St. Marys, Georgia via Pinterest

One of the things I love so much about Coastal Georgia is the history.  And I like the fact that within less than an hour I can drive to a charming little town, like St. Marys, and relax, take it easy, walk along the riverfront and eat a great meal.  If it’s been a while since you visited St. Marys, now is the time to go!

Cumberland Island

I love the setting, the architecture and the folks who call St. Marys home.   The fact that I was raised on the Gulf Coast of Texas makes me yearn for the salty smell of the ocean and cool sea breezes. Living inland has never worked for me.  St. Marys offers the coast and boasts its status as “Gateway to Cumberland Island”.  Cumberland Island is still on my list of places I want to visit and I will, sooner than later.

Crooked River State Park in St. Marys, GA

St. Marys is an easy weekend getaway from the Brunswick area.  Once there you’ll be enchanted with the river and the easy living atmosphere you’ll experience everywhere you go!  You’ll find quaint bed and breakfast’s as well as other accomodations.  This is a city where unique shops line the streets, you won’t find the usual strip centers and cookie cutter chain stores.

The city was founded in 1787 when a charter was signed on Cumberland Island by 20 members.  At the time the town did not have a name and their is question as to how the name originated.  Most think it came from the St. Marys river.  Known as “The New Town” until the Georgia legislature recognized it in 1792, St. Marys finally incorporated in 1802.

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I’m going to share other easy destinations with you over the next few weeks.  Summertime is the time to explore and enjoy this wonderful area we live in.  Start at the southern most point and visit St. Marys….you’ll always feel welcome!

Melissa | Out&About | 06 25th, 2015 | No Comments »

Photos and story by Nancy Kirkpatrick

Walk-About Wednesday – Darien, Georgia

We are a costal community. In love with our shrimp and the shrimp boats that quietly grace our salty waters. We know where to dine on the best fried shrimp, where to buy it fresh. There is a season for shrimping. We know when it starts and when it ends. We attend the “Blessing of the Fleet” yearly. And if we hope to see the shrimp boats collectively docked, we trek up the road to Darien, Georgia’s second oldest city, founded in 1736.

The marsh grasses part as if from the hand of Moses, giving permission for the Altamaha River to slide its way through. We are lucky. The trawlers line the docks, a sweeping arabesque of bobbing, gritty vessels.  With names like Mayflower, Smokin’ Joe and Gravedigger, we scout for survivors. For shrimping is hard. It’s tenuous. But the tradition of handing down from generation to generation is a proud one. And with the “Georgia white” shrimp considered by some to be the best in the world, our shrimpers continue to fulfill a significant role in the shoreline economy of our state.

And if not at the docks, look for these celebrities of the Georgia coast just before sunrise in the St Simons Sound, close to the beach, near the pier. A ghostly silhouette gliding into the silver gray landscape of morning. Or near sunset. When the sky sinks golden and sweet peach into the brine, you might witness the etching of masts and nets against the disappearing day.

Read more about Georgia shrimping on:

facebook.com/CoastalGeorgiaShrimp

wildgeorgiashrimp.com

Nancy’s photography can be seen and purchased via:

Facebook: Nancy Kirkpatrick Photography

www.nancykirkpatrickphotography.com

Fine Art America

Melissa | Out&About | 06 24th, 2015 | 2 Comments »

Photos and story by Nancy Kirkpatrick

Paris. A good friend told me the way to experience Paris is to slowly stroll its streets and parks. Stop often. Sit along the Seine. Take your time. Let Paris take ahold of you. And only then will you know the real attraction of Paris.

Good advice for most anywhere, this is especially true of Paris. It is stunning. Magnificent. There is so much wonderment. So much evidence that the human spirit is capable of great creativity. I was awed by the architectural detail. Simply and completely enthralled.

The Louvre Museum is massive. The statuary incredibly endless. Being the seat of Gothic architecture, ornamentation is abundant everywhere.

At the Notre-Dame Cathedral I see the intriguing flying buttresses. I whisper the term out loud. Miraculous. Harmonious.

And the cuisine! Traveling is always about the delights of dining in special places and in special ways. There is absolutely nothing more important than what one is doing at the moment and it is truly evident in the way Parisians dine: slow and pleasant.

Next time – or the first time – you are in Paris, take your time. Yes, it is the Eiffel Tower, Seine, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysées. But while there, take your time. Let the realization seep into your soul that you are seeing human greatness. Savor the difference. That is the real Paris.

Nancy’s photography can be seen and purchased via:

Facebook: Nancy Kirkpatrick Photography

www.nancykirkpatrickphotography.com

Fine Art America

Melissa | Out&About | 06 23rd, 2015 | 1 Comment »

It seems that summer has hit us full blast over the past few days.  I always begin counting the time until late in September when things will cool off a bit.  But I also realize this is NOT living in the present.  Humor me if you will as I recall bygone days when I was younger, times were simpler and summer was something we looked forward to!

