Sapelo Island

January 16, 2013

 We anchored off of Sapelo Island at mile 649.5 on the Duplin River.  We liked this anchorage with a small creek off to the side which we would use to judge our movement  or more importantly our lack of movement.  Once we set the anchor, we don’t want to move so having a creek or other landmark on which to set a sight, helps significantly. 

We have arranged a tour on the island with one of the local tour guides.  Access to Sapelo is strictly limited.  One must have a local tour guide, live or work on the island, or arrive on a state park tour to access Sapelo. 

We used the dinghy this morning for the first time.  We had no problems getting the dinghy down and into the water and no problems  getting to the dock at Sapelo Island.  Our tour guide Argene Grovner met us at the dock.  Argene is a native of Sapelo.  Mr. Grovnor is a direct descendant of the slaves who were brought here to work.  Check out the website  Sapelo Island Tours to schedule a tour.

Mr. Adventure immediately discovered that he and Mr. Grovner had common friends as Steve had worked on the island in his younger days with the Department of Natural Resources. Our first stop was the Behavior Cemetery.  We drove along both paved and unpaved roads sheltered by huge trees draped in Spanish moss.  Mr. Grovner explained Geechee and Gullah culture to us as we toured the ruins of the plantation.  We stopped by Chocolate house.  Steve had stayed here on one of his trips to the island years ago. 

Aregene took us to Hog Hammock, the only residential community on the island.  We visited the grocery store, bar, general store called The Trough.  We got a snack here as well as a cookbook published by Argene’s   wife, Yvonne.  I discovered recipes for alligator stew and fried alligator.  There is even a section on how to catch an alligator–I don’t think I need these instructions,  but it’s good to know if I get a hankering for alligator stew.  The cookbook is full of recipes and local history and tradition. 

Aregene suggested we visit again on culture day in October–where there are many foods to taste and cultural wonders to experience. 

Matthew 11:28-30    Joshua1:5, 9