Five minutes near the marsh and I saw a painted bunting. Clearly. Not pretending I saw what others claimed with a squinty look up a tree, but right in front of me. Eye-level beautiful bird.

And I was in the living room of the Blue Heron Inn with a porch in between the bird and me. Now that’s a comfy kind of birding excursion.

I found my bird in the waters and squishy lands around Darien, Ga., in August, but since thousands of birds fly here each year, I’m confident special sightings happen for anyone, anytime.

“Look for a golf ball in a tree to find a bald eagle,” suggests U.S. Coast Guard Master Captain Sheryl Schooley.

If that doesn’t work for you, just wait for something else.

“Upwards of 120 uncommon plants and animals are in the Altamaha River watershed,” Schooley says, “and 55,000 shore and sea birds congregate on our fragile islands.”

She’s been taking nature lovers in her six-person boat along the Darien River toward the sea for two years, and through waters in the Golden Isles since 1988.

Other routes feature her favorite grasses and creatures too, departing from Cathead Creek Dock where the shrimp boats anchor. She also does a Peace Tour: “No talking, just being, and lots of photography,” Schooley says.

What time to go? I picked sunset but Schooley says “There’s so much to see at high tide, and so much different to see when the tide is low.”

Guess that says go more than once. Kayaking is an option too in Darien, renting with an outfitter to head into the marshes for the birds or simply to see grasses and the horizon, which stretches forever.

Sitting works, either in that living room at Blue Heron Inn where I saw the painted bunting, in bougainvillea-colored chairs on the dock or from the big porch off the third-floor bedroom.

It’s the kind of overnight spot to consider never coming back down the stairs: one room, one porch and no one else on that level. Ultimate privacy.

Maneuver steps; the bathroom is down a flight.

Darien offers additional enticements, however, and Blue Heron Inn proprietors Jan and Bill Chamberlain discuss ways to access them over morning breakfast overlooking the marsh, afternoon wine and cheese on the porch or straightforward e-mail in advance.

This is the gateway to Sapelo, Georgia’s fourth largest barrier island. For a half-day guided tour, reserve a spot in advance on the Department of Natural Resources ferry for $10; it runs on Wednesday and Saturday and holds 150 people.

Walking trails to Nanny Goat Beach, the 1820 lighthouse and Reynolds Mansion range from two and a half to four and a half miles.

Check out options to spend the whole day on Sapelo with Island residents, tour in a car or van, then rent bikes or lounge on the beach. Cost approximately $75 for two.

The Visitor Center can share leads of people who rent rooms overnight for an even bigger adventure; bring your breakfast with you.

Hog Hammock is their community, settled in the early 19th century by former slaves and tenant farmers.

On the National Register of Historic Places, Hog Hammock is considered the last intact island-based sea island community of Geechee and Gullah people.

Reynolds Mansion is a different kind of option, two-night minimum and at least 16 people with up to 29 possible.

The Marine Institute of the University of Georgia says nearshore environments and wetlands are their Sapelo focus.

Near the shore interests a fourth-generation Darien shrimping family too, and their new focus is a new one to me.

Jellyballs. Quite a delicacy in Asia, says Walter Boone. They’re also known as cannonball jellyfish.

“Like the cartilage of a chicken. Takes the place of meat; one way they use it is like we might in a salad with bacon bits.”

Boone pulls them out of the water to ship to Asia in quantities I can’t grasp. “We can lift 6 – 7,000 pounds of jellyballs in four to five minutes. That means a catch of 100,000 pounds,” he says. Makes Darien the prime exporter of jellyballs.

His boats work out of the Darien harbor; it takes a freighter to ship the jellyballs to China.

The nets have turtle excluders as do shrimping nets.

Caviar’s another Boone family specialty from Darien, catching sturgeon for the roe. “Rich people are broke now with the economy,” he says, “so caviar demand is down.”

Wine tasting seems to be up and Darien folks are proud of the new wine and coffee shop on the left, just over the bridge when you get to town. It’s a gathering place, easy for a visitor to meet the locals.

Mike Greenway, one of the three owners, moved from Atlanta and jumped right into this community; he’s co-chairing the Nov. 7 Darien Fall Festival. Might be your first Crab-in-a-Crock cooking contest.

I took a pound of his Altamaha Mud coffee beans home and enjoyed every cup, so don’t be deterred by the name.

Don’t skip a visit to the 1888 jail either; it’s filled – even the cells – with paintings, wood turning, sculpture, jewelry, pottery. Eighty artists were displaying fine works the day I visited.

No gloom and doom here; this jail had lots of big windows so it’s a bright airy place for admiring regional art.

Ashantilly is the name of a visionary place, preserving a tabby house built around 1820, pursuing projects reflecting the natural and built environments of Georgia’s coast, and using them as job training opportunities.

“More than a house to visit,” is how Harriet Langford describes Ashantilly Center. “We are working to preserve and present the sustainable environmental passions of the residents of this house, especially the Haynes family that moved there in 1918.”

Ever heard of the 1974 Man in the Landscape conference? Me either until now, but it was all about lowland research and Langford says that helped launch eco-tourism movements.

Ashantilly owner Bill Haynes was an advocate, fighting the Corps of Engineers when they wanted to re-channelize the Altamaha, Langford says.

And that’s one of the reasons Ashantilly launched a project with Heiffer International, giving away one acre of their land to teach organic gardening.

Ashantilly’s a lot like Darien — projects and pleasures going on behind the first glance. And I never got to the obvious: Fort King George or Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation, both state historic sites, or the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge.

‘We don’t boil our shrimp’

Wild Georgia shrimp please palates in Darien and here’s how many local people cook them. Eco-tour captain Sheryl Schooley shared what she learned from the Boone family—four generations of shrimpers.

De-shell and de-vein shrimp.

Sautee in a large skillet with one stick Land ‘O Lakes butter per pound of shrimp.

Bring one jar of Pace picante sauce to a slight boil.

Add shrimp to picante sauce for three minutes or less.

Add a little lime and cilantro to taste.