What is it Like to Vacation on Jekyll Island, Georgia?

While we were in Georgia last Spring, my husband and I spent three nights on Jekyll Island. It was not the way I imagined it would be, but we still had a marvelous time. Let me tell you what our experience was like vacationing on Jekyll Island.

Jekyll Island is part of the Golden Isles of Georgia. It’s only seven miles long and 1.5 miles wide. Of course there is an interesting history to Jekyll Island, but I didn’t research it. This blog will be from a strictly tourist point of view.

Jekyll Island is connected to the mainland via Causeway 520 off of HWY 17. It’s about a 40 minute drive from Darien, and less than two hours from Savannah. There’s a small toll to enter the island, but you don’t have to pay for each day you stay there, unless you leave the island and come back another day. So we stayed three nights and paid twice, because one day we left the island and came back.

So why was Jekyll Island different than the way I imagined it?

Biking Around The Island

The marketing description I read talked about how you can rent bikes and bike all the way around the island. This is true, but I imagined biking on a road with uninterrupted views of the coast while being refreshed with a sea breeze. The reality, which we witnessed by driving around much of the island, was a road that lay inland with rare views of the coast. It’s hot and you only see cars, trees, and shrubs. Not worth biking.

But to be fair, I think we could have rented bikes and biked along some hard-packed sandy beaches. We walked them instead.

The Beach at the Hampton Inn

We stayed at the Hampton Inn because it was much cheaper than the Jekyll Island Resort and was within walking distance of a beach. The beach here was much better than I had imagined. It was beautiful–long, wide, with white sand, and no waves. A handful of people waded in the water and lounged on the sand. It wasn’t crowded at all.

We enjoyed a long walk there and got to examine all kinds of creatures that had washed up on the sand. I took photos and later used Gemini to identify them.

The Hampton Inn has a short raised boardwalk through a beautiful grove of trees that leads to the beach. Strolling this immediately erases the feeling of staying in a generic hotel. In fact, the Hampton Inn is really nice: clean, includes a decent continental breakfast, and has a family-friendly pool. Our room had a balcony overlooking the pool and trees. Sound-proofing was good, so the noise of children splashing did not bother us.

And it stayed cool. Unlike the . . .

Jekyll Island Resort

The Jekyll Island Resort was originally an exclusive social club that officially opened in 1888. Famous people like the Rockefeller’s, Vanderbilt’s, Morgan’s, and Pulitzer’s stayed in cottages built in the 1920’s. Today, the general public can stay at the resort and in rooms within the cottages.

The rooms are expensive, but here is a tip: if you walk in and they have an available room, you can get it for 30% off the online price!

Now, I originally imagined biking around the resort, walking into cottages and exploring the history, etc. And always with a nice breeze because you are on an island. But instead, we discovered that though the resort is on an island, it’s not close to the beach. It is located next to a small river and can be hot. Since I am a California-weenie, I noticed the “heat” right away. And the worst part, was the no-see-ums or little black BITING gnats.

Wear Skin So Soft by Avon

If we had known there would be gnats, we would have worn the Avon lotion Skin So Soft. It’s supposed to keep those little buggers from biting. Deet does not work – we can attest to that. The bites show up days later and they really itch! And they can disappear and re-emerge. Not fun.

The Best Part about the Jekyll Island Resort

. . was the candy and ice cream shop! That ice cream was so good that we went back a second time on another day. We sat outside at a table and enjoyed the Disneyland-like feel of the resort, not realizing that no-see-ums were eating up our legs and arms. But that ice cream was worth it!

 

We also enjoyed walking around the grounds, looking at the cottages.

Kayaking via the Tidelands Nature Center

I was really looking forward to kayaking through the marsh on a guided tour via the Tidelands Nature Center. Unfortunately, the earliest you could kayak was 10 am and by then, the early morning light had gone and the wildlife was in hiding.

We still enjoyed our tour, led by a ranger lady and a volunteer lady. It was just my husband, myself, and the volunteer’s husband, so that was nice. The best part of the tour (besides chatting with the guides) was the recommendation given to us by the volunteer guide who said we should drive to the Okefenokee swamp and kayak there. We did, and for me it was the highlight of our entire trip. (Stay tuned for that blog!)

The Tidelands Nature Center was not as good as I imagined it would be, but it was still fun to see all the creatures who were housed there and they had some good educational signage.

Shark Tooth Beach

I read how you can find shark teeth on this beach and it’s okay to collect them. Oh boy! I imagined finding little shark teeth and a lucky find of a Megalodon tooth. So we walked a mile down a sandy trail through some marine scrub (this was a nice walk) to an oyster-shell covered beach. You have to go at low tide to search for shark teeth. Of course we didn’t find any, but the hunt was fun.

We met a couple of boys who found teeth, which goes to show that children are much better at seeing and finding things than adults.

I was so glad I wore hiking shoes to this beach, because at one point I stepped in mud and quickly sank down three inches! Any other shoes would have been ruined and sucked off my feet when I went to step out! So beware of muddy spots (versus wet sand).

Good Restaurants

I didn’t know what to expect with the restaurants on Jekyll Island, but we found some really good ones. Our favorites were the Coastal Grill: bright, airy and casual. We ate blackened redfish, Atlantic salmon, and bourbon brussel sprouts to.die.for.

We also enjoyed a healthy meal at Eighty Oceans: grilled redfish on a bed of cooked kale with cauliflower puree. Yum!

Our least favorite restaurant was Zachary’s – because they were out of the good stuff. However, we did get a funny story out of it.

The Funny Story

This story might not be funny to anyone beyond Western states, but it really amused my husband. It showed my ignorance of basic foods when I asked the waitress a question . . .

Me: Do you have any bread?

Waitress: White bread and hoagies!

Me: What are hoagies?

Bill: They’re like Po’ Boys.

Me: What are Po Boys?

Waitress: They’re like Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches.

(Bill looks at me and starts cracking up)

Me: What is that??

Waitress: It’s like a hot dog bun but opened up and flattened.

Me: Oh! . .  I’ll skip it, thanks.

Bill: What’s the vegetable side dish tonight?

Waitress (with a Southern drawl): Lima beans cooked with bacon bits in chicken broth.

Bill: !!! . .  I’ll have cole slaw, thanks.

Ha! Maybe you had to be there, but for us the southern diet can be so different from what we’re used to in California.

Driftwood Beach

I saw photos of Driftwood Beach but visiting it in person was better than I could imagine. It was surreal and fantastic! We went near sundown, just after a light rain. The cloudy sky made for a mysterious atmosphere. Make sure you go early or late to get the best light.

It’s not actually driftwood you see on Driftwood Beach. The dead trees were part of a maritime forest of Southern Live Oak and Pine that grew anywhere from 200 to 500 years ago. Over the last 100 – 150 years sea erosion caused the tides to move it and kill the trees. Their heavy trunks remained embedded in the sand.

 

In Conclusion

If you’re down south and want to tour the Golden Isles, Jekyll Island is definitely worth visiting. There’s more to see, like the Summer Waves Water Park and various golf courses, so check out this website for more information.

I’ll probably do a few more blogs about our travels in Georgia, so stay tuned. And feel free to leave a comment – I love to read them.