One of my favorite things about working in the National Parks is the variety of people I get to meet. When I work at the Visitors Center here at Fort Frederica, I tell people “Welcome!” and ask if they have been here before. If they answer no, I tell them how glad we are they …
From April 2019
Nature Trail at Fort Frederica National Monument
Two years ago when we were working at Fort Frederica, they were putting in a one mile nature trail. They had just finished clearing the trail in April and were getting ready to put up trail markers and signs. Then, that fall, another hurricane hit the Fort. So many pine trees were uprooted that when …
Wedding Cake for Communion
I’m sure you have seen, as I have, a picture of a beautiful wedding cake. Maybe you remember your wedding cake and how you had to have one that was just right. Perhaps you have been to a wedding with a really spectacular cake. Some of them are so beautiful that you feel like you …
Blooming St Simons Island, So Beautiful in the Spring
The main reason Tom and I keep coming to St Simons Island is the incredible beauty of the place, especially during the winter months. Because the weather is so warm here, and the live oaks never lose their leaves, it hardly looks like winter at all. In fact, every since February we have been enjoying …
Coastal Georgia RV Resort near Brunswick
I realized last week that I never wrote a post on Coastal Georgia RV Resort. We stayed at this very nice RV park during the government shutdown back in January. It is located just south of Brunswick on US 17. Coastal Georgia RV Resort is immaculately clean and nicely landscaped. There are 150 full hook-up …
Homefront WWII Museum on St Simons Island
On a wet and cold day in February, Mom, Dad, Tom and I visited the Homefront WWII Museum on St Simons Island. We had been riding and walking by the Old Coast Guard station on the island for two years and it was never open. Everyone kept telling us they were making it into a …
Rock Star Tom Hartley in the News
I like to tease Tom that he is a rock star at Fort Frederica. When he dresses in his British soldier uniform, people flock to him. We can have five people in the park, but Tom starts talking about his musket and suddenly there are 30 people standing around listening to him. I think there …
Resistance to the Beast
My devotional book for the week is “Inspired” by Rachel Held Evans. I reviewed her book, “Searching for Sunday” in January. “Inspired” is a different kind of book. It is a Biblical Scholar meets storyteller book. The ideas are mostly scholarship that I have been dealing with since seminary (a long time ago). But Rachel’s …
Historic Harrington School and Cultural Center
The first year we were on St Simons, I went on a trolley tour that included black heritage sites on the island. Because Fort Frederica is part of the Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor, it was important for me to know about these sites. Gullah Geechee refers to the descendants of the slaves on the coastal …
Wanderer Memory Trail on Jekyll Island
One of the last things we did before Mom and Dad headed back to Ohio was visit the Wanderer Memory Trail on Jekyll Island. Mom saw a blurb on it in one of the coastal “Things to Do” magazines. So, after riding bikes one day, we headed to the south end of Jekyll Island to …