Beach, Bike, and Jekyll Island Club Tour

---

Despite the rather gloomy start to the day last week, we ventured out and treated ourselves to a lunch at the Crane Cottage. Then we took a tour of the Jekyll Island Club for $1.25 each. We were familiar with the history of the Rockefellers and the 50 or so other movers and shakers who came to Jekyll to build their vacation “cottages” in 1886. In 1947 the state of Georgia purchased the island from the Club and has managed to preserve and restore most of the cottages as well as the main clubhouse with its grand dining room. It is now deemed an historic treasure. The tour was excellent: being in the room where 6 financiers drafted what later became the Federal Reserve System was fascinating. The “Presidential Suite” had a wrought iron staircase to a small observation deck. Zoning restricts structures over 5 stories so this is the highest point on Jekyll. The balcony would be a good vantage point for viewing the guests as they arrived by steamer. There’s now a restaurant “Latitude 31” and the “Rah Bar” on the pier. We enjoyed Georgia shrimp and a deep-fat fried hominy cake on one of our first nights here. That satisfied our “sat fat” allowance for the week!







Driftwood Beach is a short walk or bide ride from our campground. This “tree graveyard” is the result of the north end of the island slowly eroding away and being deposited in the south end. Today we arrived for the first time at full high tide, which gave the place an even more dramatic appearance and an excuse to take more pictures.







Biking is fun on Jekyll Island. Due to zoning restrictions, 65% of Jekyll Island must remain undeveloped. Because of this, there are lots of dirt roads, some of which turn into paths through the woods. Lat year we took one of those paths and Lindsay kept telling me to watch out for snakes, alligators, and bears! So now we stay on the roads. Also, there are paved bike paths all around the island, some going through the woods. This one along the beach on the east side is quite spectacular. Hope the pictures capture some of this. Yesterday we biked 11 miles – not hard because of the flat terrain.







We didn’t have our camera when we played golf. Too bad, because the course was beautiful, and deer kept coming onto the fairway. I had never seen one so close.







Until next time.

---