AC repair inDarien, GA

DARIEN, Ga. (WTOC) - The Georgia Department of Transportation has released their preliminary construction plans for the Darien Bridge, that’s the one that connects Darien to Brunswick along Highway 17.

The bridge is an important part of the Darien community.

We now have a better idea of what construction on the Darien Bridge will look like. Local business leaders in Darien say that it remains critical that the bridge stay open through the duration of the project.

The bridge, originally built in 1944, needs repair, according to GDOT, who says it will continue to deteriorate if left as is.

“We have a huge workforce that travels from Darien to Brunswick, and vice versa. For our businesses, that could be hugely impactful for them to not be able to get quickly to work,” Darien-McIntosh Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Kat Hoyt said.

WTOC reported in July that the bridge would remain open during construction - welcome news for the community, after the state previously had planned to keep it closed for years.

“It was a huge sigh of relief. When I was able to read that they had changed it from 3-5 years being closed, down to maybe 30 days, that’s a big deal. It makes a huge difference in terms of our businesses.”

The construction plan includes building the west portion of the bridge first, and gradually moving traffic from the old portion to the new portion. They plan on closing the bridge for no more than 30 days, when traffic will be diverted to I-95, according to the plan from GDOT.

“It’s going to be a little different. When there’s construction on any roadway, there’s an impact. But, at least people will still be able to access them easily, and not be completely shut off.”

The construction plan also includes other things the community has been asking for – like a pedestrian and bike path - as well as a platform to use for Blessing of the Fleet, a McIntosh County tradition of blessing the shrimping boats for the commercial fishing season.

“I’m hoping that by expanding the bridge, you’re going to be able to connect those two areas of town. So, our natural resource area and Altamaha watershed, with the downtown Darien, that it just becomes a very cohesive experience.”

Construction isn’t expected to begin until 2026.

GDOT has scheduled a public information open house for the construction plan for Thursday, Jan. 12 from 4-6 p.m. at Darien City Hall at 106 Washington St.

Please click here to view the preliminary construction plan. There, you can also provide feedback on the posted plan.

Copyright 2022 WTOC. All rights reserved.

DARIEN, Ga. (WTOC) - The City of Darien has a new feature downtown.

It’s a nearly 100-year-old ship! It was saved from being sold for parts and is expected to be the centerpiece of a new park.

As you drive over the Darien Bridge and in to downtown, you’re now greeted by this ship named the Kit Jones.

“When you come over that bridge, she’s the first thing that you see.”

The wooden ship is a piece of McIntosh County history. Originally built on Sapelo Island in the 1930s, it’s made of materials from the island and served multiple purposes throughout its long life.

“Back then, she was a ferryboat, a tugboat, a freight boat, a mailboat, she would transport people that lived on Sapelo Island to and from the mainland. She would transport supplies. She then went to work as a war boat, a fireboat in the war,” said Laurie Poole, with Friends of the Kit Jones.

After serving in World War II, the Kit Jones became a research vessel, spending almost three decades with the University of Georgia, before moving to the University of Mississippi. “2013, she was dry-docked in Biloxi, Mississippi for no longer being able to be used. The Coast Guard has very high requirements to keep wood vessels, any vessels, in use. It was just too expensive to use her anymore.”

So, McIntosh County locals stepped in and purchased the Kit Jones in 2017 – moving it within the county to be worked on in 2019. As of last week, it now sits on a piece of land right off of Highway 99, donated by McIntosh County.

Moving the Kit Jones into place wasn’t an easy task. It weighs more than 60,000 pounds and stands around two stories high.

It took around seven hours and two cranes to settle the ship into her new home. Poole says with the help of marine transport professionals and volunteers, the move went smoothly.

“They knew exactly how to handle her, exactly what needed to be done and it went off without a hitch. When the large straps went under her belly, right on the ribs, and lifted her up, and set her back down, she didn’t even exhale. She’s super strong and very sturdy and very well-built.”

Next, plans are underway to build a park around the city’s new centerpiece. Restoring and displaying the history of the maritime town for generations to come.

Poole says they hope to host dedication ceremonies for new park benches sometime in the fall.

Copyright 2023 WTOC. All rights reserved.

Downtown Darien is filled with shops and restaurants along Broad Street, a major tourist area. Waterfront Wine and Gourmet features Georgia and international wines. (Mary Ann Anderson/Mary Ann Anderson/TNS)

Tribune News Service

Driving north into Darien, Georgia, on U.S. Highway 17, I pass over a long bridge that crosses the Darien River, an offshoot of the Altamaha River considered Georgia’s wildest and most beautiful. To the right, clustered shrimp boats bob slightly in shimmery water, as if they are curtsying, their riggings capturing the filtered light of a spring day. With dappled clouds in the background, the picturesque scenery is striking.

