2012-06-11 From Atlanta, GA to Tybee Island, GA – then to St. Simon’s Island and Jekyll Island (both in GA)

2012-06-11 Monday – From Atlanta, GA to Tybee Island, GA (The drive takes about four hours. However, due to large thunderstorms most of the way, it took me about five hours.)

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My niece, Addie, graduated from Savannah Arts Academy  High School on Tuesday, June 12. I packed on Monday morning and drove to Tybee Island on Monday afternoon. I spent the night in my younger brothers (and his wife and family) house driveway in Vanna White. (It was about 80 degrees F and a little hot – but, I have a small fan that I use through the night.)

On Tuesday, June 12, the graduation ceremony was at the Savannah Civic Center at 2pm. We dressed and left Tybee about 12noon. Addie left about 11am in order to get there for a walk-through. Nancy, her Mom, took a picture of her on the house front porch and posted on Facebook that she would be carrying a package of tissues to help with getting her through the ceremony. My younger brother, Clark, went to work in the early morning and came to the Civic Center in time to meet-up with the graduation group. Nancy, Susan (her sister) and I saved seats for him and his company secretary, Linda (who is like a member of the family since she has worked for him so long). Chance, her brother, and Laina, his girlfriend also helped us save seats. In addition to the Hughes family, the King family – friends for Many, Many years came = Patti, Megan and Landon. We had quite a group and the school allowed each graduate a certain number of tickets to the ceremony so that the venue wouldn’t be too full.

The ceremony lasted about an hour and each candidate walked across the stage to receive their diploma, have a school official move their cap tassle to the other side and then shake hands with the administrators. After they walked off the stage and down three stairs, a photographer took an individual picture of them with their diploma in front of their gown. All of them beamed with happiness and accomplishment for their pictures. After the ceremony, Addie’s friend, Ashley and her family and our group went to a nearby restaurant and celebrated in a side, dining room. On Wednesday morning, I drove from Tybee to St. Simons Island – a couple of hours drive away. I had plenty of time and used the GPS to take a scenic route. At St. Simons, I had lunch at a restaurant at the marina and rode around. I hadn’t been there before and my older son, Joe is engaged to be married there on November 17. I had looked at the wedding venue using Google maps, but – I wanted to understand the island and where we could sponsor the wedding rehersal dinner. I took many pictures and walked down the main shopping area. I decided that I didn’t want to stay on the island overnight as I couldn’t find a campground. I programmed the GPS for a campground and found one several miles away – off the island. I was driving on the causeway and saw a sign for the Jekyll Island State Park campground. I re-programmed the GPS and registered there for the night. On Thursday morning, I rode around Jekyll Island because I had never been there either. I was surprised that it wasn’t as developed for motels and restaurants as other barrier islands. The south beach is completely uninhabited. There were bicycle trails and a walking trail through the brush. I was also surprised to see a Water Park on the south marsh side of the island. I nice 4H camp was on the southern tip and there were several school buses in the compound, as would be expected during the summer with students there. I decided to return to Atlanta and as I drove, I was a little drowsy, so – I saw a billboard advertisement for an RV park on the interstate. I decided to stop, spend the night, and drive scenic roads back to Atlanta tomorrow. Before the exit, there were MANY signs for peaches and several of them noted that Bread and Fritters were for sale. After I checked-in at Harmony RV Park, I drove back to the exit and found the fruit-stand where the Peaches, Bread and Fritters were for sale. I bought a fritter for supper and ate the bread the next day. I didn’t notice the label until after I returned to the campground. The bread and fritter were from Tiger, GA. If you read my previous trip to the National MG Car Show in Dillard, GA – the MG show attendees went to a drive-in movie in Tiger, GA on Thursday night. S-o-o-o = what the label tells me is that the peaches were made into bread and fritters near the mountains of Georgia and shipped to the southern area for sale. I found it quite unusual for the items to have to travel so far to be consumed.

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((My Dad has a nickname for me and it is “Puddin”. He started calling me that when I was very young. I named my van, “Vanna White”. When I decided to start a blog, I wanted a unique name for my travels and the names “Puddin” and “Vanna White” came to mind.))