WIFI Down today

JIA is planning to move the outside wifi equipment at the store to a new location today. All wifi service will be down for a while.

Cumberland Island Lands and Legacies Tour

The National Park Service on Cumberland Island is now offering a "Lands and Legacies Tour". The tour covers the north end of the island, and the African church where John Kennedy Jr and Caroline Bessette were married. It operates daily except for Tuesdays and Wednesdays. More info can be found here

As much as we'd like to set up a tour of campground folks, the logistics make that impossible. Instead, Bud Hodgdon suggest that your set up tours for 2-4 people on your own and make reservations with NPS. You can call them at 877-860-6787 or 912-882-4335, M-F 10AM to 4PM.

The cost for the tour is $15/person ($12 for age 62 or older) PLUS $20/person ($18 for plus 62 or older) PLUS a $4 park entry fee (waived for Golden Age Passport).

Much more info can be found on Bud's YELLOW poster on the bulletin board in the Community Room. Or talk with Bud directly.

Stafford Cemetery on the Lands and Legends Tour on Cumberland

Sorry, no dropins for lasagna dinner

Sometimes confusion and misunderstanding get in the way of good ideas. This appears to be the case for the Lasagna Dinner on Monday, January 30th. A well intentioned effort to include everybody has run headlong into the logistics needed to make the lasagna dinner work properly.  
Attendance at the Lasagna Dinner on Monday will be restricted to ticket holders only!
Since the event is catered, we need to set the number to feed in advance. That number has been determined by the seating capacity  of the tent. And while it seems that we could exceed that number, the serving space will be fully used by the caterer.
We (the Activity Team and Hosts) apologize for the confusion.

Make yourselves visible

Not sure what the target audience is, but Eric Garvey has asked for some photos of campers having fun for a presentation. Maybe we're finally showing up on somebody's radar?

Touring the Club Hotel

A group of 40 or more campers tripped down to the Club Hotel for a great tour of the old place. Highlights included the "Robert Redford" room and the grand dining room. A lot of history there!

January Pancake Breakfast

It's 2:30 in the afternoon after the Pancake Breakfast. The griddles and pans are washed and put away, extra food stored, and the volunteers are all back in their campers taking a well deserved nap. The turnout this year set a new record, as we're gaining fame for our pancakes. Jerry's grits were excellent, too. Congratulations, everybody. Great job!

Jan 2012 Pancakes

Photo Club Document

Notes for the Photo Club discussion on Exposure on January 18, 2012 can be found here.

A Pot Luck Dinner with Guests

Due to visiting staff from Jekyll, tonight's Oldlywed Game had to be postponed until next month. We had another standing room only crowd for a good variety of good food. Thanks to Laura and Ed Smith for hosting.

Charles McKenzie's beautiful hawk visited before dinner

The tent was full to overflowing

Sampling the food... what number was your table?

Fire Chief Jason explained and promoted an AED in the campground

Ed Garvey heard about the WIFI

Ladies Luncheon

Typically these happen twice a month, at various good eating places both on and off Jekyll. This one was at Crane Cottage in the Historic District on Jekyll. Thanks to Laura Smith for the images.

Westen Pot Luck... Heee Haw!

Brian and Joyce Hiebert hosted last night's pot luck with a western theme. Lot's of beans on the table, along with many other good choices. Tent was filled to overflowing, last table called was really, really hungry, and threatened to pull out their six-shooters. Brian led a sing-along after. Lots of fun!

Moon Walking

Despite what looked to be a cloudy night, the moon seemed to have cleared away the clouds for a wonderful warm full moon walk around Clam Creek Marsh. Halfway up the marsh, three deer broke and ran through the marsh, splashing along in the wet areas from the high tide. A side tour to the beach was equally inspiring.

Walkers heading out

Moon Shadows on the Beach

Waves washing the shore at Driftwood Beach

Photography Locations

Someone in the photo club asked for a list of places for photos on Jekyll. The linked PDF file contains a document listing some of Mahlon's favorite places to shoot. Blog comments are welcome with other suggestions, or send them to jekyllwinter@gmail.com

PHOTO LOCATIONS (PDF file)

Shipwreck

Chick Bowen surveying shipwreck

Most folks who have wandered about on Jekyll have been to the rusting remains of a shrimp boat buried deeply in the sand on the south end of the island. There's a much closer (to the campground) and older shipwreck to be found in the sand on Driftwood Beach. After hearing about this for several years, Chuck Bowen was kind enough to lead me out there yesterday. It's only visible near full low tide, and if you don't know what you're looking for, you might miss it. But it's an intriguing sight.It's an old wooden craft, I estimate at 40 feet long or more. Three of the beams, and 4 ribs can be made out. Iron fastenings can be seen in one of the beams.

Iron fastening on right in one of the beams

As a reminder, it's illegal to remove any artifact on Jekyll Island. So just go look, don't touch.

First Photo Club Meeting

The first meeting of the Photo Club was held on 1/4, with 10 attending. Most of the meeting was organizational, finding out what folks were interested in what topics we might cover. Jean and Bud Hodgdon shared the excellent work they've done with publishing photo books of Jekyll and Alaska. A discussion of cameras and their limitations followed. Topics were discussed for future meetings. Next week we will discuss composition, with members bringing sample copies.

Chili Cook-off - Birthday Party

Monday's pot luck dinner was a chili cook-off. Chili cooks came up with an amazing array of 9 varieties, including Texas Chili (no beans), White Chili, and several Veggie Chilis. The voting resulted in a tie between Sam McInroy and Jean Hodgdon. Congrats on your cooking prowess! Of course, all the attendees won a good dinner from the deal.
A secretive group also decided to throw a surprise birthday party for Consuelo Stacy, whose birthday was 12/31. Those of us that know Consuelo well knows that she will do anything to try to uncover any surprises, but the committee kept her completely in the dark. She was so happy to be honored, and received lots of socks (ask her why when you see her) and a great red nightie.

Winter at the Rookery

Yellow capped night heron

Great egrets, anhinga, vultures, and a turtle

There seems to be birds hanging around the rookery most anytime. These shots were captured yesterday, a cool windy day. Just one of many places on Jekyll to find birds.
The rookery is behind the abandoned amphitheater. The amphitheater entrance is just north of the fire station on Riverview Road.  Take the path which leads around behind the stage, follow it along the pond. Several viewing points are along the pond. Watch out for alligators, too.

Facebook Group

Some campers are Facebook regulars. Becoming a member of a Facebook Group automatically posts news from the group in their newsfeed, making information more accessible for those that use Facebook. Because of this, I have added a Facebook Group called "Jekyll winter Campers" and I will endeavor to duplicate event information in the group. Here is a link to the group.
The downside of this is that you will need to be a Facebook subscriber in order to post to that page, but anybody can post pictures, news, notes, etc.
Mahlon

Upcoming Events: Full Moon Walk

 

 

Stopping for a moon photo on Clam Creek Bridge in 2011

Bud Hodgdon will lead another great walk around the Clam Creek Marsh on January 9, when the full moon rises over Jekyll. Meet at 8:00 PM at the Community Room. The walk is about 3 miles, and takes about an hour.