We continued to enjoy our stay at Epworth on St. Simons Island with a mixture of musical events, birding, a family visit, and visiting historical museums. Below are recent events and pictures.
Donna at Jekyll Island beach with the Atlantic Ocean and Willets in the background.
The flowers at Epworth are beautiful. Vic is standing by an Azalea Bush.
Ft. Federica National Monument contains the remains of a fort which successfully won the right for British control of coastal Georgia and ultimately Florida. Colleen and Steve visited us and are pictured along with Donna and a volunteer dressed in the uniform and musket from the 1740’s era.
The Coastal Brass Choir of 12 musicians performed at Saint Simons Presbyterian Church on 3/18. We attended the concert along with Steve and Colleen. I visited with one of the musicians during intermission and found there was also a community band and we will attend the upcoming concert. Part of the group above are “snowbirds” from the East coast spending the winter in the area.
During WW II, Brunswick produced Liberty Ships. After the war, the harbor was converted and is now a hub for imported/exported automobiles and handles over 700,000 units per year.
This Sidney Lanier bridge crosses 450 feet above the Brunswick River to allow ships to pass under the bridge and into the harbor and is part of highway US 17. The bridge was built in 2005 after two ships had struck the previous lift bridge. In the 1972 accident the ship strike caused a partial bridge collapse with vehicles falling into the river and 10 people killed.
The Georgia Tech choir from Atlanta performed at Wesley UMC on 3/16/19. Of the about 25 members, 20 were all engineering students and the others various technical degrees. The choir tour was secretly arranged by the members without the director’s knowledge and members gave up their Spring break for the tour.. Because of the secrecy, the first soprano directed from the front row using her music folder and the actual choir director lead only two of the numbers. Since it was a surprise tour, there were no programs. As expected, their final number was “I’m a ‘ramblin’ wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer…”
Birding at Pamona Lake 3-21-19 North of Brunsick
No posting would be complete without a bird picture. The Black Vultures near Pamona Lake are a southern species and different from Turkey Vultures seen in SD during the summer.
The Coast Guard station on Saint Simons from WW II days was converted to a very interesting museum. We learned that over 5000 mariners were killed in cargo ships sunk by German submarines. Two of the ships lost were only about five miles off of the coast from St. Simons Island with the loss of 22 sailors. On that sinking, many of the remaining crew were rescued by this coast guard station personnel.
The dogs were used on beach patrol, sentry, and other duty at St. Simons and other locations.
Ready to attack. Picture of the dogs were taken from posters at the museum.
The Birmingham-Southern University choir on tour put on an excellent performance at Wesley UMC on Saint Simons March 21, 2019.
This Brunswick-St. Simons-Jekyll area is referred to as The Golden Isles. We attended a concert on 3/24 at Brunswick High School performed by the Golden Isles Community Band. Band membership is a blend of high school, community, and snowbird musicians with about 55 members.