31•81, the Magazine of Jekyll Island: Vol 4, No 1

30

In the Service of Others

Behind the opulence of the Club Era are stories of those who worked to keep Jekyll humming

By Tony Rehagen

Our new overwater restaurant, bar, and live music venue delivers coastal comfort food, ice cold drinks, breezy open-air dining, and stunning riverside sunsets. If

jekyllwharf.com

833 315 7988

38 Island Time

Noon or night, something's always happening on the island. . whether you see it or not Photos by Brian Austin

Lee

The Indispensable Horseshoe Crab

A study on Jekyll could help save this ancient creature, and an entire ecosystem

By Rebecca Burns

64 Where to Stay, Jekyll Style

If variety is what you long for, the island proves more than accommodating

By Christine Van Dusen

Play On

Jekyll has been a recreational paradise for as long as waves have touched its shores

By Elizabeth Florio

This mixture of shells and sand known as tabby is part of the ruins near Maj. Horton's brewery (page 25).

100 James Road • Jekyll Island, GA 31527 jekyllisland.com

executive director

C. Jones Hooks

senior director of marketing

Kate Harris

director of marketing & communications

Alexa Orndoff

creative director

Claire Davis

graphic designer

Lindsay Dale

Photography courtesy of Jekyll Island Authority unless otherwise noted. This magazine was published by the Jekyll Island Authority in cooperation with Atlanta Magazine Custom Media. All contents ©2019. All rights reserved.

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@jekyll_island @JekyllIsland

about

Published twice a year, 31·81 pairs stunning photography with thoughtful articles to tell the stories of Georgia’s unique barrier island.

Jekyll Island lies at 31 degrees north latitude and 81 degrees west longitude.

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publisher

Sean McGinnis

editorial director

Kevin Benefield

design director

Cristina Villa Hazar editor

John Donovan

art director

Carson Shadwell

associate publisher

Jon Brasher

travel sales director

Jill Teter

production director

Our goal is to make visiting the island not only absolutely unforgettable, but also affordable and accessible."

In March of 2019, Money magazine named Jekyll Island the "best place to go"—not just in Georgia or in the Southeast—but in the entire country. The island’s ranking as the No. 1 travel destination in the United States was determined by a precise evaluation of more than 40,000 data points from multiple sources.

We’ve carefully planned and undertaken efforts to enhance the quality and authenticity of the experiences available on Jekyll Island. Our goal is to make visiting the island not only absolutely unforgettable, but also affordable and accessible. These are the criteria Money’s rigorous methodology was designed to measure. And that’s why we were delighted, but not entirely surprised, to receive this important distinction. Hundreds of Jekyll Island Authority employees work every day to ensure the island is welcoming to our visitors and to those who call the island home.

This ethos has long been present on Jekyll Island. Historian June Hall McCash notes guests were "deeply impressed" with the "hospitality and generosity" extended by Maj. William and Rebecca Horton at Horton House in the 1740s. For decades, our tours of Jekyll’s National Landmark Historic District have offered a glimpse into the luxurious lifestyles enjoyed by members of the Jekyll Island Club. Now there is increasing interest in the lives and contributions of those who worked year-round to create an idyllic seasonal retreat for them. Providing appealing accommodations and amenities, amidst Jekyll’s vibrant landscapes, remains our objective today.

Jekyll Island Authority staff members and our hotel partners work around the clock creating an inviting destination. Protecting pristine natural habitats and preserving fascinating historic places are also our priorities. I am pleased that a growing number of accolades affirms our success in carrying out this mission, which has been a Jekyll Island tradition for centuries.

As you begin planning your vacation for next summer or winter, we hope you’ll, too, place Jekyll Island at the top of your list.

Jones Hooks

Executive Director, Jekyll Island Authority

JEKYLL ISLAND AUTHORITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

William “Bill” H. Gross secretary/treasurer Kingsland, GA

Robert “Bob” W. Krueger vicechair Hawkinsville, GA

Mark

Williams commissioner, dnr Atlanta, GA

Joy

Burch-Meeks Screven, GA

Hugh

Dr.

“Trip” Tollison Savannah, GA

L.C. “Buster” Evans Bolingbroke, GA

Glen Willard Richmond Hill, GA

Dale Atkins Baxley, GA

Photograph by Brian Austin Lee

Joseph B. Wilkinson chairman St. Simons Island, GA

”

Relax, Breathe, Learn

Anyone who's ever stopped on Jekyll Island—to take a stroll on its pristine beaches, play a round of golf, thrill at the sea turtles, or just to check out the place—can immediately feel its uniqueness.

Jekyll isn't one of those high-rise heavy beach towns that pockmark the coast both north and south of here. This isn't a place for wild spring breakers and off-the-chain parties. Fine dining? Sure. A never-ending string of fast-food places? Nope. Not here.

This island is about the finer, simpler things in life, what we all can enjoy. The beauty of unspoiled nature. The draw of the past. A chance to relax. To breathe. To learn.

