Today we decided to explore St. Simons Island, a historic location about 30 minutes east. This whole area is lowlands estuaries that form the barrier islands to the east. The intercoastal waterway running the length of the eastern part of the US goes through here. We did this trip by boat from Charleston, SC to Amelia Island, FL 20 years ago. Now we are pretty much repeating the trip via land route.
It wasn’t until we reread the history of this area that we hadn’t appreciated how much territorial disputes were waged between the British and the Spanish prior to the Revolutionary War.
St. Simons Island
Is known for its salt marshes and sandy stretches. A museum traces the history of St. Simons Lighthouse, rebuilt in 1872 after it was destroyed in the Civil War. Anglers fish off nearby St. Simons Pier, which offers views of Jekyll Island and migrating whales. North, boats travel to Little St. Simons Island, home to birds like spoonbills and gannets..
The Port of Brunswick
The Port of Brunswick is one of the nation’s most productive ports on the Atlantic coast. The shrimping industry is still important economically; the city was once called The Shrimp Capital of the World due to the plentiful wild shrimp (also known as Georgia White Shrimp) harvested in its local sounds and along local beaches and sandbar sloughs.
Imported products include wood pulp, paper products, wheat, soybeans, and heavy machinery. Brunswick is the primary U.S. port of automobile imports for manufacturers Jaguar, Land Rover, Porsche, Mitsubishi and Volvo.
Ford, GM and Mercedes export vehicles through Port of Brunswick. Other exports include agricultural products such as barley malt, corn and oats; other bulk cargo includes cement, gypsum, limestone, perlite, salt and sand.
We drove by the Georgia Port Authority today with literally thousands of vehicles parked ready for transport and the train cars ready to take them away. It was impressive. There is also a rather large environmental pollutant in the form of a gastly smelling paper mill here as well. So this port seems to be rather critical to the U.S. economy.
The local library has an outdoor performance area attached to it. This group of music lovers were playing ukuleles and singing… just for fun.
Louise and Brian McLeod Travel Blog 
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