San Jacinto Monument, Baytown, Texas

I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Texas.  We lived in a suburb of Houston called Baytown.  Home of the once Humble Oil Company and now Exxon, our home was not so far from the plants that we could not hear the whistle when shifts changed or smell the smoke let out by giant smokestacks that reached into the sky.  I now wonder what that sort of pollution did to our respiratory systems.

But I digress.  When school let out every May my brother and I shouted YIPPEEE, threw off our shoes and practically lived outdoors with other kids in the neighborhood.  From sun up to sun down we  frolicked in the sprinkler……

Burnet Bay

Swam in Burnett Bay……

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Or a real treat, visiting a friend’s farm and swimming in the irrigation water tank…..what fun!

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Leap frog, cowboy and Indians, World War II and all of the other make believe games….we playedthem all!  Being the youngest I always got to be whoever was “killed” in the day’s play.  Nazi…bam!  Indian….bam!   You name it, I became a master at grabbing my chest and falling to the ground.  I looked to forward to playing “Tarzan” because I got to be cheetah.  Are you getting the impression that I was trained to be the underdog?  I say that in humor, but some might think it so!

I think of these times as summer gets underway.  I think of how children stay indoors more than outside about summer camps and art classes.  We were taught to let nature be our guide which we fully embraced, calloused feet, baggy cut off blue jeans, ala Scout in “To Kill A Mockingbird” and all.  No wonder I have always identified so clearly with that character in one of my favorite books.

It’s a hot week coming up!  Stay cool….plan meals that require no cooking indoors and enjoy!  Have a fancy rum drink and savor the warmth of the sun.  It’s summer everyone!

Melissa | Out&About | 06 22nd, 2015 | No Comments »

Photography and story by Nancy Kirkpatrick

Falling in Love with St Simons Island is easy. You need only experience it once and the magic begins.

For some it is the call of the ocean. Or the childlike lure of the beach.

Lively play or serious sport…and the liberty to take one’s own sweet time.

Find your summer place. For a day, a week, a month. A forever place in your heart.

by Nancy Kirkpatrick

www.nancykirkpatrickphotography.com

Melissa | Out&About | 06 20th, 2015 | 1 Comment »

I have to have a good reading list for summer entertainment.  When it’s too hot, hot, hot to go outdoors and enjoy I love nothing better than reading a good book.  I usually have two or three going at the same time and my taste varies as to what they are.  Here’s what’s on my list so far!

At the top of my list is “A Memory Of Violets” by Hazel Gaynor.  I found this book on Goodreads, a New York Times bestseller, it chronicles the life of Tilly Harper as she travels to become  assistant housemother at Mr. Shaw’s Home for Watercress and Flower Girls.  The flower girls are poor, lame and orphaned for the most part.  Tilly finds the diary of one of the girls when she arrives which sets her on a course of trying to find her.  This looks like it’s right up my alley.  It’s set at the turn of the 20th century and promises to deliver a good read!

I’m a John Grisham fan and his new book “Gray Mountain” is calling my name!  It begins in Manhattan right as everything crashed in 2008.  Samantha Kofer is the protagonist.  She is a Wall Street attorney who loses everything.  A new job takes her to Brady, Virginia in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains where she becomes involved in the treacherous world of coal mining.  Danger awaits her at every corner as the story grows.  A page turner is just what I’m looking for and John Grisham does not disappoint!

I cannot wait to delve into Sue Monk Kidd’s latest offering, “The Invention of Wings”, was recently released in paperback.  I love her writing and so look forward to reading this book.  From slavery to abolition and the women’s rights movement the story begins in Charleston and goes from there.  It sounds intriguing, full of history and strong women.  Perfect!

So I’m making iced tea, sweetened with organic stevia instead of sugar, have to watch those sugar grams!  I’ll be settling into one of my big leather chairs when time permits and turning the pages as I escape into each of these stories.  Reading is the best escape I know of!  Let me know if you decide to read any of the three books.  Summer is definitely here so why not make the living a bit easy?

Melissa | Out&About | 06 18th, 2015 | No Comments »

Story and Photos by Nancy Kirkpatrick

Continuing my walk-about series as our coastal population expands with the warmest season of the year, we explore what locals call “Driftwood Beach” on Jekyll Island. This secluded shore on the northern tip of Georgia’s Jekyll Island attracts and intrigues with its ghostlike projections scratching skyward; reaching upward from a forgotten landscape.

Seductive and alluring, these tortured formations beckon the climber. The child. The romantic. And always the photographers.

Here, on this beach, this haven, Nature provides an artful sanctuary in our own backyard. A visual treat. A garden of textures.

Visit once and discover it again at day’s end. Dawn. Twilight. Experience for yourself how the character of this beach transforms dramtically with the tides, the seasons, the light. And make it your own treasured memory. Just as we have: the “permanent tourists”.

