This year, my annual workers’ compensation law conference was held at the Jekyll Island Convention Center instead of its usual location on Saint Simons Island, but since we’re more familiar with the latter location, we opted to stay there and just let me drive a bit farther to my conference each day.  Actually, that’s not entirely true.  I’d booked a place for us to stay on Jekyll, but then I got an email a few weeks ago saying that the state of Georgia was requiring closure of the boardwalk leading to the beach to do something with the shoreline area, so the beachfront condo I’d planned on us having for several days became a place requiring a 2-mile drive to a beach (but I’d have the car with me at the convention center each day).  So, I moved us to the condos at the King and Prince (where we stayed last year, since it has car chargers and is nice) instead.

The children were off school Thursday through Monday for Columbus Day (which is as close to a Fall Break as their school system allows), so we had more time than usual.  We left Wednesday about 2pm, stopped to charge in Macon (and had lunch at Spud Dogs, which my children absolutely love), and arrived about 9pm.

In addition to learning some new law and enjoying some old favorites on SSI, such as delicious bbq at Southern Soul and delicious pizza at Sal’s Pizzeria, we visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll, which all of us loved.  We saw turtles the center has rescued who’ve been hit by boat propellers or cars on the nearby roads but are now being rehabilitated, tagged for tracking, and then released.  We learned stuff, like that the nest temperature determines gender for newborn turtles (in the restroom of all places)!  We got a Christmas tree ornament.

We watched the Alabama game at Gnat’s Landing, and before entering the restaurant, the children posed for a picture on the bulldog standing outside for the 7th consecutive year.

Incidentally, here’s the picture from 2017:

And 2012:

After the game Saturday, we let the children enjoy the hotel pools, and we talked for a while to the parents of a little boy our son was playing games with, and one had just lost his father, and they talked about how they love to travel (one of them works for Delta, so it’s free!), but their local childcare for such trips was no longer viable, so I told them about our trips the past 3 years–particularly the international ones–and they seemed very amenable to taking their son (who’s 6) with them and start having adventures together like we’ve been able to do.  They seemed encouraged; one even walked up to me later to express his gratitude for giving them hope in this arena, which was enormously satisfying.  That evening, we were inexplicably treated to a fireworks show from just down the beach that we enjoyed from our balcony just before the children went to sleep.

Sunday morning, we headed up to Savannah, so that our boy could visit the Georgia State Railroad Museum–a place he’s read about in his Model Railroader Magazine since returning from our visits to RR museums in Kyoto and Denver last summer. When we took a guided tour of the steam and diesel engines, more than one participant (and eventually the guide herself) declared that my son was “gunnin’ for her job” because of his extensive knowledge of trains and willingness to answer ALL the questions our guide asked.

A very short walk away are the Savannah Children’s Museum (which is entirely outdoors–it’s basically an educational playground) and the Savannah History Museum, so we did those next, and then we walked to Husk for dinner, which was awesome.  On our way back to the Courtyard hotel, we went through Chippewa Square to where Forrest Gump sat on a bench to wait on the bus to take him to see Jenny while telling nearby strangers his life story.

Monday (Columbus Day), we headed back to Atlanta, where my bride and I saw Simple Minds at the Tabernacle that evening, and it was 2 sets of wonderful nostalgia.

We take this trip ever October, but I can’t remember the last time it coincided with Columbus Day weekend, meaning no need for the children to miss school Thursday and Friday, and we got an extra day on Monday (and no drill weekend for me)!  This was a wonderfully peaceful 5-day weekend that came at just the right time for us, and I’m very grateful for it.