Seagulls Stole My Socks!--A Beachy Road Trip Report
 

Okay, we really did go through with it--approximately 1800 miles, six destinations, and eight days. And it was fun. Mostly.

Thursday, July 12th, my DH drove from Philly to New Jersey, where I stay during the week with my dad, to come get me. After a few distractions and a lot of luggage, we drove back to Philly where our DS was waiting and took a long nap, getting ready for the first leg of our trip, to Charleston. I had figured we'd sleep until 2am or so. No. Mr. "I'm too excited to sleep" had us on the road before 10pm. With a shocking amount of traffic for that hour on a Thursday. The road didn't really loosen up until we were nearly in North Carolina. Still we made good time, and were in Lumberton about ten minutes before the Cracker Barrel opened at 6am. I will say that I feel that we are getting a little old for this approach. I don't mind the amount of mileage in one go and feel that's what kindles are for, but up all night is kind of wearing. I was starting to have vivid fantasies about flat surfaces from about 2am on. DS did get some sleep, but I felt a need to stay awake and talk to DH to keep him alert.

After breakfast we got back in the car and were pulling into DH's cousin's driveway a little after eight. She had a bunch of errands to run and suggested that at least some of us should tag along with her, which ended up being the whole gang. So, first we went to Publix, so she could order a birthday cake for her granddaughter's first birthday, and then we went to Walmart to print out the picture on her phone of the cake so that Publix had it for reference. During our Publix stop we realized that DS, who has minor developmental delays, had managed to do something really awful to his shoelaces, and that his sneakers were also more worn than we had realized. So, in Walmart he and DS went to the shoe department where an emergency pair of sneakers were purchased over his protests that they were perfectly fine. Then she had some bank errands, I ran a bank errand that I had forgotten to in Jersey, and we took a package to the post office. And returned to Publix.

After all that, we went to her favorite pizza parlor and got some lunch. After that we went back to her house, and DH, DS, and I declared ourselves exhausted and went off to find our hotel, Magnolia Inn and Suites Best Western Plus, which I won on a Hotwire bid. DH's cousin rounded up her daughter, son-in-low, and granddaughter and went off to run more errands.

Installment Two
 

Once we were checked in, we debated swimming versus napping. Since we were all exhausted, napping won, with the idea that we would swim when we woke up. Unfortunately it was raining when we woke up, but we felt much better. Some of the reason why we stopped in Charleston (because while we all like her, DH's cousin is perfectly capable of running her own errands without our help) was that one of DH's cousins was having surgery. This cousin, who I'll refer to as E, is the brother of the errrand running cousin, who I'll call A. Now, he'd had that surgery on the 12th, and had been released on the 13th, so he was only marginally up to visitors, and we decided that he did not need to be subjected to the whole gang. So DH and cousin A went over to Cousin E's house, and I sat in Cousin A's kitchen and talked to her husband while DS played video games upstairs with her son-in-law. When they came back we all ate dinner (burgers, green beans, and mac n' cheese--pretty much none of which DH ate but we're all used to how fussy he is, and he got some Arby's at a certain point in the proceedings). After dinner, A needed to go collect two more grandchildren from their parents, and asked me to keep her company, so we drove about 20 minutes to her son's house, collected his toddler and pre-schooler and drove back to A's house. After that, we were all truly exhausted, and went back to the hotel to turn in for the night, since we needed to be on the road early.

Next stop, Jacksonville!

Third Installment, or Jacksonville Airport is a Vacation Getaway
 

I should state that I had not originally intended to spend any of my vacation at Jacksonville Airport. We weren't flying anywhere, and DH has a "healthy respect" (otherwise known as unmitigated loathing) for Jacksonville traffic. Strange, strange things happen, particularly in that spaghetti mess downtown, where we once encountered a sofa on I-95. We had wanted to spend the Saturday night at Amelia Island, but I couldn't get a decent room for what I wanted to pay, so we were going to stay in the general vicinity of the Kingsland exit. Then I discovered two things.

