the keeper’s house, which was in active use from 1872 until the 1950s. Marsha was particularly intrigued by the use of iPads in the period rooms to allow the visitors to get additional information about the objects in the rooms.