If you are traveling along I-95 through Georgia and want to take a break The Smallest Church in America is worth the short drive off the interstate. The church is located on the side of the road on US Highway 17 in Townsend, Georgia. There are two picnic tables under the oaks if you want to eat lunch or just relax for a few minutes.
An arsonist burned this church in November, 2015. Volunteers rebuilt the church in 2016.
Directions: Take I-95 exit 67, about one mile south on US Hwy 17. Look for a white sign on the left (east) side, “Smallest Church in America”. You can also search Google Maps for “Smallest Church in America”.
Anne’s challenge is Time to Relax. For this challenge she is looking back to the challenge from July of 2018. She asks us “But what relaxes you? What gets you away from the stresses of daily life. What’s your passion?”
This challenge couldn’t come at a better time. I haven’t been able to travel or go on photo excursions for several months due to health issues. My husband and I were badly in need of a break. We finally were able to go for a short two day getaway this week The beach is my happy place and being by the ocean is my favorite place to relax so we chose Jekyll Island for our destination.
Jekyll Island became a Georgia State Park in 1947. The island is managed by the Jekyll Island Authority. Most of the island is undeveloped to preserve the natural beauty of the maritime forests. There are 24 miles of bike trails, miles of beach with several parking lots and picnic areas, a beautiful National Historic Landmark District, wildlife, hotels and restaurants, and a golf course.
We like to stay off interstates so we took a leisurely drive south to Jekyll Island on the Coastal Highway, also known as US Highway 17. Our goal for the trip was to kick back, relax and not have an agenda. We succeeded!
We stopped for a lunch of wild caught Georgia Shrimp at Skippers in Darien. I had to take some photos of diamond back terrapins in a pond just outside the restaurant.
Diamond Back Terrapins in Darien, Georgia
Our room had a balcony overlooking the pool and maritime forest. Beyond the trees is the Atlantic Ocean, Other guests were relaxing by the pool while we were relaxing on our balcony.
The hotel pool was a great place for guests to relax
I enjoyed seeing the ocean and hearing the waves when we walked out on a walkway too the beach. There were only a few others relaxing on the beach on this warm, sunny March day.
I couldn’t resist capturing this guy chill-axing at the beach.This cardinal was easy to spot in the tree.
The next day we visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, the only turtle education and rehabilitation facility in Georgia.
Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll IslandThe beaches on Jekyll Island are a great place for a relaxing family vacation.
Thank you to everyone who shared you memorable journeys for Ann-Christine’s challenge Journey in 5 to 10 images.
Many thanks to Anne for this week’s challenge. If you would like to join the challenge please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to Anne’s post Lens-Artists #389: Time to Relax.
Be sure to check back on Saturday, March 21 at noon eastern time when Egidio will be hosting the challenge
Ann-Christine’s challenge is to choose a short or long trip we have taken and post about it with a maximum of 10 images. She asks “What were the highlights, what are the memories that will stay with me forever? Maybe the big surprises? The animals, the people, the culture, the landscapes? This week it will be interesting to see how you choose to present a short or long trip (maximum 10 images), what will be your main points and why?”
I could have chosen one of my two favorite adventures: our RV trip to Alaska in 2013 or our trip to Ireland and Scotland in 2019. I’ve posted about them many times so instead, I am featuring our 2005 trip to New England and Canada. We spent time with family, visited coastal towns, saw lighthouses, visited a National Park, ate lobster rolls, lobster pie, lobster stew, blueberry pie, and so much more. We were traveling during the mud season and many places were closed. On some days the weather was cold, rainy, and foggy but we loved every minute.
Our daughter, son-in-law and 14 month old grandson spent several winter months in coastal Maine twenty-one years ago when our son-in-law had to be there for work. Henry and I had never been to New England before so we planned a trip to see them in early spring of 2005,
We flew to Portland, Maine, picked up a rental car and drove to their home in a nearby coastal town. There was snow on the ground when we arrived just two days before Easter.
I will always have fond memories of being with our grandson while we were there. We had fun with him when he had his first Easter Egg hunt. He was all bundled up as he searched for eggs in the snow. I have fond memories of going with him to a working dairy farm on Maine Maple Sunday where he liked the baby farm animals in a petting zoo. When we took him to see some lighthouses he was more interested in jumping in the puddles.
I also have fond memories of all of the the quaint coastal towns we visited. We enjoyed walking along the waterfront in the towns of Gloucester and Rockport in Massaschusetts. I enjoyed seeing the fishing and lobster boats in the harbors.
I loved seeing the rugged coastlines and the lighthouses.
