Wednesday, 4 February 2026: Our original plans had us heading to west Georgia for a week before turning north, but the weather has settled in at this latitude. So, we nudged a little farther south and found a new spot to call home for a bit. About two hours south of Yemassee, we landed at Legacy RV Resort in Darien, Georgia. With highs in the 70s forecast for the next couple of weeks, it felt like the perfect chance to explore some unchartered territory.
We arrived midday and had one of the easiest setups yet. The sites are spacious, with very level 45-foot concrete pads and picnic tables. We’re officially in sand country now, which—surprisingly—makes far less of a mess than the mulch we dealt with in Yemassee. Savannah is about the same drive from here, while Jekyll Island and Brunswick are just around the corner. Plenty of exploring ahead.
Our first outing took us into downtown Darien. It doesn’t take long to notice markers of the town’s historical importance—plaques and displays seem to pop up near every landmark. As the second-oldest planned city in Georgia (Savannah being the first), Darien wears its history proudly. While many original structures have been lost to wars, weather, and time, our first stop was right on the water at Darien River Waterfront Park & Docks.
The town has created a small walking area that hosts many local events. It’s hard to imagine now, but Waterfront Park was once the site of the busiest port on the Southeast coast. In the 19th century, ships regularly entered the Port of Darien carrying lumber—mostly yellow pine—destined for Europe.
Just around the corner, we discovered The Local Exchange, a modern-day general store filled with local goodness. Fresh-baked bread, produce, honey, jams, jellies, and handcrafted items from local artisans—it’s the kind of place you wish every small town had.
Dinner came next at River’s Edge. After a day of travel, walking, and browsing, the timing was perfect. We had already parked in their lot to explore the area, so popping in felt natural. The menu leans pub-style, with a relaxed bar and patio. It was a bit too cool to sit outside, but the vibe inside was just right. Fresh salads, fried pickles, a grilled chicken sandwich, and sweet potato fries hit the spot. We were too hungry to snap a photo, but the meal didn’t disappoint.
Back at camp, the evening wrapped up with some SoCon basketball—ETSU vs. Furman, battling for a mid-season claim to first place. ETSU trailed most of the game but pulled it out in overtime. A pretty great way to end the day!
Thursday, 5 February 2026: We started the day with a journey north to Midway, Georgia, and a visit to the Midway Colonial Museum. The museum is a reproduction of an 18th-century raised plantation home, furnished with authentic period pieces and artifacts that bring the era to life. The original structures were lost when the entire area was burned and destroyed during wars of the past, making this reconstruction especially meaningful.
We were fortunate to have a guide who truly knew her stuff. Her knowledge added depth to the experience and helped connect the rooms, furnishings, and stories to the people who once lived here. Founded in 1754, Midway was among the most fervent supporters of U.S. independence, a fact that echoed throughout the tour and gave the visit a strong sense of historical significance.
Time for lunch, and our guide recommended Melody’s Costal Cafe. Another good meal, but it was too much food. We have a hard time finding a light lunch.
On the way up, we kept seeing signs for Georgia Peach World. On our way back, we had to stop and check it out. I was expecting a huge store and maybe a peach museum. We found this little shop, but it was filled with everything peach. We left with some pecan pie. 🙂 The day was windy and cool. Even the Helmeted Guineafowl was trying to stay warm.
Since the weather was cool and since lunch had filled us up, we decided to put the rest of the day on hold and stopped at the campground since we were passing by. A nap was calling, and a long one caused us to miss Bingo. We will try again Tuesday. In for the night and out of the wind.
Friday, 6 February 2026: The workday morning was very long. At lunch, Kevin made the mistake of mentioning the flow of calls coming in, and that afternoon did not disappoint. The evening finally came, and we had plans for Friday night dinner with Patrick and Jeany. We met at Chile Peppers Island Cantina. A great local Tex-Mex place on St. Simons Island, GA. We all ordered a good mix of food; street tacos, Milanesa chicken, fajitas, and steak. The food was fresh and delicious. The catching up was even better.
