We are entering one of my favorite parts of the United States - the low country. These are the islands and beaches in Georgia and South Carolina. Hilton Head, Isles of Palms, Jekyll Island all are fabulous places to visit. Plenty of wonderful places to eat, get your toes in the sand and just enjoy the beauty of the country. In addition, there is lots of history from the first colonists all the way through to modern times.
Three Oaks Farm is a horse motel located in Brunswick, Georgia. The owner is Miss Fran, an elderly woman in her 80’s. She told me that she was wanted to travel the country with her horse, but her husband wasn’t a rider and wouldn’t do it. Now, her husband had passed and she is too old for what is a physically taxing adventure. She really regrets not having the courage to make the journey.
We have water and electric hook-up for $35/night.
I came into the farm the wrong entrance. There is a large billboard at the start of the property with the name and information and I turned there. I should have kept going and entered through a large arch with the word Welcome on it.
The horses have a large pasture where they can see other horses. There is a little filly in the pasture across the way from them who keeps whinnying to get their attention and then running around. Horses are $20/night. There is also a barn available with barn stalls, but no rain is predicted and our horses prefer pasture.
You can ride on the property, but it is fairly limited. I had already planned that we would spend the day on Saint Simon’s Island, playing tourist. There are several islands to explore nearby, including Jekyll Island, which is a very popular beach. I had scheduled massages for us on Saint Simon in the afternoon and figured we would sightsee in the morning.
Saint Simon’s Island is known for the Tree Spirits. There is a local artist that carves images on trees. There is a walking tour in a marina district where you can visit five different tree spirits. There are almost twenty tree spirits sprinkled about the island.
Searching for tree spirits would be a great activity to do with a child.
We had lunch at Mellow Mushroom Pizza. This is one of my favorite tourist chains. They are usually located at tourist spots. I really like their mushroom soup. The places are usually decorated in a very distinctive way.
After lunch we stopped at the local fort ruins. This fort was built by the British. The Saint Augustine fort we had visited earlier was built by the Spanish. They both were operating at the same time in the late 1790’s. However, it was obvious the Spanish were superior in construction technique as well as military strategy. This is a reconstruction of the shelter used by the soldiers.
Cannons guard the river.
Compared to Saint Augustine’s fort, very little remains.
On to Camelot Farms in South Carolina.