The Grand #102

Located on the southern end of the island in the village area, the lighthouse draws visitors for it’s historic interest and impressive views. It is a 20 minute beach walk in low tide from the condo. You can of course ride a bike or drive. We love to walk to it on the way to having breakfast or lunch. The lighthouse museum includes exhibits describing the building and history of the structure as well as the furnished lighthouse keepers rooms upstairs. The climb to the top is not too strenuous and well worth the view. A new Heritage Center is being built next to the lighthouse. Click the above link to see more.

St. Simons is probably one of the best places to ride bikes because of the flat terrain. Bike and pedestrian trails are all around the island. They range from 3 feet wide to 6 feet in some places. Since our condo is located on the southern part of the island only a short distance from the village, you can ride to many restaurants, shops, and pleasant neighborhoods. Right under our condo is a bike rack for storage while you are there. To rent the bikes, you have a 5 minute walk down Ocean Blvd to one of the rental places.

Ocean Motion Surf Company
1300 Ocean Boulevard
St Simons Island · GA · 31522
912.638.5225

We have enjoyed our first introduction to kayaking in St. Simons. There are a variety of trips available. We put in by Spankys, a restaurant on highway 17 in Brunswick, the nearest town on the mainland. During the summer is the best time for this as you can see sting rays along the marsh edge. There are a lot of birds, of course, and they say they see dolphins sometimes. This is open seat kayaking and very safe, and also non strenuous, and lasts about an hour. We have used Southeast Adventure both times and there are others. Southeast Adventure is down by the pier and next to our favorite breakfast place-Dressners. See the restaurant tab for more info.

Last trip we did an hour flight over the nearby islands on a small Cessna. It was great for a birds eye view of SSI(see pictures) and the other islands. Cost was $100 for the plane and $25 for the pilot, not bad for 3 people. It took awhile to find who to call but this is the airport number to call and they will recommend someone.

Malcolm B. McKinnon Airport
100 Airport Road
St Simons Island · GA · 31522
912.265.2070 ext. 4

A 20 minute ride from the condo is an old fort that is a nice walking around old ruins from the American Revolution. Best to go on a nice day as it is a large area outside that takes a half hour or so to walk around. The fort is called Fort Frederica and here is the link for more info.

A half hour car ride from the condo is Jekyll Island. It is a must to see. Plan about a half a day for seeing it. We go there so much that we bought an island pass otherwise it takes $3 to drive on it. That is good for all day so you can leave and then go back on the same pass. The history of this island is fantastic as it was the winter homes of Rockefeller, JP Morgan, Vanderbilt and Pulitizers among many others. Tho most homes there were destroyed by fire, there are about 10 that are still standing and you can walk around them(that is encouraged as they are not private). This is one place it is a good idea to do some homework on as it is rich with history and nice to know before you tour it. You can take a free riding tour of the place but we have not done that yet. Other things to do there is go on a sea turtle walk out to a nest. You need reservations for that and can call or visit the Sea Turtle Museum on Jekyll. Our favorite shrimp restaurant is on Jekyll where we go every time we are down there. Go to the restaurant tab to see that and our other favorites.

Cumberland Island is for the more adventurous as it is a pristine island with no vehicles other than the conservation department. You need reservations during the busy season and I would allow almost a full day to do it. This island was bought by Carnegie for his wife. He did not want to join the Jekyll Island Club so he bought his own island. You will see the old Carnegie mansion which was burned down but the shell is still there. The neat part is there are wild horses that roam the island and you will see them grazing. They are totally wild as they are not fed and get no veterinarian care at all. Only the strong survive. There are also wild turkey which get fairly close to you. To get to this island you take a boat out of St Marys at certain times of day. The boat ride is 45 minutes. Once you on there you can take a walk past the Carnegie mansion and then out thru the sand dunes which are quite immense on the way to the beach. From there you can go down the beach for a half hour and go back through the camping area next to the second port. If you are tired you can rest there till the boat comes by or continue you walk back to the original spot. Tips: take a back pack with bug spray, camera, binoculars and water. Also you can pick up lunches “to go” in the small town. Tell them they are for your visit on Cumberland. There are no vending machines or restaurants on Cumberland. There are water fountains. It takes an hour drive from the condo so allow that and some more as the boat leaves on time.

Brunswick is a nice area to walk around visit and eat. It has a large library compared to St Simons. This is where a lot of the area events get held like the Stewbillee. This is held around august but check as there are a lot of other things that happen there. Brunswick is the a ocean going port and when you are at the condo the large boats going in and out are destined there. There is a large docking area and you will see from the highway a large area where the cars they brought in are dropped off.

Believe it or not just sit on the porch at the condo and usually in the afternoon you will see dolphins crossing. They will be about 100 to 200 yards out. You have to keep an eye out but in a weeks rental you will probably see them a couple of times. It takes 1 minute from the our porch to be on the beach and walking. When the tide is out you can go either direction with about a 2-3 mile walk. With it out you can walk down to the Pier area and go under the wharf and down to the Sea Island golf club. Also with the tide out if you go to the left you can go out the sand bar for about a 1/4 mile. It is a neat feeling as you feel you are standing in the middle of the ocean. But be careful when you do this as you need to know when the tide is coming back in and you don’t get caught. This is also the hub of activity area as there are wind surfers and kayaks taking off from there. It is also the better reason to be on our side of the complex as you can see the activity from the porch(bring binoculars). With the tide up it is best to go towards East Beach which is to the left. You can go a long ways and view the nice beach houses.

10) Maritime Museum  http://www.saintsimonslighthouse.org/maritime.html

Just opened and was much better than we thought.  It took about an hour and had a lot of information on the area, birds, animals and the development of the beaches (Acutally there is more info on that than the Coast Guard). We learned that the beach is expanding and that is the reason the Coast Guard moved to Brunswick.  The Coast Guard house use to be 30 feet from the beach and now it is a hundred yards. The gift shop was smallish but has some very nice things in it around the nautical theme.  Again a 5 minute walk down the beach heading to the left. As you exit the beach to head to the Museum there is a new concession stand and bathroom for beach goers.