♥: April 2012 - Vacation St Simons Island GA & Amelia Island FL

I like to have a record of our vacations and the places we visit and places we eat.
Sometimes we want to return to them and we can't always remember.
It's great to have this type of diary.

Monday April 16th

Started out bright and early from NJ heading to St Simon's Island GA.

First stop had to be Cracker Barrel for a good breakfast of course.

We stopped for a cold drink at a Burger King and

look what they had inside ! Hubby enjoyed it.

We drove as far as New Bern NC the first day.
We have visited this lovely town before and loved it.

We stayed at the Bridgepointe Hotel Marina.
It is right off the beautiful bridge on the way to
the historic district.

As you explore New Bern you will run into about 50 Bears !

Yes Bears . . . here is an explanation from their website.

Bears are making tracks all over New Bern…decorated, fiberglass bears that is! Adored with hats, flags, flowers and other unusual and creative features, you will be delighted with each bear’s unique design. To coincide with New Bern’s 300th Anniversary Celebration in 2010, Bear Town Bears, a nonprofit organization, recruited local artists to implement hand-painted designs on life-size standing and walking fiberglass bears for public enjoyment during the entire year. Sponsors for the bears have placed their bears in historic downtown, as well as in outlying areas. The public is invited to enjoy their own “Bear Tracks Hunt” by picking up a free map

I love how the police even join in on the fun.

"Proud to Wear the Bear" hah

Here is the New Bern flag.

The historic district is so great.

Here is Sleep Bear - he sits outside out hotel.

I love the names of the bears . . . Gentle Giant, Kare Bear,

Flag Bearer, Dr Paw, Freedom Bearer, In God We Trust,

Tooth Beary, to name a few.

You can tell from the names where they most likely reside.

We were so tired after driving all day we grabbed a bite to eat

at the local Golden Corral. Can't beat the prices and selections.

I don't want to forget to mention as we were driving today

a LTL carrier truck blew a tire right in front of us.

Suddenly I hear a loud bang and the tire was heading

right for us. Gary did a wonderful job maneuvering

around it. We thank God for his traveling mercies.

It sure was scary.

Tuesday, April 17th

The next morning we drove over into the historical
section of New Bern to look for a little breakfast joint.
Well did we ever find one!

It was called Baker's Kitchen and we loved it.
Part bakery and part cafe.
Oh the bread was soooo good.

Here's my hubby - you can see how much he enjoys

being part of my blog hah

His fresh baked rye bread was out of this world delicious.

He also loves taking photo's in restaurants for me.
He hardly lets me get ready hah
But here I am with my great breakfast.

Here's a close up. The grits and fruit were so good.

Check out the homemade cheese biscuit. Oh so good.

After a wonderful breakfast we were on the road again.
We stopped in Myrtle Beach SC to SHOP.
Gar, bless his heart heard they have a QVC store at
the Tanger outlets and knew I would love it. Well I did !
I found two great tops for $ 7.00 each.

If we were not traveling so far I could have stayed a
long, long time. It was a great organized store.

Gar shopped at his favorite store too, so it wasn't all about me hah
He loves VF. He does real well there. He got a great deal on Wrangler shorts.

We stopped for a cold drink at Sonic
because thanks to Kelly's Korner blog
for telling us that it was Happy Hour Tuesday
and all drinks were 1/2 price.

I had the Lemon-Berry and Hub's had the Strawberry - so good and
1/2 price - thanks Kelly !

After pulling ourselves away we headed on to St Simon's Island our destination.

We stayed at Epworth By The Sea. It is a Methodist Retreat center.
It is so lovey. It holds special meaning for us.
On one vacation as friends it was here we decided we wanted to
move our relationship from friends to a couple.
It will always be close to our hearts.

This was the hotel we stayed at this time.

Here are a few shots of the view I took
from our hotel room window.

This is our hotel from the pier. I took this one evening
and got eaten alive by the noseeum's. They just love me.

Epworth has lovely grounds.
From the trees to the flowers to the water.

I adore these big old oaks with the Spanish moss hanging.
Here's a little history:

Live Oaks Visitors are captivated by the beautiful and natural canopy provided by the live oaks that grow for so long and so large. In the early days, St. Simon's Island was home to a thriving lumber industry. In fact, oak timbers, cut from Cannon's Point on the Island's north end, were used in 1794 to build the frigate U.S.S. Constitution. In 1874, timbers from the Island were also cut for use in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. Legend holds that the average life span of an oak is 300 years.

Here we are under a grand old oak !

It is beautiful !

Here are some miscellaneous photos from the Island

When we cross the bridge to get to the island we love
to see this sign !

This guy is down by the shops and beachfront.
Every time we visit I like to go down to the pier
and check on our whale friend ; )

There are so many lovely places to shop:

I love the Christian history of the island.

Some of the trees have faces. They call them tree spirits.
Sort of spooky to me hah

I walked on this beach many times and also
took Solomon, my sweet westie when he went with us.
Makes me smile to remember.

Fort Frederica - so much history
I was eaten alive by noseeum's here too ha

Last year when we visited they were repairing the pier.
It was amazing to see the workers standing on flat planks like
boats and being tossed to and fro from the waves yet still working
tirelessly to make repairs. This year we were excited to see the results.
It is beautiful.

I took this photo of the lighthouse while standing on the pier.
I was happy how well it turned out with my little Kodak camera.

This is a beautiful bridge that leads to Jekyll Island.
We went there a few times but not this visit.
They have the sea turtle hospital there and it was so
interesting and neat to see them in various stages of
recovery as they try to return them to the ocean.

You can see the bridge from all over St Simon's Island.
Reminds me of a huge sailboat.

