Anyway, Hog Hammock has its own post office, store, cemeteries, churches, et cetera. Even a night club, tiny as it is! No school or hospital though. The four or five children have to ride the ferry to the mainland schools, and if anyone's too sick to take the ferry to a doctor, a helicopter has to fly them out.
Besides the University of Georgia Marine Institute, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources works here. (The Marine Institute came about in 1953 because Reynolds pushed for it; his widow sold the rest of the island to the state in the sixties.)
This is the lighthouse.
It's been renovated and the light works. People can go up to the top, but not outside on the balcony. Several in our group climbed it. This is what the steps look like from the bottom looking up.
And this is one of the last working range beacons on the east coast. There was another across the way, but it's gone. They were used in conjunction with the lighthouse for navigation.
And here's the beach. We visited one summer and even in the great weather, there was no one on the beach. Not even a footprint. How I'd love to stay for a few days!
And I'll leave with the turkey fountain story. Reynolds brought in Fritz Zimmer, a noted German-born sculptor who resettled in Atlanta, to create the fountain for his third wife. She detested it (During the later messy divorce, Reynolds accused her caring only for money.) and must have let him know in no uncertain terms because one night, he got drunk and decided to blow it up with dynamite. He only succeeded in knocking out the windows of the surrounding buildings (now used by the Marine Institute). The turkey survived!
And he's a fine specimen despite its attempted murder. A shame there's no water in the fountain part. I wouldn't mind having a fountain like this.
And that's it for Sapelo Island. If you ever have the chance, be sure and visit it. Or if you know a bunch of people who can afford it, rent the mansion!