After dinner, we headed to the St. Simons Island Pier. A very cool and windy night made the visit on the pier short, but we will be back.
We walked the Pier Village, passing a variety of local shops that were mostly closed. We did attempt to purchase some candy at one of the few shops that was open, St. Simons Sweets. We were not successful since the group in front of us were too busy tying up the only register, playing on their phones and retrieving more items from the store while the line just kept backing up.
Saturday, 7 February 2026: The day had two good basketball games on the schedule, so we headed to town to gather some supplies at Sam’s Club, Hobby Lobby, and of course The Walmart that morning. For lunch, we found Ole Times Country Buffet, which we had seen several times on journeys elsewhere. It reminded us of a privately owned Golden Corral. Food was good and a quick stop for lunch.
After lunch, we headed back to camp to watch ETSU take on VMI. Bucs for the win 87-70, still in first place in the SoCon.
We were told about a place just around the corner that we would check out for dinner. Kevin was craving a salad bar with a baked potato, so we headed to B&J Steak and Seafood. The place was packed and, after a short wait, we were seated. The menu was full of a decent variety of foods. Since we are not big seafood eaters, we skipped the all seafood buffet for $42.95. We also passed on the ribeye and prime rib, also $42.95. Good thing we wanted something not too big! Salad and potato for Kevin, spaghetti for Beth. We had leftovers of spaghetti for sure.
After dinner, it was time for some Vol ball. Vols vs Kentucky. Full from the meal, we made it to half time with the Vols in the lead. We had also watched the UNC Duke game that evening. Like Duke, the Vols led most of the game. And like Duke, they lost in the very end. Very good games for sure.
Sunday, 8 February 2026: We decided to visit a couple of indoor locations today, both part of the Georgia State Park system. We didn’t realize until we arrived at Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation that it was Super Museum Sunday — a free admission day for all Georgia state parks.
This family plantation was built in the 1800s and operated as a rice plantation for many years before transitioning to a dairy farm in 1915. The heirs maintained the property until the last surviving heir, Ophelia Dent, died in 1973. Miss Dent left the plantation to the state park system for preservation. It truly feels as though nothing was removed. One of the bathrooms still contains a partially used tube of Pepsodent toothpaste — now hardened like a rock — a small detail that makes the history feel frozen in time.
For lunch, we headed to Sweet Tee’s Southern Cooking. They are only open on Sundays 11-2:30 p.m., so timing matters. When we walked in and saw the line, it reminded us of Goolsby’s in Augusta last year. The menu board says it best: “Not all you can eat, but more than you can eat!” They offer a huge selection of Southern favorites. If you go, ask for a to-go box from the start — you won’t finish it. Named after the owner, “T,” who was serving that day, the tea was truly old-school Southern sweet. Next Sunday, we will try to arrive earlier; they had already run out of a few items, including sweet potato soufflé. Beth got yams instead. If the yams are that good, we cannot imagine what the soufflé will be like!
Next stop was Ft King George in Darien, another Georgia State Park participating in the no-fee day. Ft King George is the oldest remaining English fort on Georgia’s coast and was the first English fortification in what is now Georgia. From 1721 to 1727, it served as the southernmost outpost of the British Empire in North America.
We needed to run an errand back in Brunswick, but since we were nearby — and thirsty — we made a stop at Buc-ee’s. Fudge and cookie dough bites were also deemed necessary to hold us over until dinner.
Monday, 9 February 2026: We planned to spend the day exploring the downtown areas of Darien and Brunswick. We quickly discovered that Monday is not the best day for that, as many places were closed.
Instead, we headed to the Golden Isles Welcome Center on I-95. Since they were not busy, we had the full attention of the woman at the desk. She knew her stuff, and our entire day shifted because of her suggestions.
We then drove to St. Simons Island and stopped at the welcome center there, where we learned even more about how to spend the day — including Tree Spirit hunting and a list of fourteen recommended stops.
