Flexible!

Being a homeschool family allows for so much flexibility in life.  This is one of the top reasons we started homeschooling.  My husband can work crazy shifts sometimes and be sent off to random places on a whim.  Sometimes, we are fortunate enough to go with him. If we were traditional "public schoolers" this would cause disruption but for us, it just causes excitement!

Last week was one of those exciting times.  We had the opportunity to explore St. Simon Island and Atlanta while we were in Georgia. We have been to Atlanta plenty but we never had the chance to explore the Golden Isles.  We were very excited and the area delivered.  What a beautiful place!  We spent our whole first day just visiting the St. Simons Island Lighthouse.

You can see, it was an absolutely perfect day! 

For the kids, one of the best parts was that the lighthouse was next to a county rec center but not just any rec center.  It was on the water, had a pool, mini golf course and tons more.  Why don't we have these in our area? So cool!!!  Needless to say, it was a full day!

Here are some St. Simons Island Lighthouse factoids:

• In 1807 James Gould of Massachusetts was commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department to build a brick lighthouse and one story frame home.
• The lighthouse was mostly made of tabby (oyster shell, lime, sand and water) since brick was a hard item to come by in the area.
• In 1810 President James Madison appointed James Gould as the first keeper for a salary of $400 per year.
• In 1862 Confederate soldiers destroyed it so the Union Troops couldn't use it as a navigational aide.
• In 1872 it was rebuilt with the structures we were able to tour on our trip. 
• Charles Cluskey the architect on the project, designed many Greek Revival buildings in Georgia from 1830 - 1847 and even assisted on remodeling the U.S. Capitol.
• Many crew members did not get to see the final build of the beautiful Victorian inspired structures as Malaria was widespread and very destructive.

I will post more trip highlights later in the week.