Portland Head Lighthouse, Portland, Maine
A few days after we arrived Henry and I left our daughter’s house and headed up the coast in our rental car. After spending some time and money at the L.L. Bean store we drove across the Cribstone bridge to Bailey’s Island for some lobster rolls and blueberry pie. We continued our drive up the coast and spent the night at the Inn at Bath, Maine.
Cribstone Bridge connecting Bailey’s Island and Orrs Island
Our next stop was Bar Harbor where we spent three nights. We had Acadia National Park almost all to ourselves. Most of the roads were closed so we stopped at the first parking lot at Sand Beach where we walked down the beach and then along the Ocean Trail. We enjoyed the magnificent views as we hiked in the misty rain and sleet. The next day we drove to the southern tip of Mt. Desert Island to see the Bass Harbor Head Light. We ventured out in the cold and rain to hike down some stairs for a closer look at the lighthouse.
Acadia National Park
Another highlight of the trip was traveling to the easternmost tip of the United States to see the West Quaddy Light. Next we drove into Canada to see Campobello Island in New Brunswick and returned to Maine a few hours later to spend the night in Calais, Maine.
West Quaddy Light at Easternmost Point in the United States.
We drove west from the Maine Coast and drove north on a road in the middle of timber farms with many tall spruce trees. We spotted a huge moose in the middle of the road far ahead of us. We visited another geographic place of interest when we stopped in Kent, Maine for a photo opp at the end of U.S. 1. We have been to the other end of the highway in Key West, Florida many times. After taking photos we crossed the Canadian border into Quebec and spent the night in Riviere-de-Loup, Quebec.
End of U.S 1 in Kent Maine – the other end is in Key West, Florida
The sun came out for first time in days as our journey continued west to Quebec City where we stayed in Le Chateau Frontenac. The hotel is built on top of a cliff and looks like an old castle but it was built as a hotel in 1893. We wandered around the city on the narrow streets. Most of the buildings were very old.
Looking up at Le Chateau Frontenac (with the green roof)
We crossed the border back into the states and traveled through part of Vermont. We spent a night in Franconia, New Hampshire where we had a view of the White Mountains.
As we traveled through New Hampshire we stopped to photograph a covered bridge in Bath, N.H. and shopped in a couple of country stores. The views were spectacular as we drove along the scenic Kancamagus Highway through the White Mountains. We stopped to take a hike in the snow to see Sabbaday Falls. and had views of Mt. Washington from an overlook before stopping for the night in Gorham, N.H.
Frozen Sabbaday Falls, New Hampshire
We finished our journey with a couple of nights at our daughter’s house where took one last walk along the beach.
Biddeford Pool, Maine
The trip was filled with family time, exploring new places, and meeting friendly locals. The memories will stay with me always.
Thank you to everyone who participated in John’s challenge Shadowed. Your responses were great.
Many thanks to Ann-Christine for this week’s challenge. If you would like to join the challenge please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to Patti’s post Lens-Artists #388: Your Journey in 5 to 10 Images.
Be sure to check back on Saturday, March 14 at noon eastern time when Anne will be hosting the challenge.
Sophia has challenged us to “Look back at things you love(d) in your life, things that have happened, places you visited that you’d like to experience again. Anything, really, as long as it’s part of your treasured memories.” I had fun going through boxes of old photos for this challenge. I found too many to include so I decided to focus on some “firsts” from my travels.
I inherited the travel bug from my father. He was a career U.S. Air Force officer whose job required moving quite often. Every summer we spent our summer vacations traveling to visit grandparents in two different states.
My first big trip that didn’t revolve around visiting grandparents was in the summer of 1959 when I was eight years old. As we traveled from the East Coast to California we passed through many different landscapes and explored several National Parks. Here I am with my Mom and my brothers at Yellowstone Lake.
My first big trip with my husband and children was when the kids were 13 and 9. We saw many fantastic places as we traveled to and from the south rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. A hike on the Bright Angel Trail was the highlight of our Grand Canyon adventure.
I was 16 years old the first time I flew in an airplane. We flew from New York to Rome on our way to My Dad’s next assignment at a small base near Brindisi, Italy. We traveled to many places around Europe during the two years Dad was stationed there. This image is of the Trevi Fountain in Rome.
Wandering Dawgs took our first RV trip in 2006 in our brand new fifth wheel. We found beauty every where we went as we traveled west to explore many of the western National Parks.
Our first trip to Alaska was by RV in 2013. We traveled from Georgia to Alaska and back, spending almost two months wandering in the Last Frontier.
Our first ocean cruise was in 2022 when we sailed to 9 different islands in the Caribbean. This image is of a beach in the U.S Virgin Islands.
Wandering Dawgs 