October 11, 2021

October 11, 2021

From Savannah, GA we continued our tour of the Low Country travelling south for ninety minutes to the Brunswick area. We crossed to St Simons Island to visit Fort Frederica National Monument. The fort and enclosed walled town was a short-lived effort by the British in 1736 to push the disputed border with Spanish Florida farther south. The swampy island location was not really sustainable. Fortunately it survived long enough to convince the Spanish that resistance was futile.

Little of the town of Fort Frederica exists, but enough archeology digs have occurred to rediscover many of the house foundations and their ownership. This early colonial town on the frontier was surprisingly large. It may have had a population of 1500. We walked the beautiful grounds reading storyboards about the resident’s varied occupations.

Afterwards we continued south to St Marys, GA where we found our next accommodations. After a quick lunch, we visited the museum for Cumberland Island National Seashore. This offshore island once had two forts also involved in the border war between Britain and Spain. Later the island became a favorite winter home of rich Northerners.

We then drove south into Florida to Amelia Island to visit Fort Clinch State Historic Site on the northern tip. This fort was one of the many Phase III brick forts, like Fort Pulaski, the US built before the Civil War for coastal defense. This one was also seized by the Rebel South. After Pulaski was taken, the South decided to redeploy their limited resources elsewhere and abandoned it.

We walked around the interior of the fort and then strolled the beach. We were told that shark teeth can sometimes be found in the sand. The only thing Aimee found was some giant cockleburs that reached out and grabbed her foot. I never realized walking a beach could be this dangerous.

Afterwards we met up with some friends who moved here from Tucson. It is always fun to catch up with everyone’s activities.