Exploring the Low Country - Part 9 - Fort Jackson and Tybee Island, Georgia

We spent one of our days in the Savannah area exploring around Old Fort Jackson and then out to Tybee Island. 


Old Fort Jackson (not to be confused with the U.S. Army's current Fort Jackson) is located just outside of Savannah. Built in 1808, it's the oldest standing brick fortification in Georgia, and one of only eight brick fortifications built prior to the War of 1812 still standing. These old forts are always fun to wander through. We toured one in Maine a few years back, and also Fort Point in San Francisco.

The historical society that maintains the fort today has a number of displays and living history demonstrations, including the occasional cannon firing.

From Fort Jackson we headed out to the Atlantic coast, our first stop was the Tybee Island lighthouse. 

The Tybee Island lighthouse was originally built in 1736, and has been rebuilt 4 times. It is said to be the only lighthouse with all of its original support buildings still intact. In 1933 the U.S. Coastguard installed a 1,000-watt electric light, and it is still used today. The climb to the top is 178 steps. Unlike the lighthouse we climbed at Hunting Island, this circular iron staircase is supported by a center column, which means you can't look straight down the center of the tower like you can at Hunting Island.

The view from the top is nice. There was a warning sign about wasps at the top, but I think the wind was brisk enough to keep them in their hive.

The view straight down the side is equally impressive, if not a bit disorienting.

Here's the First Order Fresnel Lens, still in use today.

We stopped for lunch at A.J.s on Tybee Island, walked out onto the pier for a bit, and drove to the eastern terminus of U.S. 80 to finish out our day trip from Savannah.


That brings us to the end of our visit to the Low Country. On Friday morning we drove to Aiken, South Carolina, a small town not too far from Augusta, GA. We spent one night in Aiken visiting some long-time friends, then drove to Atlanta to get our plane home.


Click here to see more pictures from Old Fort Jackson, just outside of Savannah, Georgia.
     
Click here to see more pictures from Tybee Island, Georgia.