While discussing dining options, the gentleman at the welcome center shared insight into island life. About 17,000 full-time residents live on St. Simons. There are many shops and restaurants from which to choose, and locals tend to stay on the island as much as possible. Businesses must meet the standards of the residents. If they don’t, locals simply stop supporting them, and they are eventually replaced. His advice was simple: eat anywhere — it will be very good because it has to be.
Since it was lunchtime, we chose Barbara Jean’s just around the corner. The menu offered a wide variety of Southern dishes, along with seafood options. Kevin ordered the meatloaf with sides, and Beth chose soup and sides. If this restaurant represents “the standard,” we are looking forward to many more island meals. The food was excellent, beautifully presented, the service exceptional, and the price did not reflect the level of effort. A great choice.
We walked off lunch by browsing a variety of village shops, each a little different from the next. We found something in every one of them. Again, pricing reflected businesses supported by locals, simply extending their offerings to visitors. Stops included Frederica Station, Beach Bum, Southeast Outfitters, and Simons Home and Gift.
We eventually made our way back to the St. Simons Pier and stopped at Zuzu’s for a refreshing Diet Coke before continuing our walk.
A waterfront stroll circled us back to the car and wrapped up this part of the day’s adventure. Clear skies, warm sunshine, and a cool breeze — a perfect day to be outside enjoying a wonderful community park.
While we were in the welcome center on St Simons Island, we were provided information about a local scavenger hunt type activity. They have various trees around the island that have carvings on them. Some are faces only and some are full figures. We went exploring and found them all, even a couple that were on private property.
A very good day being out and about. Headed back to camp for some leftovers for dinner.
Tuesday, 10 February 2026: The weather today was even better than yesterday. Our plan was to walk some of the trails and visit outdoor locations. First stop was Correll Trail, the northern most part of the island for us to visit today. We found a great wooded trail leading back to the marsh.
Next up was Frederica Park – a great park with a sports complex and playground. We took advantage of the botanical trail as well. Well put-together park in the heart of the residential area on the island.
Time for some lunch! We were excited to try another restaurant on the island to see for ourselves that the ones operating “meet the standard”. Cafe Frederica did not let us down. A simple meal but it was all fresh with their own spin on each side. Garlic fried home fries and pasta salad with fresh broccoli and cauliflower prices. Perfect lunch!
Next stop, Historical Harrington School. Very small exhibit with a big message. The school was abandoned in the 1950’s. The community revived the spot with an effort on educating visitors about the heritage and culture. Our guide, Sheree (she’s awesome!), knew her stuff and provided a great insight into the history of the facility and the mission of the center. Before we left, Beth tried to make friends with a couple of lizards in the library. We had commented on the Correll Trail that we had not seen many to be so near the marsh.
Our last stop of the day would be The Ft Frederica National Monument. Like most National Park facilities, this one was very well maintained and full of information. We spent longer than expected but again, we were outside!!!
One final event on the slate to end a great Tuesday, bingo night at the campground. This bingo was new to us, but we enjoyed the time. We each won one hand and lost half our money, oh well!!
Killed! The next two days are work days. Maybe we will get some rest. 🙂
Friday, 13 February 2026: We attended the living history event at Fort King George along with about 200 elementary kids. We were greeted by Sue outside the gift shop, which was full of children looking for souvenirs. She kindly allowed us to pay on our way out and let us into the event. While walking through the gate, we passed a lady who questioned about my ETSU sweatshirt. Turns out she went to ETSU and is from the Johnson City area. Pretty neat to run into folks when fairly far away. We thought the event would have vendors and tradesmen on site offering items for sale, but the event was more educational in nature. Still a good stop for the morning.
Next, we walked the shops in downtown Darien, finding a few items along the way before heading to lunch.
Lunch , or I should say brunch, was at The Shanty Cafe in Darien. Avocado toast for Beth and a breakfast BLT for Kevin. We also shared some kettle chips that we found were from New Bern, NC.
We also stopped back in the Local Exchange to refresh our supply of crackers and bread.
After lunch, we headed to historic Brunswick. We found a street lined with various shops, services, and restaurants. Grace Graffiti was one of our favorites. Gift and items that promote creativity.
To complete our walk, we stopped in Vampire Penguin for some “shaved snow”. This is a must try and a very good, but light, treat. With so many options to choose from, we may have to return.
Heading back toward camp, we stopped at a local farm, Farm 99, to which many folks have referred us. We found a full line up of fresh vegetables, meats, honey, fruits, and bread. Cannot wait to enjoy these treats.
Saturday, 14 February 2026: Second Saturday’s in Darien bring a street festival each month. We did not have many plans for the day, and we added this last minute. On the main street, one block, in Darien, we found several local artists, craft makers, and various other vendors. We also were introduced to a “new to us” medium for bags and wallets – cork.
We had not been up the road past the campground and were curious. Since we had about 45 minutes to kill, we drove that way to see what was there. Just past the campground, we found a governmental complex that we could see from our site. The signs on the road said the town of Cox was ahead. We drove for many miles and saw nothing but land for miles. Even the cell signal went away so the maps stopped updating. Eventually we found it, the end of the road, well the end of the pavement anyway. No problem. There were a couple of roads near the end. We took one toward Townsend and made our way back to camp. We never did locate the area known as Cox.
Back at camp and time for a Legacy RV sponsored Valentine’s Day Brunch. About 40 campers gathered in the hall area for some snacks, games, and socialization. So many that they had to open the garage door and expand the event to the outside. During the social, we sat with a couple from Oak Island, NC, Joel and Angela. Joel opened the conversation with the question, “Where are y’all from?” We answered and he commented that these events were a lot like speed dating, Where you from, where are you going, how long, what type of RV, any problems, and so on. He was right. That is the normal course of campground conversation. They too were TT members and had been to GMP. Like most travelers through the park, they had a problem story, and we listened with a great interest, thinking back to our many stories.
We would learn more about the couple later in the evening when they stopped by our site. Very neat couple living their own dream. We may see more of them in the future, and they even stopped by on their way out Sunday morning.
Patrick and Jeany stopped by since they were in the area. All in all, it was a very good day that went well into the evening.
For dinner, we got take out from Fox’s Pizza in Darien. Italian subs and garlic knots. Very good meal and leftovers to boot.
Our plan for the day had been to watch a couple of basketball games and just hang out. Joel and Angela stopped by, and we spent some time discussing a variety of things from life to camping. They have some great stories. Soon, we may all be able to keep up with them on a YouTube channel. We will keep you posted. We will always welcome the visits and can catch up on the games later. ETSU with a hard fight lost to Samford, Vols for the win over LSU.
Sunday, 15 February 2026: We had no plans for the day, a day of rest is good. We knew the weather was supposed to be rainy and planned to hang out around camp.
Joel and Angela swung by on their way out. They were heading north and were going to be dealing with the rain as well. Rain is not the worst issue to have to deal with during travel and setup, but it can be a challenge. Nice Class B; we love the color scheme. 🙂
With the temperature getting up to 74 degrees, we went for a walk around the park, exploring all the roads, looking at everyone’s setups, and enjoying the time outside. About 1pm, we got the notifications we were expecting from all the weather apps. We would be under a tornado watch until 8pm. Expecting the heavy rains to start at 4pm, we secured our site and covered the shelter to keep dry.
Lazy day for sure. We watched the start of the Daytona 500. There is plenty of competition, but racing is not what it was. One thing about a race today, makes for some good napping.
Monday and Tuesday were work days again and time to rest and reset. Monday night, we got taco salad and taco fries from Fox’s Pizza. The day was long and hard, so by the time we were eating, there was no time for photos, but this meal will be had again soon. Very good choice for dinner.
Tuesday night, we headed to Brunswick to dinner at Toucan’s Ale House. Not sure what we wanted and waiting until we, or at least Kevin, was almost hangry, this is where we landed. Kevin likes a pub style restaurant, and the menus usually offer a good variety of foods. This one was no exception. The night’s special was steak tenderloin medallions with two sides. That was the choice for both of us. What was delivered to our table was a huge tenderloin cooked to perfection. One of the best steaks we have had in a while.
