New Year's Eve on Jekyll Island Georgia ..... all dressed up for the Holidays.

What a great New Year's Eve spent touring the 240 acre historic district of Jekyll Island while learning about our local history as well as the history of Chritmas Traditions throughout the ages.  Jekyll Island's staff does a great job of showing off their historic district while educating you.

(Please note no photos were allowed to be taken inside the homes). 

For more information on Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Geogia, visit The Golden Isles Blog.

To search for homes in Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia, visit Chapman Realty's website. 

Today was the last day for the Holiday Island Tour on Jekyll Island here in Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia.  And the last Holiday Island tour was today at 3:00 - I managed to arrive for the 1:00 tour - this is well within a deadline for me. 

View from Jekyll to the Sidney Lanier Bridge from Historic District

It will take many posts to share everything I saw today but I wanted to start with Mistletoe Cottage which was so festively decorated.  Please note that the State of Georgia will not let you photograph the inside of this beautifully restored home. 

Mistletoe Cottage is also known as the Claflin/Porter Cottage.  Originally constructed in 1900 for Henry  Porter, a manufacturer of locomotives and a graduate of Brown University.  Porter was very active in many charitable organizations but was closely tied to the Y.M.C.A. 

The home's style is considered a Dutch Colonial Revival.  The home was purchased from the Porter Estate in 1824 by John Clafin. 

One of the interesting facts I learned on the Holiday Tour was that homes during this time place the front door on the side of the house. 

The entire 240 acre Historic District was decorated festively for Christmas.  Christmas trees and live greenery was everywhere - even mistletoe. 

For more information on our area, visit The Golden Isles Blog.

Visit Chapman Realty's website for more information on homes in our area. 

Jekyll Island's Convention Center will be the location for the 32nd Annual Bluegrass Festival.  The Festival dates are January 1 -3, 2009. 

Artists include:

The Grascals
Larry Stephenson
IIIrd Tyme Out
Doyle Lawson

Cherryholmes
Rhonda Vincent
Ralph Stanley

For details, see the Schedule of Events for Jekyll Island's Bluegrass Festival. 

For more information on Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia, visit The Golden Isles Blog.  

 photos courtesy of Flickr

With over 3.8 billion dollars given to 1.1 million students attending universities, colleges and technical schools in Georgia since 1993, the Georgia Lottery is literally giving HOPE to our children.  HOPE is an acronym for Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally and it awards monies to Georgia residents that are pursuing anything from a technical certificate to an undergraduate.  There are also funds for pursuing masters, specialties and doctorates in education due to the shortage in teachers in Georgia.

Attendance can be a public or private school and all it requires is you show academic achievement.  The funds are allotted to cover tuition, HOPE approved mandatory fees and a book allowance.  There are both scholarships and grants.  Currently $3,500 annually is the scholarship for full time students and $1,750 for part time students.  These are not loans and a 3.0 GPA puts you in the program along with your Georgia residency. Click here for a history of the HOPE program and HOPE facts and figures.

Visit Georgia College 411 for more information on this and other grants, scholarships and loans that are available in Georgia. 

Brunswick Georgia's College of Coastal Georgia is approved for Hope Grant and Sccholarships and Grants.  Here is to playing the Georgia lottery and our children winning..... 

The Georgia State Patrol has announced that on December 8, 2008, their new headquarters in Brunswick, Georgia is officially under construction.  This new facility will be located at 157 Public Safety Boulevard which is located in the same area as our new police and fire station off Exit 38 and I-95. 

The Georgia State Patrol's new facility will be approximately 4 times larger than the current facility in Glynn County.  With 11,500 square feet in the new building, the Georgia State Patrol will use this as their new regional communications hub for dispatching officers from areas to Savannah and Waycross and to the Florida state line. 

State Patrol Commissioner Colonel Bill Hitchens was present for the groundbreaking cememony in Brunswick.  Glynn County financed the construction through a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax in an attempt to keep the Georgia State Patrol Headquarters in Glynn County.  Expectations of completion of this project are the fall of 2009. 

Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia Blog

Homes Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia

 Image courtesy of Flickr

For more information on Brunswick and the Golden Isles (Jekyll Island, Saint Simons Island, Sea Island, Little Saint Simons Island), visit The Golden Isles Blog or call Chapman Realty at 1-877-221-0088 for a newcomer's guide. 

The USDA Rural Housing Guaranteed and Direct Loan Programs are available in eligible portions of Glynn County and all of most of the surrounding counties.   This not well known program has truly come to light with the loss of down payment assistance on FHA loans.  

The Wall Street Journal's recent article on USDA housing allows for a good overview of this program that still allows a buyer to buy with no money down and with no private mortgage insurance. 

