St. Simons Island

July 1-4, 2013

Our dear teacher friends moved from Roanoke, VA (see previous posts) to St. Simon's Island, GA.  They live in this fabulous retirement community: Marsh's Edge. Every single thing from housing, to food, to health care has been thought through. I was incredibly impressed with the whole production.

We ate our dinners in the dining room and made some lovely friends. I think our favorites were Dick & Cathy, Carolyn, and Inez. You could make an amazing book or documentary about the residents of Marsh's Edge. They have all lead long lives and have so many wonderful stories to tell. From the newspaper editor to the VP of Purina and his gorgeous wife, the former Ford model. 

As always with our friends, we laughed and laughed. They are such a delight and we always cherish our time with Ellen, Ray, and little Roxy. 

Although we spent most of our time in the community, we did go on a couple of adventures:

• Trolley Tour- You have to know by now, how much I love a good trolley tour. They're the perfect way to get an overview of an area and pack in as much info as possible in a small amount of time. Bunny was the star of the show and did a great job. 
  
   Our only stop was at Christ Church Frederica. The grounds were incredible. People have been worshiping on the grounds since 1736. The current church has been there since the turn of the century and is quite beautiful.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   Another highlight, just in front of Christ Church, was this oak tree. Charles Wesley preached his first semons in America here. As a lifelong Methodist, I have a great appreciation for the Wesley family.
  
  
• Sea Island. So fancy you can no longer even enter the island without a pass. Lucky for us, Ellen and Ray's daughter had one and was willing to give us a tour of the exclusive island. 

          The Cloister is the main resort on the island. It has a very "old world" and "old money"           vibe. It was neat to see but I don't feel a longing to return.

Other than seeing our friends, the best part of these trips is always the road trip to catch up with my BFF who I don't get to see nearly as often as I would like.  Plus, the trip to St. Simon's is much shorter. We had to cram all of our catching up into 13 hours, instead of 28 ;)