1) Jacksonville airport is just barely Jacksonville, and is north of 295 and just two exits below where we actually needed to be for Amelia Island.

2) I was able to book the Crowne Plaza there for $81 a night, with a very spiffy looking indoor/outdoor pool.

So we added it to our itinerary.

It is a very nice hotel, if a bit dated. A great deal of "modern elegance" circa 1985, with a really cavernous lobby with a lot of glass and a bar sort of next to the pool.



I took more pictures, but this is a decent shot of the pool, and gives some sense of the lobby.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...77ca08cea0.jpg

We had meant to swim as soon as we checked in, but then it rained just as we got downstairs. So we sat in the lobby bar and had spinach dip and chardonnay. DH, who does not consume either of these things, did get a quick swim in during a lull. After our snack, we went upstairs to watch TV and rest.

After we rested, we were hungry for dinner. We did stop for lunch, at a barbecue stand next to a Chevron in St. Marys, but it was early and not enormous. Also delicious. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...dfa39ef939.jpg
We've stopped here before, and it's really good. It is called Malson's, and a light lunch for three people ran us just over $20. And since miracles will never cease, DH will eat their chicken as long as he remembers not to have them sauce it.

So we were hungry for dinner kind of early (it was a small spinach dip) and we went downstairs to their restaurant, where DH had wild Georgia shrimp, I had lobster ravioli, and DS had salmon. DS and I also had Chardonnay, and split a piece of pecan pie. It was all quite decent, and in keeping with the theme of thirty year old modern elegance, our bread plates looked like this. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...60b1c43f24.jpg
DS was extremely impressed. He loves edible flowers. DH is more than a little weirded out when he eats them, but I suppose it's sort of a vegetable. I tried mine, but they really had no taste.

After dinner, it had stopped raining and we got to go swimming, finally. The pool was nice, if a little chilly, although I wasn't comfortable with the swim in, swim out, since the divider was a good 18" thick and there was no airspace.

After swimming, we turned in early, ready to get up early and start our first beach day.

Great report. Now, please describe what "dated" means in terms of the motel/hotel. Furniture? carpet? drapes? smells?

Installment Four--Finally the Beach
 

We woke up bright and early, and discovered that our restaurant had a breakfast buffet. We had good intentions about the a la carte menu, but unlimited coffee and juice, plus an omelette, egg, and pancake station for $14.95? How could we resist?

DH particularly kind of overate. Hr likes pancakes. And they had biscuits. And bacon, which he's not actually supposed to be eating, but... He was full for pretty much the rest of the day. DS and I didn't eat lightly, but it wasn't quite so dramatic.

The ride to Amelia Island was less than an hour, and we were pulling into the Amelia Hotel at the Beach a little after 10am. Of course it wasn't ready for us, but we figured they'd let us park, so we could go to the beach, and I was correct. So we went to the beach, and paddled in the waves very cautiously for an hour or so. It wasn't ridiculously rough, but my balance is bad, and I will often take my cane down to the surf so I'm comfortable and don't feel like I may fall. Also the sand was particularly squishy and I was having trouble walking on it. Additionally, we were getting kind of crispy and there had been a shark attack in exactly that area two days previously (non life threatening, thank goodness, but still). https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fc5b447272.jpg

After we'd had enough beach for that particular moment, we got in the car to explore. The beach area at Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach is very pretty, but seemed a bit sleepy, and mostly seemed to have private homes. There were a couple of restaurants and other business right by our hotel, but otherwise the area looked to be mostly residential. And you can drive on the beach if you have 4 wheel, which always shocks me.

