2012-1128 FL Trip

We continue our trip to FL on 11/28/2012 and stop at the Walkabout RV Resort in Woodbine, GA. We visited the St Mary’s Sub Museum in St. Marys, GA on 11/30/2012. The Confederate Navy sunk the USS Housatonic off of Charleston, SC during the Civil War. The Confederate Submarine was raised recently and is now being restored in Charleston, SC. During WWII American submarines sank over 50% the of enemy ships, despite the fact that they were manned by less than 2% of our sailors. They paid the price for our freedom today. And today’s sub fleet is widely considered the most cost-effective leg of our strategic defense system. 4,100+ American submariners, and some riders, have paid the supreme price for our freedom today. Located in historic downtown St Mary’s Georgia, the museum is a great place to learn about the “Silent Service”. A wide variety of Submarine artifacts, memorabilia and information are available for viewing, and you can check out the beautiful St Marys waterfront thru a real periscope. We are a non-profit organization. The museum is located in a city owned building, built back in 1911, and is designated as a Historical Building, which is a nice place to show off history. The picture is of a SSN Control Room.

On 12/02/2012 we visited Tabby Sugar Mill in St. Mary, GA, Smallest Church USA in Townsend, GA, and Bulter Island Rice Plantation in Darien, GA. The ruins of a tabby sugar works built by John Houston McIntosh at New Canaan Plantation in 1825. In his sugar house McIntosh installed what was, according to Thomas Spalding, the first horizontal cane mill worked by cattle power. McIntosh, born in 1773 in what McIntosh County Georgia is now, settled in East Florida as a young man and became the leader of a group of American citizens who, during the War of 1812, plotted the annexation of East Florida to the United States. This plot crushed by the Spanish government, McIntosh removed to Georgia and acquired two plantations in Camden County, Marianna, where he built a home, and New Canaan, where he began the cultivation of sugar cane under the influence of Thomas Spalding, who had experimented in sugar production and seen the use of steam-propelled horizontal cane mills in Louisiana. After McIntosh’s death in 1836, New Canaan was sold to one Col. Hallowes, who changed the name of the plantation to Bollingbrook and lived there until after the Civil War. During the war, Hallowes planted cane and made sugar in the McIntosh sugar house. He also used the tabby sugar works as a starch factory, producing arrowroot starch in large quantities. Thomas Spalding was the great-grandson of John Mohr McIntosh. The picture is of Tabby Sugar Mill East Wall.

South Newport, Georgia: The still active Memory Park Christ Chapel is called the “Smallest Church in America.” Built in 1950, it measures 10 ft. x 15 ft., has space for 13 people, a shrimpy pulpit, pews and a stained-glass window with just enough space for Jesus. The picture is of the inside of the Church.

The picture is of Abigail and Cliff by the smallest Church in USA.

Near the coast, the fresh-water rivers, such as the Altamaha, are affected by the rise and fall of the tides from the Atlantic Ocean to about thirty miles inland. This setting made possible the utilization of the flushing effects of fresh and saltwater tides for systematic, irrigation purposes, which are necessary for the cultivation of rice. The great watershed of the Altamaha delta between Darien and Glenn County’s northern section made possible the development of prosperous rice plantations. The peak of the rice industry in McIntosh County was reached in the decade of the 1850s. The local plantations along the Altamaha River branches and Cathead Creek west of Darien, accounted for the bulk of the rice being exported from Georgia during the antebellum period. One of the largest plantations in the South was the Butler Island Plantation, located just south of Darien, across the Darien River on what is now US Highway 17. The story of the plantation is a fascinating one, beginning in the 1790s, when Major Pierce Butler planted the land on the Altamaha Delta, which provided perfect conditions for growing rice. In the year 1838 the major’s grandson, Captain Pierce Butler, who married the famous and beautiful British stage actress Fanny Kemble, arrived at the plantation for a six-month working visit. Kemble, who was not familiar with the reality of slavery, immediately became very opposed to the treatment of the slaves. She penned her feelings and eventually published the notes in a book called Journal of a Resident on a Georgia Plantation, which some say helped persuade the British to oppose slavery and the Civil War. The plantation site is now owned by The Nature Conservancy and the land (excluding the house) is open to the public for picnicking, fishing and birding. Sunsets can be dramatic, as the setting sun creates reflections of brilliant color in the Butler River. The fresh-water rivers, such as the Altamaha, are affected by the rise and fall of the tides from the Atlantic Ocean to about thirty miles inland. This setting made possible the utilization of the flushing effects of fresh and saltwater tides for systematic, irrigation purposes, which are necessary for the cultivation of rice. The picture is of a 75-foot brick chimney that was part of an 1850 steam-powered rice mill.

Safe Travels