Jekyll Island, GA, Jan 15-23, 2022
If Beaufort, NC was the quintessential sailing town, Jekyll Island might be the ultimate isolated getaway town. You have to either dock there at the marina or drive over a bridge that is the only connection to the mainland. They charge a fee to come over and don't seem at all bothered that this might restrict visitors. I think restricting visitors might be the entire point. When you travel by boat and are reliant on walking around for transportation, you really come to appreciate how poorly designed most cities are for pedestrians. Not so Jekyll Island. There is an extensive network of wide paved trails, well suited for bicycles and runners that covers the entire island. Admittedly, its only about 7 miles long and maybe a mile across, so that isn't so difficult to do. We tucked in a day before a big storm was scheduled to blow over and spent most of the afternoon securing Dragonfly to the dock. Everyone was talking about their preparation for the storm and we were no different. We did take some time to grab some food from the dockside restaurant called Zachry's Riverhouse, where we had our first taste of the insanely great local shrimp and our first of several slices of amazing key lime pie.
The storm actually wasn't nearly as impressive as the one when I was in Charleston, although it did give Kathy a nice ride home in the snow from retrieving out car. We rode it out on board and comforted ourselves with a large measure of cookies and pasta (not simultaneously). The next day we started mixing in exploration of the island. We borrowed bicycles from the marina and rode far and wide. We poked around the historic district and learned about the island's history as a haven for the most wealthy men in the world. This guy named Newton Finney came up with the idea to market it as a hunting club so elite that only the fattest wallets in the world could join. This marketing campaign was remarkably successful as members included names like Rockefeller, JP Morgan, Vanderbilt and Pulitzer. The guys you never heard of, like Theodore Newton Veil, did things like own AT&T and placed the first transatlantic phone call from the island with Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Watson and President Wilson. Those guys weren't on the island, because presumably they weren't cool or rich enough. The location was selected because it was far enough south that it would be warm in the winter, but not so far south that it would be in Florida, which is no place for self-respecting robber barons. They used their little club to organize the Federal Reserve and probably form the secret cabal that is still controlling your daily life (although the official guide was mum on that bit).
We actually were planning to stay in one of the robber baron houses on the coldest night, but between COVID, wintertime conditions and a general lackadaisical attitude towards guest service, it didn't quite work out. We booked one of the best suites because it had two fireplaces and they assured us over the phone that they were in fine working order. Once we arrived, they actually weren't in operation (perhaps because of the wind, perhaps because they just weren't into it) and when we said that the crackling fire was pretty much the whole point for us they seemed just as happy to refund our exorbitant room rate and send us on our way. Perhaps if I was heir to the Standard Oil fortune I would have been able to get a fire. We ended up avoiding the sub-freezing night by staying at a run of the mill oceanfront Westin which also didn't feature a fireplace, but I was consoled by the extra $600 in my pocket.
Another day, we went on a guided nature walk through the unusual flora of the island. It was enormously interesting and we learned about sea grass that tastes like pickles, the particular grass that grows in the marsh that is a relative of sugar cane and the reason why the local shrimp were so delicious, the methods they use to prevent alligator attacks (basically the rangers periodically grab up the alligators and annoy the hell out of them by restraining and poking them, so that they dislike people and don't like to be around them) and as a highlight, point out a local bald eagle nest through a high powered scope. We could see the mother eagle soaring about looking for food for her newly hatched eaglets and we were able to see the bobbleheads of the new eaglets as the tried to peer over the nest looking for their next meal. It was very cool and its great that we were there at the right time to see the new hatchlings.
There is also a fantastic turtle rescue center. Apparently they are so skilled at rehabilitating wild turtles that sea turtles are flown into them from all over the country. We got to see them feed one of the recovering turtles, which was honestly sort of anti-climatic, but knowing that we gave some cash to their rehab efforts made it a great day anyhow. Another day, we borrowed a golf cart from the marina and went to an amazing beach called Driftwood Beach. It is an old forest that has been reclaimed by the sea. As the saltwater flows over the receding land mass, it slowly kills the trees and leaves them in place like enormous piles of driftwood. I suppose all the trees eventually fall over, but they haven't all done so yet. It is an other-worldly kind of place and my photos do not do it justice. I'd love to come back many times to see it in different light and just hang out there. I've been anyplace like it before.
We eventually ate at pretty much every good spot on the island. Zachery's remained probably the best overall and had long lines waiting every day that it was open. There is a more modern ocean-side resort by the club people (think new Cavalier vs old Cavalier for my Virginia Beach peeps) that had a good spot called Eighty Ocean and there was a fun margarita/Mexican place called Tortuga Jacks. Even though we spent a long time here, I'd happily go back again in a minute. I'm going to call it my second favorite stop after Beaufort. The marina is also highly recommended with friendly staff and free bicycle and golf cart usage.
As a bonus, we met the new owners of a boat we had encountered previously a couple of times. They were super-nice and loaned us their car one day, which I used to buy another space heater, which was a game changer, allowing us to keep the upstairs living area AND our cabin warm even on the coldest nights. I hope not to have much use of that in the future, but it came in handy when the lizards were falling frozen from the trees in Florida. I wish that was a joke.
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