After some unscheduled wandering, we found downtown Fernandina Beach, since we had wanted to visit the Marlin and Barrel Distillery. So, so cool. They don't charge for tastings, but we did buy a bottle and our bar person was actually one of the distillers. She was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly and easy to talk to, and we had a great time.https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b9f0b35de6.jpg

Then we walked around the Marina area and explored downton Fernandina Beach a little. There's a nice looking Hampton Inn right there, with water views, and if we end up back there we would probably look into staying there. Our hotel was nice, the beach was lovely, but the general area was just a little quiet for our tastes. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ce24850a07.jpg

DS particularly enjoyed the marina, and visted a bait shop (where he did not buy any bait, since we were not set up for fishing at that moment, but he wanted to see what they had).

In our wanderings, we visited a couple of stores and decided to have a little snack. DH still wasn't hungry at all, but DS and I were a little nibbly. We stopped into a coffee bar and split a sandwich, a cupcake, and a half bottle of pinot grigio. DH had a Powerade. And then DS decided he wanted a black iced coffee as well, which he finished as we walked along.

Thanks!

Layout and aesthetic, mostly. Decor to some extent. Room furniture was kind of heading for a replacement (not dramatically, mostly a few scuffs here and there) but everything in the public areas was in good shape. Definitely well maintained, but I was aware it wan't built last year, or even last decade.

Installment Five--Rest of the Beach Day
 

After we got back to the car we considered visiting Fort Clinch State Park, but it was hot and sunny, we felt like swimming, and DS had read online that it had gotten a particularly bad time in one of the recent hurricanes. We also figured the hotel would be ready for us, which it was. So we checked in, brought in our bags, and changed for the pool, which was small but pleasant. Also quite warm.

When we were done swimming, we decided it was time for an early dinner, so we got changed and crossed the street to Sliders Beach Bar. Very nice, with a playground for children and rope swings for grownups at the Tiki Bar. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...df983cecda.jpg

I had a lobster roll, DS had a burger, and DH had a chicken sandwich without any of the usual toppings (DH pretty much always has that). DS and I also had $3 Bloody Marys, because they were on special since it was Sunday, and we'd kind of been wanting one since the distillery.https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bf3fdf8cd0.jpg

After dinner, we walked on the beach for a little bit, and then went over to the hotel. The internet had claimed that it had a bar, but what that really meant is that the front desk sells beer and wine and little airline bottles of booze, which is really not quite the same as a "bar". However, DH and I got some Stella Artois and sat on the porch, watching the shadows get long and listening to the music coming from the bars. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0320efef8f.jpg
Then it was off to bed.

Still waiting to hear about the seagulls...and Williamsburg. ��

The seagulls are coming. And we had a lovely time in Williamsburg. I've been very slow posting because the internet ate the next installment (three times!) and it's been a little crazy around here. However...

Installment Six-Jekyll Island, or our latest money sink.
 

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d6c331cbdd.jpg

For some reason, I've been having a very hard time uploading the photos from this segment, so this may be the only one. Which is a pity, because Jekyll Island is really lovely.

We left Amelia quite early, and it only took us a little over an hour to get to Jekyll Island. DH was quite surprised to discover that it was actually a state park and you had to pay to get onto it, but he ponied up the six dollars with good grace. We were quite pleased to realize that the six bucks meant that we had paid for parking pretty much whereever we wanted on the island.

After a little wandering (not much, because it isn't exactly huge) we found our hotel.

DS and DH were quite pleased with my catch, Holiday Inn Resort Jekyll Island. They weren't ready for us, since it was barely 10 a.m. but they pointed us to their (presumably shark free) beach.

Wonderful. Shallow, calm, warm and beautiful.

I'm enjoying your report. Looking forward to reading about the seagulls.

I’ve had quite a few posts disappear, persimmondeb, so I totally understand.

Installment Seven--More Jekyll Island
 

I should add at this point that we were very sorry we had not decided to go for two days at Jekyll Island. It had been the most expensive of our hotels, and we thought it might be sleepy for our tastes.