Darien, at its heart a fishing village, is on the more southerly end of the long quarter-moon-shaped crescent of Georgia coast that curves inland from Savannah to St. Marys. Surrounded by wide swaths of saltwater marsh, in season either as golden as Midas’ touch or as pale green as seafoam, the prairies unfurl into Altamaha Sound, with long fingers of Spartina grass rippling in endless waves. The marsh is a secret garden, a labyrinth of water, mud and peat continually ebbing and flowing and camouflaging a hidden world of terrestrial and marine creatures of herons and wood storks, crabs and shrimp, alligators and otters.

The town proper of Darien, threaded with mighty oaks drizzled with Spanish moss, is the alpha and omega of the Altamaha River, the first community on its journey inland from the Atlantic and the last before it fans out to where the Altamaha Sound laps gently toward the ocean. U.S. Highway 17, the old coastal highway that’s a throwback to romantic road trips, slices through Darien before it runs north to Virginia and southward to Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Textured with an amazing depth of history, mesmerizing unspoiled nature and local seafood restaurants, Darien gives you an authentic taste of saltwater with fresh oysters, fish and its most famous denizen, Georgia Wild Shrimp. The shrimp flourishes in the warm waters of the sound, soaking in the nutrients of the rich Spartina grass, related to sugar cane, and a primary reason the crustaceans are so plump and sweet. You won’t need to walk far in Darien to find shrimp fried, broiled or boiled.

The Guale Indians were here first, and then the Spanish in the 1560s. The Spanish built missions along the coast, but only a smattering of colonists and missionaries settled before the British took a foothold in the Georgia soil. Nearly three centuries ago, Scottish Highlanders, under the leadership of Gen. James Oglethorpe, the British general credited with establishing Georgia, meandered down the coast from Savannah to establish a port city. Darien eventually became the second-oldest planned city in Georgia, after Savannah, with its grid-like streets, azalea-lined and shaded, neatly laid out in squares.

The disarming charm of Darien casts a long spell. Darien, beautiful and quiet, has a nice small-town feel as no factories or big businesses exist here. While it was once a thriving port and financial hub, its buildings date only from the Civil War, as the town, with its wonderful old colonial architecture, was burned in 1863 by Union troops.

Today’s Darien, with its population of about 1,500, not only pays homage to its seafaring past but also caters to visitors who come for the history, natural beauty, shrimp and shopping in its eclectic tiny downtown, which included Sugar Marsh Cottage Specialty Confections for artisan chocolates, Vintage Wildflowers Boutique for clothing and Waterfront Wine and Gourmet for a taste of Georgia and international wines.

Most folks, when they think of Georgia eats, think of fried chicken, pork chops and grits. You can certainly get that and more at wildly popular Sweet Tee’s Log Cabin Restaurant or B&J’s Steaks and Seafood. Sweet Tee’s buffet usually includes meats and vegetables but also extras like deviled crab or fried fish, and at B&J’s, also primarily a buffet, you can order off the menu Georgia Wild Shrimp and other bounties of the sea.

Both Skipper’s Fish Camp, on the Darien River, and Mudcat Charlie’s, overlooking the Altamaha, are casual yet a little more upscale and offer indoor and outdoor dining with a selection of cocktails. Local favorites are the shrimp, of course, plus crab, flounder and oysters. If you’re game, go for the gator tail at Mudcat Charlie’s, with its taste a mashup of chicken and fish.

For the quintessential coastal dish of rich, creamy shrimp and grits, I recommend the Oaks Club at the Oaks on the River, a small boutique hotel on the Darien River. It’s the newest addition to the Darien skyline and is the city’s tallest building, commanding three stories. It is posh by Darien’s standards, with upholstered chairs and stunning views of the marsh. The shrimp gumbo and catch of the day are also excellent choices. The showpiece Cedar Bar, adjacent to the restaurant, is carved from one single cedar tree from nearby Harris Neck Island.

While you’re likely to love Darien, it doesn’t take long to see it all, given that it’s so diminutive, so plan for a few days to explore nearby gems as well.

Start with a pedestrian-friendly, self-guided walking tour of the town. Pick up a map at the Darien-McIntosh County Visitor Center and then hit the bricks. Along the way, amble along the waterfront dotted with tabby ruins – tabby is so-called “coastal concrete” made of lime, oyster shells and water – before visiting nearly two dozen points of interest, each marked with a plaque, including the First African Baptist Church, the 1836 St. Andrews Episcopal Church, the Old City Cemetery dating to 1736 and the Grant House, the only residence to survive the 1863 destruction by federal troops.

Round out the history tour with a stop at Fort King George, established in 1721. It was the first English settlement in Georgia before Scottish Highlanders took it over in 1736. Scattred on the site is a museum and replicas of the blockhouse and barracks.

The Oaks on the River partners with Georgia Tidewater Outfitters, or you can book on your own, for cruises aboard the Delta Belle, a 30-foot custom catamaran. Options include a wine tour with wines from Waterfront Wine and Gourmet, nature tours of the Altamaha River sound or private charters that take you to remote beaches, far stretches of the sound or excellent birding sites. The painted bunting and roseate spoonbill are among the coast’s most vibrantly-hued feathered creatures.

Also take a tour on the Captain Gabby, a 42-foot hand-built wooden trawler. With room for up to six guests, the tours can last a few hours or even overnight. The experiences are personalized, including kayaking, paddleboarding, fishing, birding and photography, and give you a chance to get close with nature in the swirls of creeks and marshes around the sound.

Within a few minutes’ drive of Darien are Ashantilly Plantation, built about 1820 by coastal planter Thomas Spalding; Butler Island Plantation, dating to the late 1700s and initially owned by Revolutionary War Major Pierce Butler; and Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation, a former rice plantation that’s now a state park. Tours of Ashantilly, open only during events, can still be arranged by calling the home, while Butler Island can be explored by foot or car. Hofwyl-Broadfield is open for regular hours.

Sapelo Island, one of the pearls in the necklace of barriers islands that speckle Georgia’s coast, is but 6 miles from Darien. The state-protected island probably hasn’t changed much in a thousand years. The deeply forested island is still unspoiled and uncrowded with mazes of mostly unpaved roads and remains the home of one of the last Gullah communities along the coast. Get to Sapelo only by ferry or private watercraft.

Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, about a half-hour’s drive north of Darien, was once a rice and cotton plantation and later Harris Neck Army Air Base. Here, hundreds of once-endangered wood stork come to build their nests and raise their young. Some 350 species of birds visit seasonally, and at the height of its population, the refuge transforms into a chaotic orchestra of avian song.

Cradled by the high bluffs of the Darien River and freckled with ancient oaks, the Oaks on the River, with 53 rooms, is the talk of the town at the moment, having just opened in November. It’s luxuriously appointed with hardwood floors, pretty rugs and a waterfront pool. The resort’s spa, though small, offers locally themed treatments including the Ashantilly Facial and Sapelo Massage.

If waking to the aroma of freshly ground coffee brewing entices you, stay at Open Gates Bed and Breakfast on Vernon Square in the heart of Darien. Shaded by oaks and magnolias, the five-bedroom Italianate inn, beachy, colorful and airy, was built in 1876 and is filled with antiques. A full breakfast is included with Southern goodies like biscuits, waffles and the Darien Shrimp Delight, a panko-encrusted shrimp cake similar to eggs benedict.

The cozy and romantic Darien Dockside Inn, also in downtown, has six individually decorated rooms and suites, all featuring views of the river and marsh. It is housed in a tabby building more than a hundred years old. Nearby, Darien Waterfront Inn offers a welcome cocktail, full breakfast and the use of bicycles, plus a two-bedroom cottage or a riverfront condominium for rent. With a two-night stay on Tuesday and Wednesday, guests are provided a free tour of Sapelo Island.

Every place evolves, but at different speeds. Darien, looking much the same as it did when I first saw it decades ago when I drove over that same bridge, does it more slowly and eloquently. If there is a bigger picture for Darien down the road, the town, respectful of its storied past, isn’t in a hurry to get to the future.

For more information, contact Discover Darien at www.discoverdarien.com or call 912-437-6684. Darien is located about halfway between Savannah, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida. Both cities have international airports served by most major carriers. Major roads are Interstate 95 and U.S. 17. Annual events include the Blessing of the Fleet, a spring festival honoring the shrimping and fishing industry; a Fourth of July celebration; and the Darien Fall Festival featuring classic car shows, boat tours and street vendors. Other accommodations include private homes, cottages and cabins, campgrounds and RV parks and several chain hotels.

Georgia DOT continues essential road work throughout Southeast Georgia. As a result, work on construction and maintenance projects will continue Saturday, March 18 through Friday, March 24.

All work subject to change due to weather or other factors. Motorists are cautioned to reduce their speed while traveling thru work zones, pay attention and watch for workers.

Traffic interruptions are listed below by interstates, categories, and counties.

Interstate 95

I-95 McIntosh County Champney R. Bridge (MP 45.5) to Darien R. Bridge (MP 49.0) Lane Closures Monday- Thursday 7pm-7am & Weekends – Friday 9pm until Monday 5am Bridge Maintenance/Rehabilitation thru October 2023

Interstate 16

I-16 (in the Vicinity of SR 307) Chatham County Lane Closures for DDI Construction on Exit 160/SR 307 Eastbound MP 159.8 to MP 160.2

Westbound from MP 159.8 to MP 160.2

Exit 160/SR 307 Pine Meadow Drive to Town Center Drive

Continue thru end of March 2023

Bridge & Road Closures with Detours

Ten Mile Church Road at 10 Mile Creek Bacon County Road Closure for Bridge Replacement Expected to Reopen in July 2023 Detour via Radio Station Rd, S Pierce St., SR 32, SR 203

Bridge Construction, Rehabilitation, and Maintenance

SR 520 Satilla River Overflow Bridge Brantley County MP 19 to MP 21 (East/Positive) Lane Closures for Bridge Replacement Mon-Fri 7am-7pm from 3/9/23 to 3/31/24 East & West Bound Inside Lanes Closed

State Route 25 Chatham County Appleby Road (MP 19) to the South Carolina State Line Alternating Lane Closures for Bridge Construction Monday – Saturday 9am – 4pm

SR 4/US 1 Over Altamaha River Appling-Toombs Co. West River Rd. (Appling Co.) to George Hill Rd. (Toombs Co.) Lane Closures Monday thru Friday, 7am to 6pm Bridge Construction Activities thru May 2023

Resurfacing

SR 204/Fort Argyle Rd Chatham County From Old River Rd to Gateway Blvd Lane Closures for Asphalt Resurfacing Monday – Friday, 7pm to 6am

SR 26/HWY 80 Chatham County From Bourne Ave to Wilkes Street Daily/Nightly Lane Closures 9pm to 6am

SR 196/SR 119 Liberty County From Gate 1 to Gate 5 (MP 4.67 to 7.15) Lane Closures 7pm to 5am Friday – Saturday Resurfacing 3/17/23 – 3/25/2023

SR 119 Liberty County From Airport Rd to SR 138 (MP.0 to 4.67) Lane Closures Friday- Saturday 7pm to 5am Resurfacing 3/17/23- 3/25/2023

SR 27 Wayne County East Railroad St to the Glynn County Line MP 7.33 to MP 35.41 Daily/Nightly Lane Closures for Resurfacing 4/20/22 – 3/31/23

SR 38 Wayne County CW Collins St (Screven) to SR 203 MP 2.38 to MP 8.98 Daily/Nightly Lane Closures for Resurfacing 12/8/22 – 3/31/23

SR 25 Connector (Gloucester St.) Glynn County SR 27 to SR 25 (MP 7.33 to MP 35.41) Nightly Lane Closures 7pm to 6am Resurfacing 9/12/22 – 3/31/23

SR 21 Business 21 / Leola Road Screven County MP 16.58 to MP 0 Daily Lane Closure & Flagging Operation 7am to 7pm 1/9/2023 – 3/31/2023

Old Highway 250 Tattnall County Mainline Left / Right Lane Closed due to Shoulder Widening Monday – Saturday 7am – 8pm Starting 2/27/2023 – 9/30/2023

SR 67 Bypass Bulloch County Fair Road to SR 26/US80 Daily Lane Closure 7 AM – 8 PM Resurfacing 3/20/2023 – 4/30/2023

Other Traffic Interruptions

SR 4 Appling County Weaver St. (MP 9.70) to NW Park Ave. (MP 9.93) Lane closures from 9:00 p.m. Friday March 24 until Sunday 26 To repair concrete pavement

SR 27 Appling County Dean St. (MP 10.83) to Tippins St. (MP 12) Lane closures from 9:00 p.m. Friday March 17 until Sunday 19 To repair concrete pavement

SR23/SR57 Tattnall County SR169 to SR121 Daily Lane Closures for Road Widening 8am – 3pm Starting 12/20/22 – 12/10/23

SR 21/SR 30 Chatham County I-95/SR 405 to Berrien Rd Nightly Lane Closures for Work on Shoulders and Median Monday – Friday 7pm-6am

SR 40 Camden County West of Grove Blvd to East of Truss Plant Road Widening and Reconstruction for Additional Turn Lanes Lane Closures Monday thru Friday, 7am to 5pm Ends 9/30/2023