For dinner our first night in St Simon's we went to

one of my favorite places called:

Barbara Jean's

They have the most unusual vegetable menu items:

Ambrosia Salad

Squash Casserole

Cooked Cabbage

Stewed Tomatoes

Carolina Red Rice

White Cheddar Cheese Grits

I had the 1/2 & 1/2 Platter • Crab Cake and six shrimp

Hubby could not wait for his favorite She Crab Soup.

And oh the sweet jalapeno corn bread!

Wednesday, April 18th

We had to eat breakfast at another of our

favorite places called The 4th of May.

It is a place that was founded by 3 ladies who

are best friends and all had birthdays on the 4th of May.

We chatted with the owner and two of the ladies have

retired but she and her son still own the place.

They have the best "Southern" breakfasts you can find.

Now it is not a secret that this girl can eat ! hah

But my goodness 3 huge fresh blueberry pancakes?

I finished one.

Much to my sweet very southern waitresses dismay hah

Hubby did much better with his Pecan french toast.

Take a look at these muffins -
and ya wonder why I only ate 1 pancake hah

After breakfast we headed down to
Amelia Island in FL.
We had never been there and thought since it was
only about an hour drive we'd check it out.

I made a friend while I was there...

This sign gave us a good laugh

Another good friend . . .

Gary noticed these neat stairs leading up to a art school.

And look who and what he spotted about 1/2 way up.

I just had to climb those stairs and get a photo of the Westie Boy!

They also had a lovely light house.

It was a nice place to visit but Georgia was on our mind.

On the drive back to Georgia we found the new Kohl's that had
just opened in Yulee Fl. Well guess who had a 30% off coupon and
a $10.00 coupon off Women's apparel. YEAH

Had a good old time too . . . saved a small fortune.

Once back to Georgia we went for dinner at
another of our favorites Blackwater Grill.

They give you this amazing humus and flat bread crackers for starters.

My gosh so good.

I had Demere Chicken - a large chicken breast breaded

and baked with mushroom cream sauce.

While hubby had his Low Country Boil


Gary heard about this place when Guy Fieri visited on DD&D's. He hardly misses an episode. Guy was right this place is awesome.

Thursday, April 19th

Breakfast again at 4th of May. Passed on the pancakes this time.
Didn't want to upset my waitress again hah

After breakfast it was a hang around St Simon's morning.
Shopping, walking the pier, enjoying the island.

Then we drove out of St Simon's to Brunswick GA.
The next town over.
It reminds of very much of Asbury Park in NJ.
Trying to have revival. Each time we visit GA we check
out what has been happening.

We have a nice friend we met in town years ago
the first time we visited St Stimon's, who owns the
most adorable book store. I love it.

Hattie's Books

We visit with her each time we are here.
She fills us in on the town growth.
She relocated here several years ago and loves it.

She has a doggie who comes to work each day named Mr Wiggles.
He is precious. Well, maybe he doesn't work too hard !

Mr Wiggles is quite famous - here is the info from their website:

“Welcome to Hatties Books. Come right on in. I’m Mr. Wiggles and I’ll be your friend. I’m famous, you know, a real local hoss. I may be a dog, but I know I’m the boss. This book store is different, a true local jewel. Its charm is unique. It’s really quite cool. Sink into the couch. Take in all the books. Some tell a story. Some are for cooks. Some tell of romance, or history or lore. Others are fiction, fantasy and more. Bring your laptop. Our wifi’s no slouch. I’ll sit beside you, I’m allowed on the couch. So have a cup of coffee, come in, stay a while. You’ve found Hatties Books a place with great style.”

I’m here for you, we have what you read, selection and service, quite a rare breed. My humans, the Stutz, have more than enough. Marcia and Don, these guys know their stuff. On Newcastle Street in the heart of downtown, come sit for a spell, ya’ll come on down. It’s not just a bookstore all stuffy and dry, it’s the best read in Brunswick. Stop by and see why. Oz has the scarecrow, Jaws has a shark, I’ll see you at Hatties, and oh, bark, bark bark.

Can you see why I adore this place.

We then continued shopping and tried a

store new to us anyway.

Fun place to roam around and seek out discounts.

Back to St Simon's to rest up for dinner.
Gar took a nap and I took a walk by the water.
Yes of course got eaten alive again.
Man I need bug spray. hah
It is such a place to have alone time with the Lord.
The little chapel is so nice.
The gazebo. So many places in Epworth for alone time.

Then we headed off for our last dinner in St Simon's
(this trip anyway)

We have another place that we love called:
Bennie's Red Barn.

It has quite a history:

Nestled between beautiful live oaks Bennie's has been a favorite
of locals and tourists since 1955

Bennie's Red Barn is the oldest, privately owned restaurant on St. Simon's Island. Don's father, Bennie Gentile, built this building to be a restaurant. (Yes, he rented it for one year to someone who sold boats here). The wood in the main structure was cut and milled here on St. Simon's. The Barn opened for dinner New Year's Eve, 1954. The Escorts' Club had their party here that night and still has an annual party each winter. Bennie's brother, Frank, was the manager here for about 15 years. Mac Miller's dad, Franklin, was the manager for about 10 years. Alvin came from the old Frederica Yacht Club with Bennie, and has been here ever since. Alphonzo worked here until he opened his Old Plantation Supper Club. Bennie and Franklin both passed away in March 1994.

There is a waiter there who will sing at your table.

He has a deep gospel voice.

So awesome to be enjoying a wonderful meal

and hearing a gospel song ringing through the

restaurant. While we ate he sang Amazing Grace,

The Old Rugged Cross, when he came to our

table he told Gary to look into my eyes only and he

sang " Stand By Me" It was really special.

I think Gary was hoping for gospel hah

Last time we visited we chatted with a waiter

Mr. Alvin, an elderly gentleman who has been working

at the restaurant since it opened in 1955, he was seated