St. Simons Island, Georgia - Romantic Jewel of the Southern Coast

Continuing our St. Valentine's Day look at some of the most romantic destinations in the South, there are few places that possess the charm and beauty of historic St. Simons Island on the Georgia coast.

One of the Peach State's famed Golden Isles, St. Simons is a place unto itself. There are ruins of the old English settlement and fort of Frederica, the beautiful St. Simons Lighthouse, oak canopied streets, unique shopping and dining districts and an array of unique and charming places to stay. Dolphins play off the waterfront and the island fronts an area of the Atlantic that is a noted habitat of the magnificent North Atlantic Right Whale.

St. Simons was inhabited by Native Americans for centuries before Spanish missionaries arrived to bring Christianity to the Guale Indians. The Spanish eventually gave way to the English, who established Fort Frederica on the island during the 1700s. The ruins of the old fort and town can still be seen beneath the magnificent moss-draped oaks at Fort Frederica National Monument.

Visitors can climb to the top of the St. Simons Lighthouse for spectacular panoramic views of the island and adjacent waters. They can also learn the history of the beautiful old tower as well as the story of its well known ghost.

And the causeway out to the island passes over the Marshes of Glynn, made famous by the noted Southern poet Sidney Lanier.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/stsimons.