Loop Life with Greg and Reenie: GEORGIA

On the morning of May 30th we departed the Jacksonville City dock, and after about an hour on the ICW we finally left Florida, and entered Georgia! A few days ahead of our June 1st goal 😎!

We are now in what is called "Lowcountry". It is a 200 mile stretch of coastal Georgia and South Carolina that is full of geography, culture, history and beauty. The ICW changes to wide flat expansive grasslands, dotted with oak trees covered with spanish moss (If you close your eyes and think of what the south should look like ....this is it). This area is also known for it's "Skinny Water", very shallow with tidal extremes and strong currents. When traveling on the ICW we carefully check weather, tides and currents (We will explain this concept further on our next blog post).

Our first night in Georgia was at Jekyll Island Marina. It is one of the Golden Isles of the Georgia barrier islands. Jekyll Island was originally developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with private vacation homes of wealthy Americans. There were originally 53 millionaire members of the Jekyll Island Club. The original Club building is now a luxury hotel. Jekyll Island became the center of some of the most pivotal events of the 20th century. In 1915 AT&T President, Theodore Vail placed the first transcontinental telephone call. A secret meeting on Jekyll Island in 1907 led to a formation of what was called the Aldrich Plan, the original outline for a system of financial security, called the Federal Reserve. The Island was evacuated during World Was II by order of The United States Government. In 1948 the State of Georgia acquired all of the properties for security and preservation. It is now a popular tourist destination, including a Historic District, bike trails and beautiful isolated beaches.

Kilkenny Marina was our next port. We docked at the Marina for one night, with two other Looper boats. It was great to visit with fellow Loopers...we haven't enjoyed this since Miami. Kilkenny Marina was opposite of Jekyll Island. It is a very rural fish camp with large shrimp boats. There is a great restaurant next door (Marker 107). We had the pleaseure of dining with Gold Loopers aboard Ocean Dancer.

Looper Tip: The restaurant, Marker 107 is open Wednesday-Sunday 🍴

We arrived in the beautiful city of Savannah on Friday June 1st. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city became the British Colonial Capital of the Provence of Georgia. Savannah was a strategic port city in the American Revolution and the Civil War. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important Atlantic seaport. Each year Savannah attracts millions of visitors to it's cobblestone streets, parks and historic buildings. Savannah's downtown area includes the Historic District and 22 beautifully manicured parklike squares. It is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States. We really enjoyed riding our bikes around the Historic District. The parks were in full bloom, with springtime flowers and smells. We enjoyed a sneak peek into the charming southern homes and tasting some gourmet lowcountry cuisine at the wonderful restaurants.

We docked at the Westin Hotel for two nights. It is directly across the river from the historic area of Savannah. We thought it was a great location, with a nice view of the Savannah skyline. There is a free ferry that shuttles guests back and forth across the river. While docked at the Westin Marina we had full use of all the hotel amenities (pool, spa, exercise room, locker room with showers and fresh towels).

Looper Tip: The Westin was a great place to dock in downtown Savannah... more a hotel than Marina but wonderful 😎.