Wednesday, 18 February 2026: The weather was going to be great today, and we wanted to walk some trails and explore a couple of new towns. On the way, we would be near Dawson’s General Store in Hinesville, GA. We thought the store was an old soul, and the pictures show an old white general store. We found a huge red, est 1991, store instead. We were skeptical but headed on in to find a typical small town hardware store. Off to the right was a huge fishing and gun sales area, in the back live bunnies, chicks, and more. Tucked into one side of the store, we found a little gift and foods section. Not what we expected, but a neat stop.
As we were inquiring about checking out, the clerk said we could check out up front or back in the boutique. We hadn’t seen a boutique so Beth followed her point and found a huge downstairs boutique for ladies and a huge upstairs for men. This is certainly different than what we expected. Kind of like Walmart, we left $200 there for them to use as they see fit.
We decided we would hit our first park before lunch. Main Street Park & Walking Trail was right in downtown. Near the courthouse, police station, city hall, and other public services. The parking lot was empty with the exceptions of a few homeless wandering the lot and sitting on the park benches. We decided we were in fact hungry and had lunch before visiting a few shops and hitting the big trail to end the day.
Most of the shops were closed or moved. We were wasting our day and were kind of bummed out that it had not gone as planned. We had visited a new place and now we know it is not necessarily a place we may visit again. We were content in knowing that now and decided to head back toward camp to walk the campground and maybe, just maybe, get in to the pool water to cool.
On the drive up, we had passed a place in Townsend that peaked our curiosity. No internet service available to search so we said maybe we would catch it on the way back. Once in town, we searched for the location and saw it was huge area designated as government lands. There was a road that went right through the middle and we would be on that road going home. We watched the map as the shaded area was coming up and looked for the main entrance. We found it. Is this an excursion that we can do?
Back at camp, we settled in for college hoops. Of course the Bucs and Vols are both playing at about the same time. Both for the wins! A great wrap up of the day.
Thursday, 19 February 2026: Today, the weather was supposed to be the best yet: clear and sunny with a high of 78. The morning started off foggy and even rained for a few minutes at the campground. Reviewing the weather again, we found that the afternoon should be better. No problem since we needed to do some shopping for a couple of things. We headed to Brunswick, taking our time while stopping at a couple of places.
Since lunch time was approaching, we continued our drive to St. Simons. Knowing the food should be good no matter what we pick, St. Simons is the place to find the perfect lunch meal.
Another spot we had been referred for good food was Southern Soul Barbeque. A small place tucked into a crossroad in town. No waiting since we were a few minutes before noon. A wide selection of food and sides. We both settled on the BBQ sandwich with slaw and a side of our own. Remember, St. Simons restaurants have a standard to meet with the locals. This place certainly meets those standards and provided a great meal and service.
You may know we are not drinkers, but we did get buzzed at lunch. That was cool.
After lunch, we headed to the beach at Gould’s Inlet. The weather was still cloudy and breezy. Being low tide, the beach was very wide. We walked out to the furthest point. Not a perfect beach day but a neat experience on the island. We will come back for sure.
We were looking for some collapsible beach chairs and came across St. Simons Beachwear. This place was packed with anything beach, St .Simons, and gift items. Packed almost to the roof. We did not locate our chairs but did leave with some neat gifts.
The sun was out now, and we were hitting the middle of the day. We chose to head back to camp and enjoy the afternoon there. We hung out and enjoyed the weather being almost 80 degrees. Bingo was on slate for the evening a the campground to wrap up our day.
Friday and Saturday, we hung out at camp and enjoyed the warm weather. Saturday afternoon, we enjoyed a couple of basketball games and rested.
We were supposed to stay at Legacy RV Park until Tuesday. With some weather heading in the first of the week, we decided to head out Sunday morning, early.