The Rest of the Week

Thursday was a day of rest for us, sort of, just sticking close to the RV, handling "household" chores, and Russ working on the taxes. But Scott went out adventuring and checking out some of the nearby small towns and countryside. When he returned, he came by for a visit, and offered to take us to dinner at a local Japanese steakhouse. He's been hankerin' for a steak for at least a week, and had actually found three Japanese steakhouses in the area on his travels and online.

So that evening we headed towards a place called Fuji Steakhouse in nearby Kingsland. There was only 1 car in the lot, and it had a drive thru, but we thought what the heck and decided to check it out. Imagine walking into McDonald's but instead of walking up to the counter to order burger and fries off the overhead menu, you could order Japanese menu items. Actually I didn't look that closely at the overhead menu cause I knew right away this was definitely not what Scott had in mind. Russ and Scott didn't even look at the menu; we just turned around and walked out deciding to try restaurant #2, which wasn't far down the road. We had seen the sign for it on the shopping center marquee as we passed, but didn't know until we arrived that it was no longer in business!

Certainly the third time had to be a charm, and so we drove to Osaka Japanese Steakhouse. At last! Not only were they open, but it appeared to be a regular restaurant! It's actually a teppanyaki style steakhouse with a sushi bar in the front. There are about 6 dining tables each seating 8 people with the grill in the middle. Our chef was quite entertaining, especially when he performed the "volcano" with onion rings and oil (see photo at right). The meal was fabulous, and though Scott still didn't get his "traditional" steak, he said the filet mignon he got as his main ingredient was quite tasty. We'll get that steak one of these days!

Friday we drove to the town of St. Marys, which is the jumping off point for the Cumberland Island National Seashore, which is run by the National Park Service (http://www.nps.gov/cuis/). After researching it online, we had decided we wouldn't be visiting the island. A 45 minute ferry ride is required to get to it, and once there, it's all foot transportation. The thought of all that walking to look at birds, wild horses, seashells, and the ruins didn't really appeal to the guys. The Island is 17.5 miles long with about half of that being marshland. There is absolutely no services whatsoever on the Island, so you need to be sure to carry water, food, insect repellent, sunscreen, and anything else you might need for your visit. Overnight camping is available and we saw some ambitious folks coming off the ferry carrying a ton of stuff they had needed! Russ said he wouldn't mind camping over there if he was sure someone would have the campsite set up already when he arrived!
So we drove around the quaint little historical coastal town of St. Marys. Huge old oak trees abound throughout the town, especially in the Oak Grove Cemetery, where the earliest marked grave is from 1801. We read that a soldier from every War is buried in this cemetery. It is a virtual a "who's who" of Camden County settlers, and is divided into three main sections: the old white section, the old black section, and towards the back the "new" section.

There are quite a few bed and breakfasts in St. Marys but not a lot of other places to really see. The main attraction is the river and the Island. We stopped at the Cumberland Island Visitors Center, looking around their gift shop, and viewing some of the displays of the history, artifacts, and life on the Island. Next to the Visitors Center is the Howard Gilman Memorial Park, a beautiful waterfront park with old-fashioned swings to sit and watch the shrimp boats come and go or simply see a spectacular sunset. The wall surrounding the park has thousands of shells embedded into the concrete. From here we walked across the street to the Riverside Cafe for a leisurely lunch, sitting on the balcony with a clear view of the river and incoming ferry boat. Quite a pleasant and relaxing day.

Scott had told us that he likes to catch local theater productions, and as it so happens, the Camden County High School was putting on To Kill A Mockingbird on Saturday night according to a flyer we had seen at the campground. Scott invited us to go along, but that's not really Russ' cup of tea, and he opted to stay home, but I went along. When we arrived at the school, there weren't any flyers or notices for To Kill A Mockingbird but all kinds for something called Cotton Patch Gospel, and there were programs on the front table with the same title. We found someone to ask, and it turns out Mockingbird was last month's production! This month's was Cotton Patch Gospel, a modern-day musical telling of the birth and life of Jesus in the state of Georgia. Okaaayy.....this should be interesting. The high school campus looks fairly new and is quite nice with a huge theater style auditorium and up-to-date sound system, wireless mikes and all. Nothing like when I was in high school! The theater director's son was the sound technician, and I think he needed a few more rehearsals. He kept turning the mikes on after the individual performer had started singing their solo so you'd miss the first part. At times it was hard to understand what they were saying or singing but that was due mainly to the exaggerated accents of some for their characters. All in all it was an interesting telling of the story, funny in spots, a lot of local Georgia references, and I do have to keep in mind that it was a high school production. But there was one song that I'm hoping the kid ("Joe" - as in Joseph) was just having an off night cause he was so off-key in his duet with "Mary" that it eventually got her off-key! It almost made listening to it painful!

Tomorrow we head to our next campground driving about 25 miles north to Brunswick, GA, which boasts the second largest concentration of documented historic structures in Georgia. So stay tuned!