A-MA-ZING!

Wow, so much has happened I don’t even know where to begin. We’ve had some jam packed days exploring here in Georgia. Let’s start off with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center  Let me just say that this place was amazing! It was so awesome to visit the center and see all they are doing to help out the sea turtles. It’s easy to dismiss it as someplace where the turtles land on occasion, they feed them a few pellets and throw them back in the ocean. Nope, not this place.

We started out in the gift shop, which in and of itself, is a really cool place. They had so many different items to choose from to include t-shirts, jewelry, books, figurines and so much more. You can even purchase the stepping stones you see above. I got On Kiki’s Reef  by Carol L. Mainor for Nadia. If you know anyone who loves sea turtles, they’d be in heaven here. Once you enter the center, you start out with a card that says, “my sea turtle journey”. You go to five different stations and find out different things about your ‘sea turtle’ and then get the circle stamped with an imprint. AS your turtle goes on it’s journey, you find out where the nest was laid, what sex the turtle is, where it migrated, what lived on its shell and how old it lived to be.

You can see through the window into the treatment room. Here you can view what procedures are going on to a particular patient at any given time. Then there is the room where all the sea turtles hang out. It is filled with big huge tanks coupled with a bunch of individual tanks. This is where we had our ‘behind the scenes tour’ and it was worth it. The first thing we saw when we walked into the treatment room was a BIG sea turtle named ‘Hippo’. Hippo weighed nearly 100 pounds and was a pretty sick turtle when it was found. It was amazing to see that big of a sea turtle up close, absolutely amazing.

Hippo

We found out how they treat lacerated shells, the dangers sea turtles face, what the center does to help them and so much more. There is SO much that goes into caring for these injured turtles. They have equipment they attach onto the shells of injured turtles to help them heal, specially formulated material that is placed on damaged shells to keep them from getting infections, special props for the scales and on and on. The treatment room is just like a hospital with x-ray machines, iv lines, treatment tables and crash carts.

Then there is the commissary, where all the food is prepared. Holy moly do they specialize their diet. When we entered, there was an assistant cutting and filleting fish, cutting up squid and doing all the food prep for the following day. Every turtle is in a different stage in the diet plan. There is a master chart with each turtles name on it. Some are getting fish,  some squid, some dog food and vitamins, some a special seaweed formulation they make onsite and on and on. Okay, say it with me, a-ma-zing! They really do a lot of care for these turtles.

baby turtles

The tanks are emptied and sanitized after each turtle and most are drained and refilled on a weekly basis. Can you imagine? Look at the size of some of those tanks! There are special holding tanks for the babies that hatch there. Can we say CUTE! How cute are these little guys?! Did you know that not all sea turtles are actually from the sea? Some live in lakes and rivers, such as the Alligator Snapping Turtles. We raised two of these until they started attacking each other. Then we found them a good home at a local bug/reptile viewing center.

some of the holding tanks at the turtle center

And sadly, most of the danger that comes to sea turtles is inflicted by humans. They often get injured by motorboats or hit by cars while crossing the road. Of course, there are instances such as Hippo, where they wash up on shore because they’ve gotten too cold which weakens their immune system and causes secondary conditions such as pneumonia, infections, etc. If you ever find an injured sea turtle, never approach them. Instead call 800-2-save-me. Did you know you can help out sea turtles by adopting one of their patients? This is truly an amazing place and the volunteers have a huge heart. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area.

sea turtle replica made from trash found in the ocean

Now let me just say, Jekyll Island is very, very neat. I attempted to reserve a campsite here but there wasn’t available space. After visiting Jekyll Island, I now know why. And I’m even more bummed we didn’t get a campsite here. It’s a quaint little place that reminds me of Hilton Head Island but on a much smaller scale. You can bike around the town, stop off at the sweet shop or visit the book store. There’s also interesting history to be found here. There was an old cemetery with some very old school language on the marble vault topper.

One of the things I cannot get enough of is the beautiful lacy looking moss hanging down from the trees. I’ve seen it before when I visited Louisiana and South Carolina but it still charms me every time I see it. I could sit for hours under one of these big gorgeous trees and never tire of looking at it.

Look at the amazing blue sky we were gifted with in the next picture. We had a wonderful, spring like day while we were exploring the island.

And the salt marshes, let me just say beautiful. There are miles and miles of gorgeous salt marshes all over the place. I’ve never seen anything like it. It literally takes my breath away. An amazing eco-system where if just one thing goes out of balance, the whole thing comes crashing down.

I

I would definitely like to come back to Jekyll Island before we leave on Monday but there’s so little time. I will be making a trip back to this place and making sure I get a spot at the Jekyll Island Campground next time. Part two of our Georgia adventure includes thieves at our campsite!

The beautiful end to our day

{HUGS} from the crew!

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Current Location = Blythe Island Regional Park, 6616 Blythe Island Hwy,
Brunswick, GA  31523

Cost = $36.63/day. This includes cable, internet, and full hook-ups.

My Observations = This campground gives me the feel of a real camping experience. In fact, the first thing I noticed was they were offering fire wood for sale. I took them up on the offer and had some delivered. This is entirely RV based. Our site was a nice, big pull thru. The electricity works fine and we have full hook-ups.

Some of the amenities include:

• swimming lake with beach
• laundry facility
• hiking trails
• boat launch
• bath houses
• 2 fishing lakes