It's day 281...It's also Feburary 11th 2020.....and were on Jekyll Island...in Georgia

It's day 281...It's also Feburary 11th 2020.....and were on Jekyll Island...in Georgia

I was itchen to get back here....I love this place....beautiful....of course....and so much history.....I found a quote from the islands official website.....quote.....

“From the early Native Americans...... to guests from around the world, the story of our island has been captivating the imaginations of explorers for generations.

In 1733, General James Oglethorpe named Jekyll Island in honor of Sir Joseph Jekyll, his friend and financier from England. In the late 1800s, Jekyll Island became an exclusive hunting club for families with names like Rockefeller, Morgan, Vanderbilt, Pulitzer, and Baker. The once private retreat is now part of The Jekyll Island Club National Historic Landmark District, one of the largest preservation projects in the southeast.

In 1947, the Governor and the Georgia state legislature established Jekyll Island as a State Park. Today, the island is a special sanctuary for each of us – and the Jekyll Island Authority is proud to share our island’s history.” end quote.

Even driving across the causeway onto Jekyll Island is an adventure. The way the road weaves through....and across the expansive....and wide open marshlands of southern Georgia..... As you transition from these marshland roads to the bridge....before you know it..... you've driven three miles..... from Brunswick Georgia....across those intracoastal waterways.....onto an island......a universe in which...nature and history come together seemlessly.....and you can tell by just looking around....or just sitting on a beach....that the two have always been as one here.

From the very beginning..... or as far back as todays science will take us anyway....The coastal plain region we are in....began to form...and with it.....Jekyll Island.... some 100 million years ago. I look around here and imagine a time when the erosion of surrounding areas would begin depositing sediments.....that would later become the foundation on which I'm standing today.....day after day....century after century.....EPOCH even....which I just learned...is the term that actually references a period of time spanning millions of years! And that sediment deposition would continue for those millions of years.....when....a couple million years ago....glacial cycles would have dramatic impact on sea levels.... across the globe.....and where I'm standing.....the barrier islands would form....one of which ...... Jekyll Island.

As the infant island began to grow and mature.....developing a nature of it's own....Humans would find their way here....some 5 or 6 thousand years ago........Those Timacuans ...... A now extinct people ..... that I had just learned about in the last episode.

The Timacua.....specifically.....subcultures of the Timucua...The Guale and Mocama would somehow figure out that....if they hollowed out a log.....they could climb in some of the earliest versions of a canoe...and begin exploration of the marshlands that passed seemingly forever into the horizon....they seemed to know....there was something out there......but how.....in a time before maps...airplanes..... and a gps device in our pockets.....how could they have possibly known that there was a nearly 6000 acre....oasis out there..... something would drive them to navigate that three miles of intracoastal waterway and find this place. And once they found it....they knew it was special.....and they stayed ........ for thousands of years......

Next up.....those Spanish Explorers.....the first Europeans to arrive in the area around 1510......they'd map the island as..... Isla De Ballenas (eesla de bayanaas).....which meant Whale Island

The next to document discovery.....later in the 1500's... would be French explorers...they'd map their find as "Isle De La Somme" (eel du la somne)....referencing a river in France.

And then.....the Colonial Era.......in the 1700's.....would bring British Colonists to the area when General James Oglethorpe founded the colony of Georgia.....and named the island...in honor of one of the major financial backers of the colony.

At times the island would also be referred to at times as Hortons Island....in honor of the man that established one of the first plantations on it......When the island was sold to another plantation owner....Christophe Poulain DuBignon....it would be called by some....DuBignon Island.

But Jekyll island.....would be the name that stuck....

In 1886, the island was purchased by a group of wealthy industrialists who formed the Jekyll Island Club...... a private retreat for America's elite. The club era lasted until World War II, after which the island was sold to the State of Georgia in 1947.....for 675, 0000 dollars.....thats about 8 million bucks in todays money.

In the years following the war....the island would be largely abandoned....and fall into disrepair....The wealthy patrons of the club era had stopped coming.....

But during the 1950's.....Georgia would begin investing in their purchase....first up....another 800,000 dollar investment....in that causeway and bridge we just crossed.....was completed in 1954. The state would spend the rest of decade investing in infrastructure....roads, drainage systems, and accommodations for visitors.

So with access to the island opened up.....and infrastructure improving rapidly....the next two decades would bring significant growth in tourism.....and recreational activities....while the states focus shifted to conservation......the preservation of not only the natural beauty of the island....but all those historical structures left behind by the club era....as well as the plantations established a century before that.

