Saint George Island

St. George Island State Park is a lovely, enchanting place. The sands are the fabled powder sugar type: white, soft and inviting. The surf is gentle and has the occasional dolphin passing through for a fish meal that can't be beat. The sea oats seem to tickle the sky, the fluffy cumulus clouds hang lazily in the hot, summer air. The sun seems to make everything sparkle and shine. Life is good here. I have had the honor of making good friends with the towhees here. I am able to converse with them using my iPod touch...yes, I have an app for that. I had three of them around me this evening all calling back to my calls. One straggled behind and came very close to me, so I threw him a handful of sunflower seeds. He was very grateful for that. I have a friend for life. If you're a birder (and really, if you're not, you should be. They are amazing creatures for heaven's sake!) there are more here than you can shake a stick at (but please don't shake sticks at birds, I don't think they like it!) I've had the pleasure of seeing avocets, tricolor herons, great blue herons, cattle egret, little blue herons, laughing gulls, pelicans, cardinals, towhees, mocking birds, grackles (I don't like them... they remind me of loud, rude families from NJ), bobwhite, red wing black birds, whip o wills, brown headed cowbirds (another nasty..parasitic birds)...I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but really, if you're a birder put this on your list of must see places. It is truly amazing. The smell of the salt air, the lull of island time, the peaceful serenity is all total perfection. HOWEVER! When you come, come well stocked; for the "grocery stores" are well, not desirable. I saw, in one, a watermelon ACTIVELY rotting...by that I mean, there was a tiny split in it and you could see ooze and bubbles coming from it at a rather increased rate of seepage. I fully expected to hear it explode. The meat in the same store looked like they ransacked the dumpster of the other store and were selling it as "new" when it clearly had been spoiled for some time now. The other store had a lovely meat counter, and not much else. We scavenged a few items we needed and headed home. If that wasn't bad enough, the cost of the groceries was disgusting to say the least. We spent 53 dollars and got hamburger, pork chops, 12 individual bottled waters, 2 cans of cat food, a jar of pickles, a half gallon of milk, a dozen eggs, a can of hash, and a jar of applesauce. At any regualr grocery store, that would NEVER have added up to 53 bucks. Come well stocked. We would have, but our refrigerator is still on the blink. Good news, we have yet another appointment to meet up with another guy in three days time. This time, we've switched out Bobby Ray with Dr. RV. Dr. RV works with NORCOLD brand refrigerators...at the moment we have a NO COLD brand fridge. We're hoping to pick up the missing "R" along the trip and return it to it's former NORCOLD working glory. I want my food cold and I want it kept cold. This time, we think we know what the problem is. I'm still not at a place with a strong internet connection, so the photos will have to wait until we are at maximum internet capacity. Until then, may your summer be filled with balmy breezes, refreshing moments and the love of friends and family. Tomorrow we are onward to St. Joseph's Peninsula. Vacations like like this are bittersweet. Sad to see one place go, joyful to see what lies next. Until then!