St Simons GA – The Fort and Lighthouse

On a recent trip to the Georgia coast, we took a day to see the sites at St. Simons Island. St. Simons Island is the largest of the Golden Isles barrier Islands. The Poet Sidney Lanier immortalized this island in his poem Marshes of the Glynn.
“Affable live-oak, leaning low,–
Thus–with your favor–soft, with a reverent hand,
(Not lightly touching your person, Lord of the land!)
Bending your beauty aside, with a step I stand” Sidney Lanier 1842-1881 – The Marshes of the Glynn.

And as the poet exclaimed, that is exactly what Joan and I experienced. There are wonderful places to tour where the natural beauty of the island has been preserved. And the live oaks on the island….breathtaking. There is also a wide range of things to see and do including beaches, museums, shops, championship golf courses, exceptional restaurants and so much more.

Fort Frederica

We spent part of the day touring Fort Frederica. This is a beautiful site that has been restored to show the area where a vibrant English colony was established in 1733 and flourished until the British garrison was withdrawn in 1758. Many of the town’s people left and time reclaimed much of the settlement. Today, we were able walk the streets, see the tabby foundation ruins and a part of the fort.

We started at the museum near the entrance to the fort. We viewed many of the items discovered from archaeological excavations. The museum also provided a glimpse into much of the past history. Leaving the museum we were greeted by the stunning site of Fort Frederica. The ancient, Spanish moss filled live oaks were simply stunning. We were able to walk along the same streets mapped in 1733 viewing the tabby foundations where homes had been. At the end of Broadstreet, we found the remnants of the fort overlooking Frederica River.

This is a beautiful site. Peaceful, stunning views and well preserve nature. The tour of the fort provided a wonderful morning on the island.

St. Simons Lighthouse

Our next stop was the St. Simons Lighthouse and Museum overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the entrance to Saint Simons Sound. This is the second lighthouse with construction completing in 1872. The lighthouse is 104 feet tall and continues to operate today. At the base of the lighthouse is the Keeper’s dwelling where we were able to see artifacts from the days of the keepers. Here we could see how the dozen keepers lived until the lighthouse was automated in the mid-1950s.

We also walked to the top of the lighthouse. The 129 steps were definitely worth the effort. A number of landings along the steps provided a window to tease the view for what waited at the top. The views from the landing atop the lighthouse were spectacular. Directly in front is the Atlantic Ocean providing a view as far as the eye can see. To the right is the edge of Jekyll Island and to the north is the town of St. Simons and a live oak canopy covering the island. Simply beautiful.

There was so much to see and do at St. Simons that could have filled a week or more. We enjoyed our day trip with these two locations and the wonderful visual memories offered.

Additional information:

St. Simons Island – https://www.goldenisles.com/discover/st-simons-island/
Fort Frederica National Monument – https://www.nps.gov/fofr/index.htm
St. Simpns Lighhouse – https://www.coastalgeorgiahistory.org/visit/st-simons-lighthouse/
The Marshes of the Glynn by Sidney Lanier – https://poets.org/poem/marshes-glynn

Not sure about what RV accessories you need as you start RV travel? Check out our RV Accessories page where we have listed a wide range of products from essential items to those “nice to have” RV products to make RV life more enjoyable. Every item listed is being used or has been used by Joan and I as we’ve traveled across the country in our RV.
 

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