By the 80's....and 90's.....word was out....and Jekyll Island continued to modernize.....adding amenities such as the Summer Waves water park, bike trails, and walking paths. The Jekyll Island Authority manages the island....balancing continued growth.... and prosperity....with that preservation of all the history here.

The island's full time population today.... is relatively small, around 900 Georgians call Jekyll Island home .....but those 900 Georgians....they play host to over 3 million visitors....every year.

And today....I was one of them. Happy to drop 10 bucks for my all day parking pass....I did make quick mental reference to the fact that the parking pass was double....what it was during my first visit in 2002. I also....because I'm me .....I guess.... did some quick math....3 million visitors a year.....10 bucks a car...wonder how many cars that was......Georgia's rakin in some dough.....and once you see what they've done....and what their doing here....Money well spent Georgia.

For me...today wouldn't be about any of the new touristy stuff....the fancy hotels....the awesome food....the museums....walking tours....the incredible restoration projects....or the ones still underway....seems that work will never end here....it's serious business...preserving the past.

I wanted to know...to feel....some more of that history......

Like...standing in front of an historical marker....and learning of ..."

The Wanderer ......

A schooner rigged vessel....originally built in 1858 as a luxury pleasure yacht in New York. But it would later be converted... into a slave ship....and during the one documented journey it would make....on November 28, 1858 ...it would arrive at jekyll island under cover of darkness...after it's 42 day ...and 4600 mile journey from the Kingdom of Kongo in Africa.........with over 400 enslaved Africans aboard.

And this voyage....and the ships passengers.....would be documented as one of the last illegal attempts to bring enslaved people into the U.S......and it significantly heightened tensions between the North and the South....cementing the nations path.....to the Civil War...the war that would begin within 3 years of the Wanderers landing.

The Wanderer......would later be confiscated by Union forces and used for various military purposes during the war...

Then...decommissioned and converted back to merchant use. Ultimately....the Wanderer would be lost to the sea....to lay in rest off coast of Cuba.....in 1871. Thinking through everything.....and everyone......that vessel experienced in just 13 years.....I'm not sure...what this feeling is.....I spose it's a lot of things.....but good....isn't one them.

And just up the path from that historical marker......The Horton house. And the remnants of that plantation.....almost 300 years old.....and another example of the Tabby structures built during the era....

A few minutes later.....and I was reading of how the generations of enslaved Africans would hold onto....the memory of the homeland they had been torn from....the one some would never know....were it not for their parents....and grandparents telling them.........how they managed to hold on to who they were.....bringing their own traditions.....religions....and culture.....into a world they knew nothing of...but had to have hated......and how they worked so hard....every day....as if knowing....that the insanity around them.....the so wrong....in it all....would someday be a thing of the past. Humans....couldn't get away with treating other humans like this forever....could they?

A lot to have swirling around in my head....and my heart...... when I'd reach the foot of the stairs to the San Souci…the site...that was The island home to Rockafellas.....built during that Club Era....a place that would host to some of the richest people on the planet......it was also the site.....of a six unit building considered to be one of the first condominium complexes built in the United States…

Or .....walking into the lobby of The Jekyll Island Club Resort...

.......trying to imagine what it must have looked and felt like in 1910 when under the cover of night, and using only first names to keep their identities secret.....

Senator Nelson Aldrich led a party of financial leaders to Jekyll Island to conceptualize a federal banking system…the group would be coined the First-Name Club.....and together that group drafted what would become.... the modern day Federal Reserve. Which passed legislation....and was born in 1913...

I wondered......why did it have to be such a secret....well....the internet tells me...it was because the concept of a centralized bank....a single institution that would oversee the countries monetary system....and be responsible for policy making decisions around it....was pretty controversial stuff at the time. The group of six super smart men...all from either the government or the banking world.....did not want media nosing about and causing a hub bub....they also knew there would be political opposition....they needed privacy to draft their plan....and prepare....to ensure legislation would pass quickly.

So makes perfect sense.....that an exclusive rich guy island....off the coast of Georgia....accessible....only by boat really... was the perfect place to hold super secret meetings.

During the hour or so drive back to St. Mary's this evening......so much was swirling around in my brain......I started to contrast the nutty stuff going on in the world today....with the elements of horror in our past.....it feels beyond ignorant to ask myself…”why was I never told this”?.....and yea....I wasn’t told…but by the same measure.....I never asked.

I'm learning time and time again on this adventure.....that there is a stark contrast between what I thought I knew....and what I what I was actually taught....what I actually know.

So what should I be asking today....

I wondered........in a couple hundred years from now.....what historical marker will a guy like me be standing in front of reading......what i should have known now.....but didn't

and the pondering continued....well into the evening walk with Dougie.....

