Travels with Edna and Papi: King's Bay ("Deadly Force Authorized") Georgia's Jekyll and Cumberland Islands, The Kennedy Chapel and the Military Police!

King's Bay & ST. Mary's, Georgia

As we ventured on towards Georgia from Florida, we passed an RV every seven to ten vehicles, I wondered how many of them were full timers like us? From what I could tell, the majority of RVers' were over the age of 50 so my guess would be that most of them are full timers or snowbirds.
Kings's Bay is a Nuclear Submarine base so we entered a gate where the security pylons were further apart yet far enough apart to pull a truck with a fifth wheel but nonetheless tricky to maneuver. The security guard directed us to the RV park which was on a lake, lots of space between us and our neighbor and plenty of hiking trails around the lake to walk the dogs. Our usual travel day pizza turned out to be a meal we fixed in the fifth wheel after a shopping trip to the commissary, followed by a walk along the scenic lake.
We decided to explore the nearest and historic town of St. Mary's the next day.
St Mary's was established in the 1700's and now has a thriving population of over 17.000. We walked along the riverfront where several movies were filmed and continued walking the cute town with its' old white churches steeples poking well above all the trees. One of the churches was historic and said "First Presbyterian Church". A sweet, simple church, I decided to step inside while Perry waited with the dogs. Soon a man who was smiling greeted us and introduced himself as Pastor Rick. We enjoyed our conversation with Pastor Rick and talked about his upcoming Lenten service. Perry and I would return to St. Mary's later to take a trip to Cumberland Island. Georgia's largest barrier island.
Most military bases will play the National Anthem at specific times, but at Kings Bay they play an announcement at least three times an hour warning intruders "this is a secured facility, unauthorized visitors are prohibited, deadly force authorized"...! We figured it had extra security being a Nuclear Submarine base but it's a little intimidating to hear this loud announcement so frequently.

Jekyll Island

The next day was a scenic drive past small southern homes and marshlands towards Jekyll Island. We didn't find any small homes on this island but more large vacation homes and some high end hotels. We explored until we came upon a beach where we could let the dogs off their leashes. There were random tree stumps in the middle of the sand which left me to wonder how they got there and chasing the dogs caught us dodging many of these trees. I love the south but especially the old southern charm, friendly personable people and an occasional sign reminding you to "behave". We have seen a lot of islands but the one we were looking forward to the most was Cumberland Island, known mostly as the marriage place of John Jr. and Caroline Kennedy and many wild horses.

Cumberland Island

We boarded the dogs early and hopped over the St. Mary's ferry (the only way to get there) which took us over to Cumberland Island. Some people were day back packers but many were camping for several nights. We were going for the day only and signed up for the tour. Our tour guide was recommended by everyone because of his extensive knowledge of the island. There were twelve of us in the older white van that made for a bumpy all day tour. Within a few minutes of our tour, we came across several wild horses making their way to an open field which is used for private planes to land. There is so much history on the island dating back to the 1700's when the Spanish first discovered the island. In the 1800's Robert Stafford owned a large plantation and hundreds of slaves. He educated the slaves, teaching them about saving their earnings which allowed them to buy their own homes on the island. They built the First African Baptist Church. This is the church that John Kennedy, Jr. and his wife, Carolyn were married. After the Civil War, Thomas Carnegie and his wife Lucy came to the island to build a mansion that was to be their summer home. A portion of the island to this day is still owned by the Carnegie family but the remaining island was donated to the National Park Service.

Nearing the end of our stay at Kings Bay, Ga. Perry took me to Savannah for my birthday enjoying the river (they were getting ready to dye it green for St. Patrick's Day), listening to country music in the Market Square and visiting The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
The day before leaving King's Bay I took myself to a movie in the nearby town of St. Mary's. Upon returning to the base, the Navy police decided to choose ME for a random personal ID check. Nervously, I grappled for my military ID and license information and when interviewing me, I had to laugh that they chose ME who doesn't look anything like a potential terrorist. They were doing their jobs and I kindly cooperated. Another benefit of staying on a military base......you feel safe!

NEXT-Myrtle Beach, Conway, Broadway at the Beach, Good Friends and......"Shaggin"!