posted 10-12-2000 01:13 PM            

Sunset At Sanibel Island, FL

I had to make several changes to my planned trip to FL. My main purpose was to deliver my Mother's car to Englewood, FL on the Gulf Coast. It is about 20 minutes from Boca Grande.

I had to cut several days from my trip so a good number of my hoped for visits were now tenuous at best.

Mon 10-2
The first day was spent travelling to Florence, SC. No lighthouses this day.

Tue 10-3
We got up bright and early and set out for Charleston. We were hoping to get to Sullivan's Island and Morris Island and to go into the historic district.

We found Sullivan's Island with little trouble. I used the Kochel book (latest edition) for most of my directions- they were very good. you had to get close to the spot before they take over. Now, I hope I don't offend anyone, but Sullivan's Island has to be the most unattractive LH out there IMHO. It is set in the middle of a nice residential ara. You can see Moris Island from it.

I got a very good view of Morris Island with my binoculars. I did get some nice pictures of Sullivan's Island. I had information from one source that there was a Center open here. I found nothing open. The building connected to it said no admittance to the public. You can get a hazy view of the light in the tower. It appears to be an aero beacon which is listed at 28,000,000 candle power and can be seen for 29 miles.

We left here and drove thru the historic District of Charleston. There are some very interesting restored buildings here. We did get to Rainbow Row which is a street with a collection of restored homes in various colors. Very nice. I did not go by the Citadel. We took a wrong turn and by the time we realized it we decided to just go on to Morris Island.

We drove out to Folly Island and went to the end of the road. We found a woman sitting at the closed entrance to the Coast Guard Loran Station. She was there because there was a photo shoot going on for a Hahne's catalog. They had their stuff set up on the beach in front of Morris Island.

We walked in past the foundations of several buildings. i'm not sure if these were from the Keeper's Houses or from the Coast Guard Station. The CG equipment was still there, but no buildings were evident.

The Morris Island LH has definitely seen better days. It looks so forlorn sitting in the middle of the water , totally surrounded up to its entrance. The Lantern Room is empty( I did come across part of the Fresnel Lens later at Hunting Island). I believe I got a great picture of both Morris and sullivan's Islands together. You can more clearly see Sullivans Island from Morris Island. This is due to it's height and size, both of which are formidable. It's still not pretty.

I was able to get far enough away from the photo shoot so as to not get any evidence of it in my pictures.

We left there and went back into town (Jolly Beach) and had a very nice lunch at the Sheshell Cafe. Nice place, good food, good service and we met another couple who were into lighthouses. they were from Tennessee, but were unaware of both Morris Island just down the road or Sullivan's Island across the Harbor. They thanked me for my info, and said they would go see them the next day.

As I was ordering my lunch I spied a sign across the street fot the Lighthouse Cafe. I checked it out after lunch. They were selling shirts for the benefit of Morris Island and had a poster for a fund raiser dance to come.

We left there and had spent more time than I expected so we were running behind. We had to make a choice-
1.either we kept on driving and stopped at a closed Tybee (closed on Tue) and got a long view of Cockspur.
2. Drive on and get to St Simon's after it closed.
or
3.Make a detour to Hunting Island and hope we got there before it closed at 4 PM.

We opted for Hunting Island. We got there at about 3:50 PM. We got a pleasant surprise- the LH was open until 5 PM. A good choice.

The lighthouse is the second one at the same aproximate place. It has been restored extremely well.It was built in 1873 to replace the light destroyed by the Confederates in the Civil War (or as they list it The War Between The States).

The LH itself is apox 175 ft tall. It is very large in circumference. It has 7 very large landings on the way to the top. You cannot get into the lantern room, but you can get outside the tower just below it. We climbed this LH, the first one availaable to do so.

In the bottom of the tower is the remnants of the Morris Island Fresnel Lens. There is only the metal frame and the top portions of the prisms here. They do not know where the rest are. they also have no clue as to what happened to the Fresnel Lens that was in Hunting Island.

The Oil Room has been restored, along with the cistern and two other out buildings. The only evidence of the Keeper's House is the foundation. Definitely a light to visit if you are in the area.

We had spent so much time at and getting to the three lihts that we were still in the Savannah area at 7:30 PM and our reservations were in Jacksonville. We decided to throw ourselves on the mercy of the Fairfield Inn . I stopped at one in Savannah and they called Jacksonville and cancelled our reservation and gave us a room at theirs. It was actually cheaper.

Wed 10-4
We got on the road the next day and drove directly to St. Simons, GA. This light hs also been wonderfully restored. It is also a must see in the area.

We climbed the tower. We spent some time in the Keeper's House which has been turned into a Museum. It is filled with period pieces. You canot get into the Lantern Room here either, but again you can get outside just below it. We spent some time talking to the volunteer s here, talking HL and other lighthouses. The original LH here is one of 8 in the country that were built on a variation of the plans for Sandy Hook. It was a different height, but had the basic design.

We left here and drove on to St Augustine. We took a ride around the Historic District. Very narrow streets and very nicely restored homes and buildings. There is a college in the middle of town that has built most of it's buildings to blend in with the old town.