It was evolving into .....knowing when to talk.....and knowing to keep quiet....and listen. knowing when to believe what you hear.....and knowing when to dig deeper.....ask questions....

Knowing that when emotion and anger enter a conversation.....and they often times do these days.....knowing that I'll learn a whole lot more....when I stop talking.....start listening....and focus on....understanding.

The day on Jekyll island had for sure taught me that if the topic is slavery…The only thing I know for sure is that there is still so much more I don’t know.

There's I a few things I do understand a little more ..... now.....Like..... “Americans” didn’t invent the concept…I mean.....instances of the practice go back thousands of years all across Europe and Asia....and it would be the Spanish that would bring enslaved people with them during their discovery of North America.....but two or three hundred years later....those young Americans were quick to grasp and put their own spin on it...

So I guess....to their credit....it would be less than a 100 years.....before the young nation would be at war....with itself.....the war that would last 4 years....and ultimately abolish the practice in the United States.

But even though....one side claimed victory, the other side conceded...the deeply wounded nation...tried to move on…or did we? .....We certainly never effectively dealt with the fall out........ of knocking on a humans door one morning, announcing “your free”,

Throwing a few bucks in their pocket....making a couple promises....then taking those back..... and casting them out into a world in which nearly half of the population had fought to keep them enslaved.....a population that literally hated them.....and showed it.......by immediately beginning.....to kill them.

It's been 155 years since that knock on the door…and I wondered.....what more needed to be done.....what have I done......what can I do.....in moving closer....to the hope that as a nation.....and as a culture..... we can someday soon..... “decide” to deal with it......

And also for sure....if I ever did believe that "Ignorance is Bliss"....well....I certainly don't now.

After the walk with Dougie.....it was pretty obvious to me that the evening would be spent immersed on the internet.....but first.....less than a mile or so up the road....Dougie and had discovered the local tavern...."The Bucket" early on during our walks. Felt like the perfect evening for a walk up the street before diggin in

Great little place.....The bucket. As I walked in....was surprised to see Jim stand up from the bar and come over for a handshake! I thanked him again for his help....and assured him that Sharon had indeed taken good care of us. I told him of the days discoveries on Jekyll island.....and he brought me up to speed on his move to a friends house. Seems a divorce had landed him homeless for a stretch......so he was gonna crash with a friend up the road till his new place was ready. Turns out....his friends place was just across the street....and up a stretch from where I was parked. I invited him to stop by anytime....I;ll be sure to keep some beer in the fridge.....he said he would for sure. Payin the tab and heading out.....Mary.....the bartender hollered after me....."don't forget Taco Tuesday!" I learn that each Tuesday.....the tavern offered up free tacos from 12 to 4....sort of a neighborhood potluck.....bring whatever ya like....or nothing......we don't much care....just come by....there's always plenty of food.....I waved...thanked her....and told her most definitely you'll see me on Taco Tuesday!

An hour or so later....back in front of the laptop.....there was that one more click thing....The story of......

The Forgotten Battles. And Black Refugee's....

The events took place....during the War of 1812....another example of a war...fought...on US soil.....I knew little about...until getting here....and learning of the British Occupation of St. Mary's during that war...a war that would be fought between 1812....and 1815. Turns out the 36 years that had elapsed since the US declaration of independence...weren't exactly smooth sailing.....and the two would go at it for another 3 or 4 years....this time....it was the British getting in the way of US expansion....and maritime rights along the southeast coast. The British were also engaged in actual support of Native Americans in the region....using them to further hamper US Expansion. Given all this...no surprise that the two would start shooting at each other again....and Ultimately.....that battle would end in a stalemate of sorts....pretty much just putting things back the way they were before the war....but did re establish relations between the two countries.

But during that war....

British Vice-Admiral Alexander Cochrane issued a proclamation in April 1814.

The proclamation encouraged American slaves to escape and board British ships as "freed men" bound for British colonies.

And hundreds of slaves......would take the British up on their offer....escaping Plantations across the region....and bording British ships anchored off the Georgia coast and Cumberland Island.

Many of these Black refugees were transported to places like Nova Scotia and Bermuda, where their descendants still live today. Some Black males even served as Colonial Marines in the British militia and ultimately settled in Trinidad after their service.

Many of these newly freed slaves....now considered British.....would actually find themselves in combat during the war....engaged in gun battle.... against the Americans they had recently escaped

Wow...so much....crazy history.....my brain was full for the day.

Tomorrow.....I'm thinking Fernandina Beach .... just 30 or so miles away....across that Florida state line....on another island...... I've heard fun things about the area.....so maybe go for a look see....

I wonder what we'll there