Every year we come to Tybee Island for our family reunion and stay with Lannie Jarrell, my nephew and his wife, Stacye. Our family has grown over the years and now we have a large second home that we rent so that everyone has enough space to enjoy what is usually a 5 or 6 day family reunion. My wife, Myra, and I always like to take a day and explore an historic site that we have not seen in the area. Yesterday we went to Wormsloe Plantation also called Wormsloe Historic Site.
The drive is absolutely breath taking. The entrance to the plantation is 1 ½ miles long with 400 majestic oak trees lining the entire drive. We explored Isle of Hope, a beautiful and historic city overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway before embarking on our excursion to Wormsloe. We chose to go early in the day while the weather was cooler so that we could enjoy walking and exploring.
The tabby ruins of the original fort was very interesting. The “concrete” called tabby is a combination of oyster shells and lime. There is a replica colonial wattle-and-daub hut, museum and the view of the marsh is awesome. We enjoyed looking at the construction of the hut which had 600 nails in the roof. It was interesting to learn that the nails were the hardest item to purchase for construction. When a person planned to move to a new location they would frequently burn their home down to retrieve the nails to build the next home.
The gravesite of Noble Jones has been moved 3 times because of its close proximity to the water. He was moved from Wormsloe to the Colonial Cemetery and may have had a final burial at Bonaventure per the tour guide.
The tree that had fallen was a Juniper tree.
Take a few minutes and explore both Isle of Hope and Wormsloe Plantation.
Bob Allmond
