All About Me in 28 Days (Day 4)

Today’s assignment is to show a photo of a favorite memory.  That’s kind of a tough one.  I have been blessed enough to have lots of favorite, happy memories.  It’s kind of hard to pick.  Finding a photo to kind of memorialize it, helped to narrow it down.

This is a photo of the North end of Jekyll Island, Georgia.  It is called Georgia’s Jewel for a very good reason.  The weather is pleasant year round, with salt breezes and the wildlife is plentiful.  Because, by Georgia law, 65% of the island may not be developed, it is a great, family friendly place, safe from the boardwalks, bright lights, and artificial pleasures of more developed places.  Jekyll is a place to step back, relax, enjoy the surroundings, and reconnect to family.

It is the first beach that I ever saw (I was born in Brunswick, GA–just across the causeway).  Dad was stationed in the Navy at the time.  Turns out, ironically, that since hubby is a South Georgia boy from Waycross, that this is the first beach he ever saw, too.

An old Indian legend has it that “once your feet touch the sands of Jekyll, you’ll always come back.”  That has certainly been true for us.  This is where we bring our children.  This is the place where we know where to find the shorebirds and the location of the hidden rookery, where the birds raise their young.  We have seen the gators.  We have eaten gator tail!  We have walked the Audubon Birding trail and watched sunsets from the pier.  Speaking of sunsets….

Jekyll has the very best.

As for memories.  I remember my oldest’s first trip to the beach and how he rolled and crawled through the sand (while I was pregnant with younger son).  He looked like a frosted sugar plum.  I remember his sweet giggle as his dad stripped him down and held him under the outdoor shower (while he kicked and cooed) so we could put him in the car!  How the people stopped, laughed, and talked to my gorgeous, blue eyed boy that day.

Jekyll is filled with so many memories for me.  So many good, happy times.   So many “Shrimp Nights” with Karen and Bob and their kids.  So many trips over the breakers to play in the sand and watch kids digging holes to create little hermit crab villages.  By the way, there is NO shrimp like wild caught, Georgia shrimp, fresh off the boat.  Period.

I know that some folks have visited Jekyll and don’t have good memories of it (love you, Kim), but I want to take them by the hand and show them the island through my eyes and share my memories with them.  Maybe then, they can relax and let the beauty of the nature of Jekyll soothe their soul.