August 30-Sept 1, 2014
The troop met early Saturday morning at Westminster Christian School to pack the trailer and begin the 5 ½ hour trip to the Jekyll Island Campground and a weekend at the beach. Nine scouts, 5 adults and 1 sibling made the trip is 3 cars. With only 1 wrong turn, 1 bathroom break, and 1 gas stop, we rolled into the Jekyll Island Campground at lunch time. We checked into the Group K site, set up troop gear, then personal gear, and then ate lunch. We were then off to the beach to enjoy some fun. The scouts body surfed, threw the football, flew a kite, and enjoyed themselves and worked up an appetite for that evening’s dinner. The Scout patrol enjoyed burgers and fries while the Parent patrol enjoyed a low country boil complete with shrimp and sausage. Sounds like “roughing it” alright.
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After dinner, a round of mini-golf topped off the day. There were shouts of “hole-in-one”, “hey, I did that with my eyes closed”, and “you mean we could have ordered pizza from here for dinner”? The campsite provided some relief from the heat, but not much. And after dark, the mosquitoes made their presence known. But long drive and a day in the sun make for good sleep.
The next day, with a good breakfast of various skillet meats and eggs, it was off to the beach again. This time, a section of beach with nature made jungle gyms. Fallen trees lay across the islands northern most end make for interesting climbing obstacles and seats. With little shade from the sun and no wind, the only relief was the water. We returned to the campsite for lunch which consisted of sandwiches and chips.
Our next adventure was to the remains of Fort Frederica on Saint Simons Island. While little of Fort and homes remain a nice walking tour amongst the trees and air conditioned film was a nice way to spend some time out of the sun. After our educational time, we did what any tourist would do; go find the ice cream and candy shop! While visions of giant gummy bears and 2 lb candy bars danced in their heads, most Scouts were satisfied with a large scoop of ice cream.
Back to the campsite, dinner and the campfire were the last things on the agenda. A looming thunderstorm off the coast made everyone uneasy about what might be coming, but alas, the rains held off for a peaceful night of sleep, if you could cool off! In to the cars on Sunday morning and we were back to Watkinsville after a short stop at Wendy’s for lunch. I’m not sure that the Scouts are ever really full when we finish eating as there is always as shake or ice cream cone “to go”.
It was a great trip to a wonder part of the Georgia Coast. This family camping adventure included some things that we don’t normally do: ice cream shops, putt putt, cokes at meal time,…. but it sure was nice!
Robert