Days 8 thru 10 - May 28-30 - St. Simons Island GA

Memorial Day weekend arrived May 28.  I had loosely planned to go to the coast of Georgia but when I called ahead to the campgrounds I found they were full.  I decided to check out St. Simons Island anyway, and coasted into the Bedford Sportsman South, an Orvis dealer, around noon.  There I found Larry Kennedy, a fly fisherman of considerable fame and an expert on inshore fishing in the area.  Larry was kind enough to give me some detailed maps and information about the fly fishing in the tidal marshes.  His tida lchart showed me that the tide was coming in, meaning that it was prime time to head out on the water, so that's what I decided to do despite not knowing where I was going to spend the night.

Guinevere, my Heritage Redfish kayak, proved to be a performer - just ask Lancelot.  I was concerned about the crowds at the boat dock, but once I got back in the marshes around Village Creek I found that the motor boats were elsewhere.  I wandered around for several hours and saw lots of baitfish, crabs, and and an abundance of birdlife.  I also saw a few large wakes in the calm waters of the smaller creeks, which indicated the presence of my primary quarry - redfish (also called red drum) - or some other larger species haunting the shallows and oyster beds for shrimp, crabs and glass minnows.  I was able to cast my flies into the areas of those wakes a couple of times, but to no avail.  Here's a two-minute video showing what it was like to paddle up one of the small tidal creeks and throw a fly:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d1tTrIASXY.

With darkness approaching I paddled back out of this little creek about an hour after I shot the video.  At the mouth of the creek I found two young guys scrambling to get back in their canoe, which they had just dumped while pulling up a crab pot.  You can see the milk jug marking their pot at the beginning of the video.  They were soaked but in good humor, and didn't see me as I eased toward them.  They were laughing about their misfortune and were checking the contents of the canoe to see if their gear was intact.  I had to chuckle when I heard them shouting out their priorities for salvage - number one was "the cigarettes and the bowl."  I had a feeling "the bowl" might have played a role in their misadventure.  When they finally saw me I stopped to chat.  They had caught several blue crabs, which I got a good look at later back on the dock.  All was well.  We all headed in for the night.

The silver lining in the Florida real estate crash is that motel rooms are really cheap because there are simply too many motels, even for the Memorial Day crowds.  So I checked into a Quality Inn in Brunswick for two nights.  After showering I walked to the Toucan Ale House next door and enjoyed a nice dinner, which I devoured with relish since I hadn't eaten anything all day except a bowl of cereal early in the morning.

The next morning, while the tide was low, I disassembled Elaine, my pontoon boat, since I knew I wouldn't be using her for the next few weeks and she was encumbering my ability to easily unload and load Guinevere.  Early in the afternoon I was back in the tidal creeks, this time paddling further out to an area Larry Kennedy calls "the ballfield."  Once again I was blessed with solitude and calm, and views of lots of wildlife.  Spotting the sportsfish proved to be difficult, and again I was shut out.  But no worries.  It was the kind of day you dream of if you love nature.  I have never experienced anything like the tidal marshes before, and I'm glad I didn't let the Memorial Day crowds deter me.  Someday I hope to return with someone who actually knows how to fish there.  This is a good time to remind you to check out the link to OAFF's Spot Shared Page at the bottom of my blog page.  When you get into the site, click on the map view icon and you can see all the places I've been so far (or at least those where I had the Spot turned on).  I turned on the Spot while I was in the marsh, so if you choose satellite view on the Google map and zoom in, you can see what the marsh looks like from above.

Back to the Toucan for dinner Sunday night.  I chatted for an hour or so with a man from northwest Georgia who was travelling in the area for business.  We talked about the Phillies (my team) and the Braves (his team), the Indianapolis 500, and many of the beautiful places we had both been.  Like me, he has been in almost every state in his life - Alaska being the exception for both of us.  I told him I was planning to cure that soon.  I'm finding that one of the great pleasures of this trip is meeting strangers of various stripes.  At least three or four times a day I'm asked about Camelot.  I should get a commission from Northstar campers for all the testimonials I've given.

Today I cruised a little further down the coast and registered at the Crooked River State Park campground, which is wide open now that the holiday campers have departed.  The park is very near Cumberland Island National Park.  I took my Cannondale bike for a spin around the area.  A while back I asked for your input on a proper name for the bike and I received many good suggestions.  It was a difficult decision but my choice of your nominations was a name submitted by Jeff Landis - Llamrei, a mare reputed to be King Arthur's favorite horse.  I discovered on the internet that Llamrei is a popular subject of artists who like to render legendary beings.  Here's a nice painting by Chloe Johnson so you can get an idea: