Several things that happen in this area that can be seen from this house.
The Sun and Moon rise over the ocean, depending on the time of year (and day of the month for the Moon) [photo not available]. But an interesting thing is that viewed from the southern tip of the island (see the map on the
Map and weather page), the Sun sets over the St. Simons Sound!
Sunset over St. Simons SoundThe Moon an hour or so after Moonrise
The house is about 180 miles north of Cape Canaveral and you can see rocket launches if the conditions are good. Rocket lauches at night are easily visible even through thin clouds, but about all you can see are the flames. Day launches are harder to see and can be blocked by thin clouds or haze, but you have a chance to see the rocket too. Binoculars help. Photos of each are below. (The night launch is a time exposure. The day launch was photographed a few miles away from the house, but this is what it looks like.) Manned launches are well-publicised in advance but unmanned launches are not. The website
http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/ gives all of the launches around the world (manned and unmanned) so you can find the ones from Cape Canaveral there.
Time exposure of a nighttime Shuttle launch, taken from a porch
A daytime Shuttle launch, taken from a few miles away from the house
St. Simons' Fourth of July fireworks (launched from the pier in the village) can be seen from the observation deck on the roof or from the beach in front of the house. You can avoid the crowd of thousands of people in the village area! Jekyll Island also has fireworks that can be seen on the island across the water.
Fourth of July fireworks seen from the observation deck on the roof
This page was last modified on June 22, 2010 11:46 PM