Walk on the beach

This is not Newark at rush hour.  This is Saint Simons on a Monday.  Let me back up.  Sunday the weather was sort of snotty.  That's pilot speak for bad.  I flew Saturday at sunset but the rain was building and by Sunday morning it was a mess.  

Luckily I had Monday off so we decided to take a quick trip to Saint Simons Island for a walk.  Saint Simons is home to Southern Soul BBQ which we skipped today in pursuit of a smaller waistline, though the BBQ smell wafted down the flight line and was hard to ignore.  It was a great day to fly.  Strong Northerly winds but smooth at 3000 feet.

We made our approach from the South and used Runway 34 for a change.  It seems the wind favors 4 most of the time but today the winds were 340 at 12 gusting 18.  On arrival the FBO sent a golf cart to show us where to park and as always the FBO was friendly and professional.  The line man tied us down and offered a ride to the building but we declined as our purpose was to walk.

The approach to 34 is interesting.  You get a great view of a ship on its side being cut up by some massive tools.  When you turn final to the relatively short (3,313') strip, you see the tall trees at the airport fence and what look like massive cell phone towers right on final.  We later walked by them and they look less impressive from the ground.  

Yes the map tells me how tall they are and we had plenty of clearance but I swear they look twice as tall when you need to pass right over them to land.  So we left the plane and headed for the beach.  The first thing you see as you walk along is that Saint Simons is not all luxury housing, though they have lots of that.

The second thing you notice is great sidewalks.  Really wide and well marked cross walks.  State law gave us the right of way too.  Take that motorized vehicles.  The walk to the beach is about 1.3 miles and takes you across the Causeway where you can look out on Bloody Marsh.

It was less bloody today but in 1742, outnumbered British troops defeated Spanish soldiers to thwart an attack on Fort Frederica.  Passing the Marsh we made it to the beach where we enjoyed the sun sand and birds as well as looking at the cutting operation from ground level.

Saint Simons has a nice beach but with the currents, maybe not the best for swimming.  Less shells and hard packed in many places which makes strolling nice.  I liked they reminder to not pollute, a Dolphin made of trash.

After our beach stroll we retraced out steps and were soon back at the plane.  When we arrived the main ramp was pretty empty but as you saw above we had a line of jets next to us upon our return.  Luckily there was no line to leave.  After a preflight inspection, we loaded up and were soon on our way.  Our 25 knot headwind became a 22 knot tailwind.  Not exactly even but at least we had a good push home.  Overall a great day to get out and explore.