The USDA Rural Housing Guaranteed and Direct Loan Programs have helped a lot of people in Georgia realize the dream of owning their own home. This is a basic overview of the loan programs: 

502 Guaranteed Single Family Housing Program:  Loans for families to purchase homes.  The program is 100% financing, no down payment.  All of these loans are for 30 years and the interest rate is currently around 5 - 5 1/4% (fixed) according to Bo Russell of Wells Fargo Mortgage. The families must show repayment ability and have good credit. This program is for families to purchase homes but is not limited to first time homebuyers.  These loans are for families with higher income (moderate income families).  These loans are actually made by a participating lender and have no loan limit. 

If buyers have lower incomes and qualify, payments could be subsidized and their interest rate could be as low as 1%.  This program is for families who have very low and low income.  There are loan limits for each of our 10 counties - the most the USDA can loan in Glynn County is $150,000.00.  There are income guidelines that govern these programs.  (The loan limits on this are tied to what you qualify for as opposed to an actual loan cap). 


For more information, visit http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/ or contact Chapman Realty and we'll direct you to the lenders for pre-qualifying. 

Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia Blog

Homes Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia

While slipping on my sandals to go to work today, I think of those who are shoveling snow.  Being raised in South Georgia and my only primary resident addresses being in California and south Georgia, the only white flurries I look is the sand flurries on the dunes of Jekyll Island this time of year. 

There is so much to do this time of year and while unhindered by the weather, you can walk the beach,jog on the beach, lay on the beach, walk your dog on the beach, visit historical sites such as Christ Church and Christ Church Cemetery, The Horton House Ruins on Jekyll Island, Fort Frederica on Saint Simons Island, take a swim in the ocean, kayak, sail, wind surf, jet ski, water ski, play miniature golf,

play world class golf courses (225 holes) photo of Coastal Pines Golf Course Highway 99 Brunswick

picnic on the beach, ride bikes on Jekyll along the beach or the many miles of nature paths, take a carriage ride around Jekyll Island,

take a tour of the Saint Simons Island Light House,

take a ghost tour of Saint Simons Island, take a Saint Simons Island Trolley Tour, take a Saint Simons Island Water Taxi and see the dolphins, build a sandcastle on the beach at Saint Simons or Jekyll Island, visit our art galleries and antique stores, go see a play, take a casino boat out for a day or night trip,

take a day trip to Cumberland Island

or Little Saint Simons Island, wind surf, go shelling, visit the Bloody Marsh and learn some of our history, play tennis, search for sand dollars and shells, fish off one of the piers or on the beach, take a sailing tour or fishing trip, and on and on and on. For a newcomer's guide and more information on what to do in Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia, email chapmanrealty@yahoo.com.

Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia Blog

Homes Brunswick Georgia

Geogia Sea Turtle Center Second Annual Season Greetings Open House

December 20, 2008

12 - 3 p.m.

This event includes a puppet show and the ability to see 11 turtle patiends in the Rebhabilitation Pavillion and of course, Santa Clause will make a special appearance.    It is a great way for Moms and Dads to finish their Christmas shopping to the gift store inside the Sea Turtle Center. 

The Center is very much like an emergency room and rehabilitation center for injured and sick turtles in addition to scientific research. You get to see the various patients that are in rehabilitation at the Sea Turtle Center and find out about their injuries and illnesses. 

Freshwater turtles (like you find in ponds or in pet stores) have flat feet and webbed toes for swimming while a sea turtle's feet are flippers used for swimming.  A freshwater turtle can move its neck into an S shape to put its head inside its shell while a sea turtle cannot.

One of the things you learn at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center is the development of sea turtles from eggs all the way through adulthood.  Sea turtles dig in the sand and bury their eggs.  Several months later, the baby turtles crack out of the shell and stays hidden in the sand for several nights until all of the turtles are out of their shells.  About 100 turtles start digging for the surface and emerge in the dark on the beach and race toward the sea.  Many become victims to seabirds, crabs and other predators.  Sometimes they head in the wrong direction toward the lights buildings behind dunes because they think they are headed into the light of the ocean's horizon. 

During certain times of the year, you can see the hatchings on beach walks sponsored by the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.  Open daily from 10 - 6, visit the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. 

 Homes Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia

Golden Isles Blog

Glynn County has a very diverse economy made up of tourism, a growing port facility, a Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, industrial plants and a healthy mix of retirees. The area enjoys a mild sub-tropical climate. The average temperature is 68.4 degrees and average rainfall of 54.7 inches per year. Glynn County offers over 14 miles of beaches and 225 holes of golf, boating and historical sites.    

For more information on Brunswick and The Golden Isles of Georgia, view the links below or call Chapman Realty for a newcomers guide at 1-877-221-0088. 

Family Fun in Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia  Part II  

Family Fun in Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia Part I  

Come and Visit Brunswick, The Golden Isles of Georgia and Cumberland Island  

Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia Part IV Sea Island  

Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia Part III Little Saint Simons Island    

Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia Part II Jekyll Island    

Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia Part I Historic Brunswick    

Homes Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia

Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia Blog