For some reason, it wasn't. Natural beauty, very good beach, very nice resort, and a pleasant amount of history. The hotel was not actually ready to check us in until about three, and when we re-enquired around one, we were suspicious that they had sort of forgotten we were there. However, we enjoyed the beach, the beach bar, the restaurant for lunch (we ordered a bunch of appetizers to share) and took a ride over to the Jekyll Island Club. We wandered in and took a few photos. We might have stopped and had a drink, but the only bar we saw was closed (there may have been others--the layout seems to be a little peculiar--which makes sense for a historic building that was built as a private club rather than a hotel). I had rather seriously considered booking a night, because while it wasn't cheap, I was seeing it for less than I've paid for hotel rooms at Disney World, but decided this wasn't that kind of trip.

There will be that kind of trip. Of all our stops, Jekyll Island was our favorite, and the family thinks it would be fun to go again, stay for several days, and resort hop.

After that, and a wander around the small strip of shops by the island entrance, we went back, found our room, used the very nice pool, and then changed and scrambled over to the restaurant for dinner because it was about to rain.

We took our chances on their porch, and finished eating just as it was seriously starting. We ran (sort of--I use a cane outdoors and I run slowly) back to the room in the rain, and settled down to watch TV and fall asleep early. For one thing DS planned to wake up early to fish. Which brings us to the seagulls.

Installment Eight--The Seagulls
 

DS loves to fish.

He had been told that it was okay to fish from the beach at the resort without a license. As far as we know, this is so, but in retrospect we should probably have bought him a single day license, not that it became a problem.

He woke up early, disturbing his parents minimally, and set off for the beach with his equipment and bait. He had originally planned to bring his metal detector, but it got forgotten in Pennsylvania.

He returned a couple of hours later without his socks.

His story, which he has stuck to ever since, is that he had them up on the beach next to the bait, and a couple of seagulls turned up, had an argument with each other, and flew off with his socks. This does sound a little farfetched, but not only does he tend to be truthful (he'd pull our leg for a few minutes, but not for months), we have no idea what else could have happened to them. He also reported that he saw a sea turtle on the beach and caught a small fish that he put back.

After we were all showered and assembled, we went up to the cofee bar for a snack, checked out, and embarked upon our journey to Myrtle Beach.

Update
 

I am going to try to finish this trip report, and hopefully get at least a few more pictures up.

We've been having a difficult few weeks, since my Dad passed away on Oct. 20th, and had been declining rapidly for a while before that.

I would like to finish, but please bear with me.

I’m so sorry about your dad. Take care of yourself.

Thank you, Birdie. We're hanging in there, but it's been more than a little odd.

It's hard. You have your own memories and emotions to deal with but, on top of that, are all the end of life details and family matters you have to address.

It is my very favorite place. I've been staying there for years (decades, really), way before it was renovated by Holiday Inn. My ex and I would return from beach vacations in Hawaii and/or the Caribbean and take another week's vacation with the pups there. I adore everything about that hotel. The view of the ocean from one of the 2nd floor rooms. The long stretch of grass between the hotel and the beach. My fussy pup liked the sidewalk with views of the ocean and the wonderful smells, without having to get on the sand. I'm loving your report and just decide I need to return again soon!

I'm sorry about your dad too. I understand. Take care of yourself and take your time.

I believe the seagull/ sock story. I've always enjoyed watching folks fish on the beach but I really love watching them net off the beach. I love watching what's caught in the nets - and returned to the water.

If you return, be sure to take a tour on the Lady Jane. It's a shrimp boat that's licensed for tours. They drop the net and bring in amazing sea creatures, that you can look at and even hold (some of them) and they all are returned to the water. They used to offer a shrimp boil (purchased shrimp prior to the tour) but someone reported them and they had to stop. But also, if you return, stop at the fish market in Brunswick and buy shrimp of your own for a shrimp boil. I even have my own red Paula Deen stock pot for Jekyll Island shrimp boils. Wait, did the Holiday Inn remove the kitchenettes in the rooms? If so, never mind. There's so much to do in the area. I hope you return.