Jekyll Island

While we were at the beach last week, I wanted to go through the historic district of Jekyll Island. That, however, was not on Alex's agenda. Nothing is on Alex's agenda if it involves learning or reading. And she doesn't hide that fact either.

Jekyll Island's recorded history goes back to 1562. It includes the Spanish, pirates, indians, the British, the Civil War, and most recently the millionaires. This island was purchased in 1886 as a winter vacation destination for many of Wall Street's most well known financiers, 93 of them to be exact. They called it the Jekyll Island Club. They would spend January through Easter at Jekyll Island. They called it their "hunting camp."

This is the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. It is HUGE with very pricey lodging available.

I love the Live Oak trees with the Spanish moss.

Inside the Jekyll Island Club Hotel.

Can you tell how much Alex was enjoying this tour of the hotel? It's evident in how she appears to be walking to, oh, maybe a hanging. Her hanging. She is very good at making everyone know how miserable she is.

Needless to say, we didn't stay long on this particular day in the historic district. Of course, since we were there already though, we might as well go to the Sweets Shoppe. And get some fudge. And Icee's. And candy sticks. And a caramel chocolate cup. And a peanut butter cup.

The next day we tried again. We rode our bikes to the historic district where Anthony and I were going to do a guided tour and Alex and Tony were going to go on back on their bikes. This day, too, we ended up at the Sweets Shoppe and no tour. We had missed the last tour of the day.

The third time's the charm, though. We had Tony take us on Thursday and drop us off for the very first tour of the day.

Finally.

The families who were members of this elite Jekyll Island Club were families such as Pulitzer, Goodyear, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, and Macy to name a few. These are pictures of their "cottages." They were roughing it, after all. They were wintering in 8,000 square foot homes - they called it camping...

I thought this cottage was interesting... See the hole in the back yard that looks like a swimming pool? Well, it's not. They stretched canvas on poles around this area, which is where they washed their "unmentionables" since it was poor etiquette for anyone to see them.

This is an indoor tennis court - wouldn't want to play outside during these temperate southern Georgia winters.

The casino housed another tennis court, rifle range, bowling alley, and game rooms.

The Jekyll Island Club flourished until complications from WWII forced its closure. It was eventually bought by the state of Georgia and turned into a state park. Right now, Jekyll Island is approximately 35% developed - which is all that is allowed. There are no traffic lights on the island and most of the shops close up early, about 8 o'clock. It is a very slow, quiet island.

I enjoyed doing the tour of the historic district of Jekyll Island and I am very thankful that I have ONE child who loves these tours as much as I do. Anthony has decided this was one of his favorite parts of our vacation.