We drove out to the Lighthouse. We were running behind agsin (my travel planner did not do a good job on this trip- I'm going to have to complain to him, I mean me). We had to be in Coral Springs by 7 PM so we toured the outside of the light, but did not climb it. I'll have to get back again sometime. Due to time constraints we skipped all other lights in FL this day. I had hoped to get to 3-4 more, but that's life.

We did get to my brother's on time.

Thu 10-5
After breakfast we went over to Hillsboro Inlet (he lives in Coral Springs). We got a partial view by the drawbridge. We could see that there was a vacnt lot where you could see a direct view of the LH. We drove around the bridge and went over to the lot. It had chains across the driveways and signs tha tsaid that Treaspassing on this land was a felony. We stayed in the street which just had a No Parking sign.

You do get a very nice view of the LH from here, but it won't last long. As sson as they biuld the mansion that will be there you ill be able to see nothing. It's a shame as they have just finished refurbishing the LH. It's looks very nice.You can see the Fresnel Lens in the Lantern Room. I could not tell if it was on as an Occluder was in the way.

We parted from my brother and left for Englewood. We decided to stop at Sanibel Island on the way.

The LH is easy to find . Just go over the Causeway to Sanibel Island go to the 4-Way Stop sigh and turn left on Periwnkle. Drive to the end where you see a parking area. Go to the back of the parking lot. Then follow the path along the beach right to the LH.

It is in very good shape. You cannot get into it. there are two houses right next to it that seem to be lived in. i'm not sure by whom. They also are in very nice shape. I believe they were the Keeper and Asst. Keeper's houses. I think I got some very nice shots of the LH.

We left there and went to a restaurant that was reccomended to us. It's just down Periwnkle, just past the 4-way Stop. It's called the Lazy Flamingo. Very casual and informal place. Again, good food, nice sevice. The menu is varied, but leans towards seafood. We left here and drove on to Englewood. It was too late to try and stop at boca Grande at the time.

Fri 10-6
We went out pick my mother at the airport the next day and decided to go take a quick look at Boca Grande. You drive right by Gasparilla Range Light on the way. It is not open, but you can get right up to it. It is in very good shape. It is a working light, as is Boca Grande. It has an Aero Beacon in it, not a Fresnel lens.

We drove down to Boca Grande , but did not stop then as I wanted to have plenty of time to spend there. We got to the airport and went back to the condo.

Sat 10-7
We got up and drove out so as to get there at 10 AM (opening time). We got ther at about 10 after and no one was there yet. We waited around for a few minutes and some one finally arrived.

We had walked around the outside of the LH and the Keeper's house while waiting. Both have been very nicely restored. We saw some before pictures inside, and they had their hands full with the restoration work.

We went inside and walked around. There are exhibits detailing the history of the area starting with the Cayusa Indians (about 2000 BC) up to the present day. Very nicely done.

Unfortunately due to conflicting regulations from the Feds, State and Historic authorities there are no plans to open the Lantern Room. Too complicated and expensive to please everyone.

The original lens is among the lost and when it was recommisioned a 50 MM Barrel light was put in.

We had a very nice talk with Marilyn Hoeckel, the Curator of the LH. She was given a number of the Society Pieces to sell at the LH. She was unaware that it was a limited edition and no more would be available as of next April. She's going to contact HL and see if she can get more as they have sold very well. We talked about HL and other lighthouses. It was a very enjoyable visit.

This marked the end of my lighthousing on this trip. We added 8 lights to our total visited, but had hoped to add more. I'll add pictures when I get them back.

Sun 10-8

Flew back to NJ. Uneventful, no lighthouses except on my shirt.
Dennis

posted 10-12-2000 04:38 PM            

I started the trip in Florence on Tue. Drove as far as Savannah.. Drove to Coral Springs on Wed. Drove to Englewood on Thu. Went to Gasparilla Rear Range on Fri on the way to the airport (not enough time to drive from Coral Springs on Thu). Went back to Boca Grande on Sat. Flew back on Sun.

Original plan had 4 more days in it. 3 in the Savannah area and 1 more day to drive to Englewood.

I would have then been able to see Tybee, Cockspur, Jupiter Inlet, Ponce Inlet and spent more time at St Augustine. I might have even had time to stop at Amelia Island.

That's life. I'll get to 11 this weekend, although I've actually been to all of them already. I'll get into two that i have not been in.

I've been trying to catch up on mail, etc. I had to drive to Albany, NY on Tue and came back on Wed (yesterday).

I'm still trying to get all of it straight.

posted 10-12-2000 09:42 PM            

Sounds like a whirlwind trip! But you did see eight lighthouses. I never visited any in FL or for the matter south of our NC trip this summer. Sounds like it's nice to have an excuse to travel (now that you are retired.

posted 10-12-2000 11:47 PM            

I've been given my orders. I must be unretired and employed ASAP.

I've decided that I try and do too much in one day. I'm going to cut back and relax. I set a goal and am dissapointed if I don't accomplish it.

Dennis

posted 10-20-2000 11:51 PM            

I'll add some more when I get them back. the last roll was not quite finished.

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Dennis

posted 10-25-2000 06:45 PM            

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posted 10-27-2000 01:01 AM            

I thought it was in the picture. Must have moved quicker than I thought. just wishful thinking on my part I guess. Sorry. I'll fix the caption.

My wife Esther captured the Sunset at Sanibel.