Traveler's Reflections Part 3

Traveler’s Reflections

Part 3

By John W. Vander Velden

 

Here friends is the last part of our vacation story….

Our next day began with a jaunt to Jekyll Island…two L’s.  Now Jekyll Island is a little different kind’ place.  It’s smaller for one thing, and it had been a privately held island until the late 1940s, an escape for the very wealthy.  You pay a parking fee before they let you over the bridge to get to the island itself.  Well, you have to park somewhere.  We spent the largest part of the day in the area near the Jekyll Island Club.  What is now a very grand hotel and was the

Jekyll Island Clubhouse

center of society from 1897 until 1942.  To live on the island during those years required membership to the club.  That took money…lots of money…and the approval of those that were members.  Mr. Tiffany did not make the cut, windows and all.  We were told at the islands height the members held one sixth of all the money in the world.  Simply beyond my ability to understand.  We moved among the cottages, the small places the wealth used to enjoy their winters…you know the cozy thirty room places with three floors and servants…you get the idea.  The whole place is done up in glorious fashion.  There are now shops and art galleries a book store…which I did not have the opportunity to see…and several restaurants.  The weather was great.

"Doc" was a gentle beast...well trained and lovingly handled.

We booked a carriage ride and filled the time by playing miniature golf on the other side of the island.  Later while Jackie and I took the tour…a grand gentle horse named Doc pulled the white coach…Nick walked a real golf course, the width of the island.  Our time on the island ended with a walk on the shore watching the day slowly fade.

Nick on the beach at Jekyll Island.

The following day was moving day once again.  We took a short stop at Fort Frederica before we headed south.  It is an important place in history.  The point the British used to secure the southern boundary of the colonies from the Spanish.  Again we were surrounded by fourth graders…”Little people…you know who you are…” were the words that floated across the morning air from one of the teachers doing her best to hold “court”, and failing it seemed.  



On a beautiful sunny morning we walked among the ruins
 of what had been the British Fort Frederica, Saint Simons Island.

We then drove down to almost Orlando, Orange City this time.  The hotel there was just off the interstate, only thirty minutes from the airport.  We found an interesting…you guessed it…Mini-Golf place not far away and laughed at our ineptitude. You would have thought that by then we might have learned how to putt…well, if you did, you’d be wrong.  I mean on the practice green I shot three holes in one, but by the end of eighteen I was almost a “gazillion” over par.  But we laughed…Oh, how little it takes to amuse.



Five Guys…have you eaten there.  It’s one of Nick’s favorite places.  So driving in and around construction with errant turn signals and the most patient fellow motorist, we had our last supper at the “unique” burger joint.

Conga River Golf.

We had some time to kill the next day before our flight so we…went…you already know what we did.  Nick found another Mini…well they call it adventure golf…course.  I will admit it was the “coolest” we had played.  I mean how many courses do you go where the attendant asks if you want to hold an alligator.  We passed.  They had several, and we watched a father and a young daughter feed the reptiles from a spike on the end of a rope tied to a fishing pole.  The gator’s eyes might be closed, but they’re not really asleep you know.  They also had the largest painted turtles I had ever seen.  Jackie was astounded that the gators didn’t use the turtles for lunch.  One alligator considered a shelled critter a reasonable pillow…much to the turtle’s disappointment.  He kept stretching his head as if to say, “Hey buddy I would really like to leave now!”  But I figur’d Mr. Shell had to watch his “P’s and Q’s”…if you get my meaning.

So on a sunny afternoon…in the 80s we left Florida and two and a half hours later found ourselves in 34 degree South Bend…Hmmm…

It’s good to get away from time to time.  And over the last twenty-five years we have gone to a great many places.  During those trips we have had the opportunity to climb lighthouses, walk beaches, see humpback wales breaching, prong horn antelope sleeping at the road’s edge, stood on the brink of a five thousand foot cliff, walked wooded trails, and visited many quaint shops.  A dear friend told me once it wasn’t so much where you went…but rather what you left behind…if only for a few days.  I have kept that in mind when I call our outings…escapes.  Because that is what they are.  A few days away from the everyday…into something just a little different.  I will remember this trip…sort through the seven hundred plus pictures…and remember just how fortunate I am to have had the chance to share this special time with the people I consider most special.

Who knows where the road will lead us next time…but I expect it will be fun….

(870 Words)