Living where we do here in Georgia has two great advantages. One, we are about 2 and 1/2 hours drive from the GA mountains. Second, we are about 2 and 1/2 hours drive to the GA coast! We don't get to the mountains or the coast nearly enough. We were reminded of that with our first recent trip to Jekyll Island.
Lets take a look at this Georgia State Park... (click on the underlined to learn more about Jekyll island)
Jekyll Island is one of a cluster of small barrier islands know as the Golden Isles of Georgia, (click on the underlined to see the other isles) It is about 9 miles long and 1 and 1/2 miles wide. The island is gourd shaped and has 10 miles of beach. Once, known as an Indian hunting and fishing ground and the waters a Pirate stronghold, held by none other then Blackbeard himself. Legend says his dagger is stuck in a oak tree pointing in the direction of hidden treasures. The great trees on this island should be among Georgia's Seven Natural Wonders . (click on the underlined to see the 7 wonders)Lets look at those natural wonders called oak trees.
I was not expecting to see such magnificent trees and this is truly a wonder to the eye. The trees are full of Spanish moss and that seems fitting since Spain Occupied this island from 1566-1686. 
Click on the video to see the moss blowing in the wind. The largest and oldest Oak on the island is the Plantation Oak and is estimated at being 350-400 years old! It is over 7 feet in diameter, measures 128 feet limb to limb, has a girth of 23 feet and a height of 112 feet. I don't believe this is the oak pictured but it could be as it was huge! Look at how the branches lay on the ground.
The Live Oak is Georgia's state tree.
These moss filled trees are all over the island. I found myself looking upward more so then eye level for most of our weekend visit. 
It is so tempting to grab a hand full of the moss but we must remember two things here. One, moss is home to those little red bugs that will bite the fire out of your body and leave itchy whelps. And two, this is a State Park so everything must remain as you see it. You can pick up sea shells but that is all... 
I could not get my fill of the beauty from the trees. I did not know that oak trees could survive on the salt water but I should have known from my visits to Savannah and Charleston, SC as they are full of them as well. 
A lot of the trees were covered with the Resurrection Fern (click on the underlined to learn more about the fern) that I have mentioned in the past. Just look at it growing happily along the tree trunks. 
Here is a close-up of the fern. I have a small clump growing on one of my trees and I wonder if it will ever get this thick? Maybe in 300 years, ha...
What is an island with out getting on the beach? The clouds started to roll in but it did not stop us from hunting seashells along the soft white seashore. Notice how tourist season is over? An empty beach is our kind of getaway!
The Saint lived in Hawaii for 4 years so the ocean does not impress him much anymore. But he admitted, he was very impressed with this natural state park. 
We strolled along and picked up what few shells we found. Sorry Tina, if you were wanting to do a project with your requested shells, it will be a small project as we found only a few. I will pass them along to you on our next visit! 
Tomorrow I will show you more of this beautiful island that the American elite of 1886-1947 once called their winter homes... Just wait until you see the "cottages" and other scenery on JEKYLL ISLAND... 
