SAPELO ISLAND Part 2

The Reynolds Mansion/Lodge on Sapelo Island was first built about 1802 by Thomas Spalding after he bought the island. He used a different formula for making tabby that allowed the walls (two feet thick) to stand through two hurricanes. When he died in 1851, his family held on until the Civil War when they fled to the mainland. The mansion was left to vandals and pretty much ruined after the war. The freed slaves originally imported to work the plantation remained and formed their own communities.

In 1912, Howard Coffin bought the island, excepting for what the slave descendents owned. He and his wife put in roads, reclaimed fields, and also renovated and enlarged the house. The restored mansion hosted Presidents Hoover and Coolidge as well as notables like Charles Lindbergh.

In the thirties, money was tight and Coffin sold it. A story goes that he invited a group of hunters for a sales pitch. Among them was R.J. Reynolds, Jr. When told the asking price, R.J. turned to the other hunters and said, "Hell, we ought to have enough pocket change among us to buy it," and started emptying his pockets. I don't know it that's true or not, but by 1934, he was the owner!

Here are a couple of pix of the library, a pretty room with a curved outside wall; even the windows are curved. The first shot shows one of the docents who took us around. Oh, and the books belonged to Reynolds; some of them even have his nameplates in them.

This is one the curved windows. I really like this room!

SAPELO ISLAND Part 1

A few days ago we went over to Sapelo Island, to the Reynolds Mansion/Lodge for a holiday luncheon. After going over on the ferry, about fifteen of us got on a bus. Before and after lunch, we toured the island. After lunch at the house, we had an hour or so to go through it. My guy took some nice pix so I thought I'd post some of them in the next few days.

R.J. Reynolds, Jr. was one of the tobacco Reynoldses from North Carolina. He had houses in several cities, but this was his "man cave" as one of our tour group put it and seemed to be his favorite.

Here's a picture of the front of the house. You can't see it from this viewpoint, but there's one path from the driveway that divides into two paths to circle round the outdoor pool before it re-merges to go back to the house. The pool is empty, but I understand that for additional fees, lodgers can have it filled.

The Mansion/Lodge, like most of the island, belongs to the state of Georgia. It can be rented out for special events such as weddings, business conferences, family reunions, et cetera. With 13 bedrooms and eleven baths, it can accommodate up to 29 people, but the minimum requirement is 16 people. Any fewer are still charged at the 16-minimum rate of nearly $200 per person per night.

Below is a picture of the statue in the middle of the outside pool. You can see the leaves and stains in the pool bottom. That's my hand peeking out from the Christmas cape.

More later.

BIRD MAN

Today we were walking in the Village, trying to make up for all that turkey and fixings we indulged in over Thanksgiving (and by the way, I hope everyone had as lovely a Thanksgiving as we did) when we came upon a man feeding the birds.

When we first saw him, he had a bird perched on his head. I wasn't in time to snap that shot but here he is with what looks like sated birds. He's offering them bread but they aren't nearly so eager as they were in the beginning.

Personally, I wouldn't want to be sitting in the midst of them since they can start flying around overhead at any given time!

BANANAS

On our walk some days, we go by this house. I've been wanting a banana tree since we moved down here, but didn't know they really would produce bananas!

Hope this bunch got picked before the cold weather last week!

LIVING HISTORY

I had a friend visiting last week and Saturday, we went up to Fort King George for their annual encampment, a living history event. The participants camped Friday and Saturday nights, and the public was invited to join them during the day. They had handmade leather goods, musketfire demonstrations, a Creek Indian encampment, a hammered dulcimer playing, a lecture on spices the colonials used, and other activities.

Here are some of the pix.

This lady has the pots and pans they cooked with back then:

Prior to the cannon firing:

A Creek Indian looking at some of his equipment:

Part of the encampment. The day was cold, too! I would have hated to be spending the night in a tent with this kind of weather! The soldiers are Spanish reenactors from St. Augustine.

A colonial man with two little colonial misses:

Another colonial:

HAPPY VETERANS DAY

Just a couple of pix from our island parade honoring veterans. Afterward, there was a ceremony on the Casino lawn. Very moving.

FLY-IN ON THE ISLAND

Two or three months ago, I blogged about a fly-in event on the mainland. Today I'm blogging about a fly-in we had here on the island sponsored by AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association). There were scads of planes but the most interesting to me was a B-17 bomber.

It gave some veterans (who had been inside one during WWII) a ride when it first arrived Friday which I thought was very nice. Yesterday, people could tour it for a small fee, and even ride in it for like, four hundred dollars. It carries about ten at a time so shared, that doesn't seem too bad.

Here it is in the air during one of its flights:

A closeup:

And these are just a couple of the others attending. There were planes lined up on both sides of one our island airport's runways!