Georgia Coast (Day 5 of 7)

 

 

Watching the sunrise behind our cottage at Crooked River State Park in St Mary's

Album for these photos

Album2 for these photos

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Hiking on some trails around the park

 

 

 

 

 

Adam reading us the trail info for each blue numbered marker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Packing up to check out

  

 

Cute nature center in the park

  

 

 

 

Trail behind the nature center with signs describing various workouts to do along the way

 

 

  

 

  

Nice visitor center in St Mary's

 

We appreciated the air conditioning and the two sweet ladies who showed us around and told us lots of interesting things about St Mary's and Cumberland Island

 

 

Parking under the shade of a live oak

 

Submarine Museum

 

Lots of submarine interest with the huge King's Bay Submarine Base nearby

 

 

Really nice periscope that gives you a clear waterfront view

 

There's plenty of stuff in the museum, but it's very cluttered and hard for the average person to process. It could really use a  makeover to bring it up to more modern "easy to navigate\curation\storytelling" standards. 

 

 

Nearby Riverside Cafe

 

 

 

 

The crab cakes and salmon were pretty good, but better off to stick with the excellent basic gyro (with a fresh Greek salad instead of the fries)

 

Tasty caramel and key lime cheesecake

 

Drove about an hour west to the Okefenokee Swamp

 

 

Some controlled burning going on 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our swamp tour guide

 

  

 

Heading out through the Suwanee Canal - a late 19th century failed attempt to drain the swamp for farmland

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

The water is black and so are the alligators (and very quiet too). You won't see them coming for you.

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at some carnivorous pitcher plants

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

  

Watching more gators and birds from the viewing platform behind the visitor center

   

 

Big gator making his way up the middle of the canal  

 

  

   

Driving an hour east through nowhere (and I mean nowhere) to the west entrance of the Okefenokee and Stephen Foster State Park

 

 

Our cottage

 

The park is at the end of a dead end road about 20 miles from the nearest town of Fargo. We stopped at "the" (not "a") little convenience store in Fargo and picked up a few things. The clerk in the store said the nearest real grocery stores were 20-30 miles away depending on the direction you wanted to go. We ran low on milk during our stay but the thought of driving 20 miles each way made us make do.

We talk about wanting to get away from all the hustle and bustle of modern life, but convenience does have its advantages.