Our first stop for today took us to the Clam Creek Picnic Area, home to the Jekyll Island Pier. I've visited this place many times and have never once found it crowded.

The main attraction is the enormous Jekyll Island Pier.

Access to the pier is via a center walkway that splits into two equally large branches.

We headed out onto the pier to take in the fantastic views.

A three-picture panorama of the Jekyll Island Pier.

The Clam Creek Picnic Area sits near the northern tip of the island across from the Jekyll Island Campground and offers wonderful views of all of the nearby attractions. The pier faces northwest directly toward Brunswick. The photo above looks directly west at the Sidney Lanier Bridge.

"That cloud looks like a dog," Danita tells me. She's right.

The bridge seen in the photo above is part of the Torras Causeway to neighboring St. Simons Island.

The Clam Creek Picnic Area offers access to Driftwood Beach via the bridge seen in the photo above. This is the point where the North Loop Trail and Driftwood Beach Trail intersect.

Beach access is immediately past the bridge and leads to the northern tip of the island and the end of Driftwood beach.

Well this is interesting !

While planning this trip, I saw several news stories about a cargo ship that capsized in St. Simons Sound, and was hoping I could see it from the pier.

I've always been fascinated by giant cargo ships, and have always enjoyed watching them. This is the first time I've ever seen one laying on its side.

The MV Golden Ray, a vehicle carrier loaded with around 4,200 cars, was leaving the Port of Brunswick on September 8, 2019 when it capsized in between St. Simons and Jekyll Islands. Even though St. Simons Sound is the only way into/out of the port, maritime traffic has been minimally impacted, and the Port of Brunswick remains fully operational. Ship captains just have to watch out for the ship taking a nap.

As you would expect, the capsized cargo ship has become quite the tourist attraction. And from what I read, it's going to be there for a long while. More on that later when we get to Driftwood Beach.

For now, we were happy to take in the great views from the Jekyll Island Pier.

This particular pier visitor was quite vocal.

I'm not sure why, but he was making a lot of noise.

Visitor to the Jekyll Island Pier.

I spotted these visitors going for a swim.

I don't know what they are other than quite large.

Another noisy pier visitor.

We finished wandering around the pier before heading back to the car and our next stop.