Nancy’s photography can be seen and purchased via:

Facebook: Nancy Kirkpatrick Photography

www.nancykirkpatrickphotography.com

Fine Art America

Melissa | Out&About | 06 17th, 2015 | No Comments »

Story and Photos by Nancy Kirkpatrick

Copenhagen, Denmark. The fifth and last port-of-call of our 15 day trans-Atlantic crossing of Disney’s cruise ship, The Magic.

The morning dawns sunny, cool, but comfortable. We disembark in this largest city in Scandinavia. Denmark boasts the oldest monarchy in the world and claims to have the happiest people. Taxes are high, but its citizens are provided with health care, free education and monthly stipends for university students.

Our destination is Dragoer, a quaint fishing village just south of the capital. But first a photo stop at the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen’s harbor. The bronze and granite sculpture was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale about a mermaid who gives up everything to be with a young, handsome prince on land. We add our clicks to the more than 5 million snaps taken every year. And are urged by our guide to read the real story, which she cautions is quite different from the Disney version.

We proceed through the city, our guide pointing out palaces, museums, bigger than life art sculptures. There is a distinct blend of old and new architecture, giving the city an intriguing air. Firmly planted in history, culture and tradition, while embracing the progressive, clean and sophisticated. It is a vibrant, moving city. Most residents own one car; all of them own bicycles.

We arrive at Dragoer. Quiet, quaint, pretty. The harbor is small. No longer in its heyday, but still vibrant with color. The blue sky and photographer’s clouds adding just the right background for visual delight. This quiet spot, this color, the salt air. Perfection.

The collection of yellow painted cottages with straw roofs were built between 1720-1890. They are well loved homes now and well kept. There is pride of history here. We wander, take more pictures, meet at the hotel for a Danish pastry, coffee and tea. What a treat for even this pastry skeptic! Light and not too sweet, I am converted – but only if baked by the Danes!

Nancy’s photography can be seen and purchased via:

Facebook: Nancy Kirkpatrick Photography

www.nancykirkpatrickphotography.com

Fine Art America

Melissa | Out&About | 06 16th, 2015 | No Comments »

As I wrote this post, it came to my attention that yesterday, June 12, was the birthday of Anne Frank, the young author of “The Diary of Anne Frank”.  This would have been her 86th birthday. My own mother is 87. What a realization that the Europe we know today, visit, tour on our vacations and travel destinations, was in horrific turmoil not that long ago. So today, I give you some beauty. Because that’s what Anne Frank would have done. Even in the midst of that horror, she believed there was beauty.

The following are quotes from Anne’s diary. Anne wrote her diary from June 12, 1942 to August 1, 1944.

“I’ve found that there is always some beauty left – in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself: these can all help you.”

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

“Whoever is happy will make others happy too.”

“Everyone has inside him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential can be!”

And finally: “What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again.”

Nancy Kirkpatrick

www.nancykirkpatrickphotography.com

Melissa | Out&About | 06 13th, 2015 | 2 Comments »

St Simons Light

With school out for summer break, our coastal Georgia area begins to fill with visitors, tourists and summer residents. The snowbirds are long gone now. Their absence felt only briefly before traffic once again begins to swell with weekend and summer residents. Bicycles and golf carts rein on roads close to the beach. So with these changes, we introduce our new theme, Walk-About Wednesdays. Each week, an area of our coastal heaven will be highlighted with photos, historical insights, memories and musings. Today’s Walk-About topic is the St Simons Island Lighthouse. 

View of Neptune Park from the top of Lighthous

The Coastal Georgia Historical Society operates the Lighthouse and a wonderful museum store located in the A.W. Jones Heritage Center. The lighthouse was first built in 1810. Appointed in May 1810 by President Madison as the first keeper, James Gould held this position at an annual salary of $400 until his 1837 retirement.

During the Civil War, the blockade of Federal ships and the subsequent invasion of Georgia by Federal troops forced the Confederates to evacuate St. Simons Island. Prior to leaving in 1862, the Confederates destroyed Gould’s lighthouse so the Federal forces could not use it as a navigational aid. The ruins of the first lighthouse were partially excavated by archaeologists during August 1974.  In 1872 the U. S. Government ordered the construction of a second lighthouse that was placed west of the first. The 104-foot tower, which has a 129-step cast iron spiral staircase and an adjacent keeper’s house, were designed by one of Georgia’s most noted architects, Charles Cluskey.

Today, with the assistance of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, the light continues as an Aid to Navigation, shining seaward every night and during inclement weather. Popular Sunday evening concerts are held on the lighthouse grounds and the area is often booked for destination weddings and receptions.

Source: Coastal Georgia Historical Society

Nancy Kirkpatrick

www.nancykirkpatrickphotography.com

Melissa | Out&About | 06 10th, 2015 | 3 Comments »