Sometimes traveling from one place to another place you pass
through a place you want to discover further…such was Brunswick, Georgia. The little
town intrigued me for years as I passed through it headed to a retreat on St.
Simons Island.
My recent journey afforded me the opportunity to explore the city
since it is only a two-hour drive from Jacksonville, FL where I am presently
enjoying the quiet sanctuary of my best friend's home. I set out for an
overnight stay to give myself enough time to see all there is to see in this
small Georgia town. However, the town wasn't the treasure I thought it would
be.
My first obstacle was finding an affordable hotel with
a vacancy; I didn’t make a reservation because it was off season and most
tourist were back at work and off to school. It never occurred to me they would be
accommodating Irma refugees and FEMA personnel. After going above my budget, I
settled in at the Best Western Plus to peruse the information I found at the
Georgia Welcome Center where I stopped to get info on Brunswick and the
surrounding area. There wasn’t much to be found on Brunswick, but I came away
with a plethora of information on a little town that had never crossed my
radar. I was once again intrigued with a small town and wanted to know more,
however, this town was not my goal, so I put the interesting info away and
decided to explore the city that was on my radar…it was a bust. There was
nothing there that drew my attention and said stay awhile. The most interesting
part was the gateway portion to the Golden Isles (which was the part I had seen
for years).
I decided to head back to FL. Having some extra time, I detoured
to see what this new little town had to offer. There wasn’t much there as well,
like Brunswick there was a main drag that housed all your chain stores and
necessities, but on a smaller scale. Unlike Brunswick traffic was light, as a
local put it, “the most traffic we have is when the elementary school down the street
let’s out”. Like Brunswick downtown was scarce but had something Brunswick didn’t
have—peace and serenity. I could feel it as I walked the streets and talked to
the friendly locals. The most inviting part of the that peace was where the
quiet sidewalk ended—a picturesque view of Cumberland Sound from the St. Mary’s
waterfront. Though temporarily impaired with damage from Hurricane Irma, it was
like a little piece of heaven. I spent the remainder of my time enjoying the
quiet serenity and the gentle breeze that caressed my thoughts of what it would
be like to live here. To have this view every day and enjoy the peace of no
hustle-bustle noise would be divine.
I left the area feeling as if I had found a peaceful
treasure housed in the little town of St. Mary’s, Georgia.
