Camping Trip

Got back yesterday from our yearly camping trip with our good buddy Rebel and his lovely family.
Weather was great, company was awesome. We rode bikes, and ate too much. Especially ice cream and dutch oven peach cobbler.
Kids wore themselves out  playing and driving Rebels teenage daughter nuts... They always wanted an older sister, this past weekend they got the experience of what it was like to have one.
Then her boyfriend showed up..... 

Saturday we rode our bikes into the historical section of Jekyll Island. This was the playground of the rich and famous during the late 1800's and early 1900s.
It is the birthplace of the Federal Reserve aka : "The Beast of Jekyll"  and the spot where in 1915 the very first transcontinental telephone call took place.

"Millionaires Row" is here, that is the lane with the cottages of folks like the Rockefeller's, Goodyear's, J.P Morgan and others....  Below is a pic of the infamous "Jekyll Island Club Hotel" A place full of scandal, and history.  You had to be a member of the club in order to build a cottage here. Which meant you had to have money, and lots of it.

Another "summer cottage" of one of those rich evil capitalist....

Libby came along for her first camping trip, she was a hit and loved by Rebels family...

I took ND over to the local pier and we saw that a great white had swallowed a witch, he thought it was funny and wanted me to snap a pic...because its not every day a kid see's a witch coming out of the mouth of a shark.

 

Then the sun set and we got bored around the campfire. It was then that the boyfriend suggested for giggles we melt a bottle....so we did. It was cool. The kids loved it and thought it a good experiment.

 

Sunday morning  came  and it was time to say "bye" and "see ya later" to our good friends, and one of my favorite places to visit. Hopefully it won't take another year to go back, camp , and hang out with good friends...
 
JUGM

Weekend at Jekyll Island

 

 

When we fired up our portable home on wheels, we all couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. The weather was spectacular.

Along with our friends, DUKE and Rebel, we all packed up our families and headed north to the beautiful Jekyll Island, GA. SENIOR and I go camping there quite often, it has something for everyone and the kids love it. It is pristine, and frankly one of my favorite places to visit.

Between, 1886-1942 the island was the winter retreat for the wealthiest people in the country. Names like the Rockefeller's, JP Morgan, Vanderbilt’s, Macy, and Fields built cottage like mansions that surrounded the “Jekyll Island Club”. This was the center piece of the Island and membership was exclusive. For 600.00 a year only the wealthiest were allowed to join, and they kept the membership at only 100 families.
 





It was here that then President Theodore Roosevelt made the first transcontinental phone call. Then there was the secret meeting in 1907 and the creation of the “Aldrich Plan” which led to the creation of today’s “Federal Reserve”

Now the island and historic area is opened to the public and the once exclusive Jekyll Island Club is now a hotel.

In addition there is the campground, and fishing pier. And don’t forget the beautiful beach.

Campground Bird Sanctuary

 We all arrived Friday afternoon, and relaxed at the campground around a fire. Then Saturday morning it was breakfast and a visit to the campgrounds bird sanctuary. After that,  it was on the bikes for the 3 mile ride into the historic area where the homes are. You can close your eyes and imagine what it must have been like back in the 1900s.

 

 

We all stopped for ice cream, and us girls went in and out of the little shops while the guys kept the park benches warm.We also browsed the Island Museum, where on display are photographs and memorabilia of a by gone age.

Then more riding over to what is known as “Millionaires Village” this is where the mansions are. The architecture elaborate, they are reminders of a time long gone.

"Indian Mound" The Vanderbilt House

 

"Moss Cottage" Owned by the Macy Family

 

The sun was getting low and it was time to make the bike ride back to the campground. With the sun setting fast, we all got supper together. Each of us cooked for ourselves, but we all ate together. Senior and I did an awesome Beef Stew cooked outside on our Coleman stoves.

Rebel cranked up another roaring fire, and treated us all to a good Dutch oven peach cobbler... Mrs. Rebel topped off the cobbler for us with vanilla ice cream.

Which was the perfect ending to the perfect day with good friends, good food, wonderful weather, and a beautiful place to spend the weekend.

 

Jekyll Island sunset over the Intercoastal