Fri, Oct 25 2013 - Sapelo Island Atlantic Coast Camping & Beachcombing Weekend (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Charlie Cottingham Participants: Charlie Cottingham, David Duffey, Eric, Fi, Gloria, Kevin, Angela, Debe, John O'Neill, Toni Suarez, Irina P, Pete Sadel, Alex, Angie

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We fourteen had an unforgettable weekend of camping and seaside adventure on Georgia’s historic Sapelo Island, with crystal clear fall weather that could not have been more perfect for hiking, relaxing by the campfire and stargazing.  We enjoyed two nights at the wonderful oceanside “Cabretta” exclusive-use group campsite.  The beachcombing was especially nice and Irina and Alex even took swims in the ocean.
  On Saturday my friend J. R. Grovner who grew up on Sapelo escorted us on a memorable bus tour that included leisurely stops at the exotic Reynolds Mansion, the quaint Hog Hammock community and the famous beautifully restored 1820 Sapelo lighthouse.  A special rare treat during our lighthouse visit was being permitted to climb up through the final padlocked trap door into the small “lookout room” at the top of the tower with its restored antique light and rotating lenses.  Another unexpected bonus of the tour was getting to visit the remote wilderness area where a pair of bald eagles are in the process of moving their huge nest from the top of a tall dying pine tree to the top of a nearby equally impressive healthy pine.  We didn't catch a view of the eagles (as J. R. often does) but were amazed at the size of the nests.  We'd actually seen one of the bald eagles near our campsite on a previous visit to Sapelo.
  We kept a roaring campfire going virtually all weekend and made good use of our truck load of cut live-oak firewood and “fat lighter” kindling that we had delivered to the fire ring.  I want to thank everyone in our group for their delicious contributions to our fireside refreshments and delicious family style meals - and special thanks to those who pitched in cheerfully with cooking, serving and cleanup.
  Our ferry rides to & from the island from Sapelo’s mainland dock and visitor center were aboard their “backup” passenger ferry, the “Anne Marie,” which had been superseded in 2006 by the larger and faster “Miss Katy Underwood” - now having a few repairs.  On both ferry rides we got a kick out of attracting dozens of beautiful sea gulls by tossing bits of bread upward from the Anne Marie's top deck and watching the graceful aerialists dive and catch the morsels in midair just a couple of feet from our outstretched hands.
  The DNR provides bus transportation between the island ferry dock directly to and from the Cabretta campsite - a real plus for reserved groups like ours.  The marvelous group site has spacious “Adirondack cabins” for any who prefer not bringing a tent - plus a nice dining pavilion, hot showers, flush toilets and even a new hot-water kitchen sink!  Our friendly “campground hosts,” Doug and Lisa, made sure all our needs were taken care of while on Sapelo including driving us and our gear safely to and from the campsite.
  We jointly took hundreds of lovely photos over the weekend and I look forward to listing below the links to our various shared online photo albums as I receive them!
- Submitted by Charlie, Sunday night Oct 27, 2013

Thanks to David Duffey for this link to his online photo album of about 40 nice shots:
http://s498.photobucket.com/user/dudetrick/library/Sapelo Island

Thanks to Angie Ritz for this link to her Facebook album of 46 nice shots:
https://www.facebook.com/angelita.ritz/media_set?set=a.10202242203242341.1073741833.1408057332&type=1

Thanks to Pete Sadel for these two links to his nice shots, including our group "parting shot" taken by the campfire:
http://pizzadel.com/SapeloIsland2013
http://pizzadel.com/SapeloIsland2013-2.html

Thanks to Toni Suarez to this link to 42 of her nicely edited gorgeous shots:
http://s771.photobucket.com/user/bungleweed/library/?sort=6&page=2

Thanks to Fi for the following riddle...and to Angela for being such a good sport as we kidded her and got into the act while she struggled to make delicious campfire popcorn for everyone:

Q:  How many AOC'ers does it take to make Jiffy Pop popcorn over a campfire?
A:  Six!  One to buy the Jiffy Pop and start shaking it over the fire till her contact lenses began to melt, plus one to take over, one to instruct to shake left to right, one to instruct to shake right to left, one to insist a circular pattern is best, and one to say to leave it still and not shake at all. Voila - perfectly popped Jiffy Pop!!

"Jiffy Pop, Jiffy Pop the magic treat - as much fun to make as it is to eat"!!!