American Cruise Lines - Day 13 - Brunswick, GA (Part 2)

When it was time to leave the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, we were met with our new form of transportation, a red multicar tram. This would be the tram that took us on the Jekyll Island portion of the tour.

There is a graduated step to get into the trolley but the benches are bolted in so once on the inside, you had to turn and shimmy to your spot on the bench. The benches could hold up to 4 people but thankfully we had enough space to spread out and have a bench to ourselves.

There were two single seats at the front of our tram that were used by those with mobility assistance.

Before the ride started, our driver/guide handed out over the ear listening devices. He assured everyone that they had been sanitized in between uses. This was a nice improvement over the usual tour listening devices we've been given over the years. They were comfortable to wear and the sound was at a pleasant level. I personally was nervous that I'd end up knocking mine off each time I lifted my camera strap up to take pictures and would repeatedly use my hand to check whether it was securely still there. The worst it ever did was slide back and forth but stayed secure on my earlobe. 

I snuck this picture after Dad put his on. He never knew he was such a good model:

It didn't take long to ride over to Millionaire's Village and our guide started pointing out the historic homes we passed.

Below - I'd like to introduce you to my summer home. Just 1 million more monthly payments and it's all mine!

We were to go inside two buildings today, the Rockefeller home which according to the guide, the family had requested no pictures be taken inside, and the church that was used by the residents known as Faith Chapel.

The Rockefeller home was decorated for Christmas and really had the nostalgic feeling of walking into grandma's house. Being a historic home, there was no handicap access so unfortunately the one passenger using a wheelchair (outside of boarding the tram) was only able to explore the lower level. Once inside the house, we were free to roam around about 90% of the place (some was blocked off) and our headsets allowed us to continue listening to the guide tell stories and describe what we were seeing. It was nice to be able to move around on our own and not be crowded standing still in one space and then having to move as a herd into the next space.

Who needs a moat when you can just install a spraying fountain walkway:

There were a couple steps to go in the front door (as seen from the tram) of Faith Chapel but they were able to take our wheelchair passenger in through the back door.

We learned the story behind how the church was built in such a way to ensure that this stained glass window behind the altar would get the most sunlight.

The stained glass window on the opposite wall features a design that includes the signature of Louis Comfort Tiffany (as in those little blue jewelry boxes).

Different designs of gargoyles protruding from the rafters was added to resemble the ones in Notre Dame.

Our final stop on the tour was to Jekyll Mosaic which was basically the typical bathroom/gift shop stop of every tour. There was also a photo gallery you could browse but with the time we were given it was either look at the pictures or shop. I liked that as soon as you walked in, there was a table for little kids to amuse themselves while waiting for a tour.

The whole building is basically a refurbished barn structure so the gift shop had a display in the back made to look like a horse stall with horse statue. The entire time walking around the gift shop, recordings of horse and cat sounds could be heard. I was one of those people who had to do a double take and make sure that wasn't really a horse back there.

Back on the trolley for a ride back to the bus for a ride back to the ship:

Normally seeing your ship "take on water" is a bad thing but this is the sight that greeted us upon returning to the ship:

Once back on board we were greeted by a table set up with not only hot chocolate (that martini glass is full of whipped cream) but a bottle of liquor for adding a little extra warmth if you wanted. Sadly, the dispenser of hot chocolate had been depleted by the time we arrived. 

After a quick run to the cabin to drop off our coats and the big camera, we found our own warmth in some hot food for lunch in the dining salon. 

As you can see in the menu above, this time the burger was one of the entrée choices. Except for the kettle chips, it was a really tasty dish. You've heard of Build a Bear - meet Build a Burger:

Later as we sat enjoying lunch one of the dining management staff made a point of asking if I saw the hot chocolate display and seemed disappointed when I answered that we found it to be empty. I thought maybe they'd refill it or offer to get some to have now but when we came back out from lunch the entire setup was gone.