SR 21 MP 6.6 to MP 27.7 Effingham County Installation of Cable Barrier Lane Closures Mon. – Fri. 9am-3:30pm & 7pm-6am Daily/Nightly Lane Closures Saturday and Sunday 3/31/22 – 4/30/23

SR 21 MP 17.7 to MP 15. Chatham County Installation of Cable Barrier Lane Closures Mon. – Fri. 9am-3:30pm & 7pm-6am Daily/Nightly Lane Closures Saturday and Sunday 03/03/23 – 4/30/23

SR 25/Burnsed Blvd. Chatham County US 80/Burnsed Blvd. and SR 25/Brampton Rd. Road Widening & Paving Operations Lane Closures Mon. – Fri. 7am to 6pm

the intersection of SR 25. Traffic will move to the southbound lanes, which will become one lane in each direction.

needing access to Foundation Drive.

By Pat Foster-Turley September 30, 2022

Lots of my readers probably get the Harris Teeter weekly emails and they have a feature, “Meet our Fishermen.” And when it comes to shrimp specials, lots of the time they feature one Boone or another up in Darien, Georgia. Darien is only about an hour north of us by distance but it is decades away from Fernandina in time frame. It is still a small coastal fishing town, with active shrimp, clam, sturgeon and other fisheries in full operation, if you know where to look and are lucky to time it right.

Well this time we sure timed it right. We were in Darien, celebrating our 45th anniversary. We go there often to get away from the Fernandina Beach hubbub and I have developed a usual routine. After breakfast I go for a walk around the historic district, past old churches and groomed public parks. This time I was on my usual walk when I noticed a number of cars passing me and heading down a small road towards the water—Boone Dock Road. So I decided to follow them. The further I got down this dirt lane the more obvious the sound of machinery was in front of me. When I arrived at the dock I saw why. A shrimp boat was unloading their catch and all hands were on deck to receive it.

The ground crew was fine with my presence there, camera and all. I happily watched many pounds of beheaded shrimp being lifted from the hold of the boat in a large bucket on a pulley and dumped onto a conveyer belt that moved the product to the weighing station, where set amounts were then packaged for shipment. This particular boat was out fishing for six days, and presumably they beheaded the shrimp while still out at sea.

This was Boone’s fish dock, so I asked how many of the guys working there were Boones. And it turned out that most of them were! A regular family operation, the Boones, have been in the fishing business in south Georgia for four generations or more. One brother Greg, was manning the important weighing station, and another, Walter answered my questions. It turns out Walter is the head of Walter’s Caviar, in a nearby building, and he offered to show me his wares too.

And what a tour it was! Walter posed with some cans of his expensive caviar, extracted from wild caught sturgeon. Online the price of a small tin (4 ½ ounces) costs $139, a luxury for sure. Walter has paid up to $10,000 or more for a single large female sturgeon loaded with roe but he can sell the cured and packaged eggs (the caviar) for three or four times that amount.

Walter regaled me with stories about one of his relatives, Sinkey Boone, who in 1967 developed the first turtle extruder net to protect sea turtles from the shrimp trawls. This family also developed a thriving business catching jellyfish in a special net they developed for this purpose. Until recently they dried this catch and shipped tons of it to China, but now, Walter says, shipping is too expensive so they have stopped harvesting them. Inventing apparently runs in the family. Walter himself is a successful inventor and entrepreneur, having invented and marketed the Senoob (Boones spelled backwards) flare launching gun that can shoot arrows, bullets, flares, you name it, with about 120,000 sold per year.

After my interesting morning with the Boones I walked back to the hotel along the water’s edge, past shrimp boats and a few tour boats docked there. Along the way I admired the old tabby building that is being restored at great cost in the historic area.

Back at the hotel the only real decision we had to make is where to head for lunch. There are a number of fish camp/seafood restaurants in the area, all specializing in one type of seafood or another. There is Skippers, right on the water in Darien, which has a great oyster bar with their own take on oysters Rockefeller. Further up the road past Crescent is The Fish Dock at Pelican Point where they process clams. A bit further south of Darien is Mudcat Charlies, the best place ever for fried oysters. All of these places offer fresh wild caught shrimp and fresh fish and, of course, beer!

If you are looking for a quick getaway you can’t go wrong with Darien. Check it out and you won’t be disappointed.

Pat Foster-Turley, Ph.D., is a zoologist on Amelia Island. She welcomes your nature questions and observations. patandbucko@yahoo.com