For an example: The sea turtle has its own special place, and a palace, on Jekyll (the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, which has hosted thousands of visitors and been part of the island for more than a decade), but another creature lays claim to being around much longer than that. In this issue of 31•81 The Magazine of Jekyll Island Rebecca Burns has the story of the ubiquitous, absolutely indispensable, totally harmless and awfully alien-looking horseshoe crab (page 46), which has made this part of the world home for almost half-a-billion years. As scary as the horseshoe crab might look—forget that tail; did you know a horseshoe crab has 10 eyes?—they're not only harmless, they're actually helpful, providing the key ingredient in a very important biomedical substance. Jekyll Island is the site of bold new research into horseshoe crabs, where scientists are studying the bluebloods to find better ways to protect them, so that they can continue to protect us.

Jekyll Island is full of learning opportunities, found on beach strolls, bike rides or a trip through the Historic District. That's where grand families vacationed during the island's Club Era, and where the people who really ran the joint (see Tony Rehagen's piece, page 30) enjoyed the island when the rich went back north. Now there's a party.

The island's history, as those who know Jekyll know well, is always all around, from Native American middens (page 12) to 100-year-old grapevines (page 14). But like the tides, Jekyll Island is always changing, too, as you can see in its gleaming new hotels. There's a saying here: "If you haven't been to Jekyll in 10 years, you haven't been to Jekyll."

So if you've only stopped by for that round of golf or that sweep through the Sea Turtle Center, you may want to make a return trip to stick around for a bit. Our lodging guide (page 64) will help you pick a place to stay. To relax. And, while you're here, maybe you'll learn a little something, too.

John Donovan Editor

James, a graphic designer and illustrator.

1 Rebecca Burns moved to Athens after more than 25 years in Atlanta, including seven as editor in chief of Atlanta magazine. In Athens, she now runs The Red & Black, the

student news organization, and teaches part-time at the University of Georgia. When not working with students, Burns, the author of three books on Georgia history, pursues her passions of travel and history, with her husband

2 Tony Rehagen is a freelance writer and former senior editor at Atlanta magazine. His work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and POLITICO among others. He is a five-time finalist for the City and Regional Magazine Association Writer of the Year award. He was anthologized in Next Wave: America’s New Generation of Great Literary Journalists

A curated selection of American and fair-trade handcrafted jewelry and gifts that are sure to evoke precious Jekyll Island memories for years to come.

|

But like the tides, Jekyll Island is always changing, too . . ."

HOLLY JOLLY JEKYLL

November 29, 2019 - January 5, 2020

It’s the most wonderful time of the year on Jekyll. A time with lights, “ice” skating, and lots of cheer. Kicking off the weekend after Thanksgiving, the island’s magic comes alive with more than half a million lights. Experience them on the Holly Jolly Light Tour, including the new Twelve Days of Christmas light displays! Gussy up your golf cart at the annual Holly Jolly Jekyll Parade on December 7, or play a round of mini golf at Peppermint Land. Kids can also bounce it out at the Winter Carnival on December 21. See the full schedule at jekyllisland.com/signatureevents-category/holly-jolly-jekyll.

Jekyll & Hyde ComicHorror Con

Dec. 14, 2019

Superheroes, mythical creatures, and thousands of pop culture fans descend on the Jekyll Island Convention Center.

44th Annual New Year’s Bluegrass Festival

Jan. 2–4, 2020

Kick off 2020 with three days of family-friendly

bluegrass at the Jekyll Island Convention Center.

Island Treasures

Jan. 1–Feb. 29, 2020

This two-month hunt for colorful, handcrafted glass globes is a nod to the floats historically used in fishing nets, once the prize of beachcombers. The hunt is now an island tradition.

renowned beverage tastings and inspired cuisine from some of the South’s best chefs and local culinary superstars, with a chance to experience coastal wildlife up-close, all in one weekend.

Jekyll Island Arts Association Arts Festival

March 13–15, 2020

Watch artists demonstrations, try an interactive art activity, and see the work of more than 400 recognized regional painters, potters, woodworkers, weavers, and more.

Turtle Crawl

Jekyll Island Marathon‚

Half Marathon & 10K

Jan. 19, 2020

The only marathon held on a Georgia barrier island showcases Jekyll’s ever-shifting landscape. Join us for the third annual event, ending with a celebration in Beach Village.

Whiskey, Wine & Wildlife

Feb. 6–9, 2020

The series of culinary celebrations artfully combines

March 14, 2020 Run a race, save a turtle! Benefitting the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, this 5K, 10K and One-Mile Beach Run offers fun for the whole family.

Jekyll Book Festival

April 11, 2020

The third-annual event will bring book signings and author lectures to Beach Village, with an emphasis on children’s and young adult literature.

Midden Treasure

Uncovering the island’s past in what’s left behind

BY TESS MALONE

What’s disposed of, lost, or left behind can explain a lot about a society.

Archaeologists have discovered as much in Jekyll Island’s middens, heaps of long-ago tossed-out kitchen scraps, seashells and other buried treasures scattered around the island.

Each midden is a tapestry revealing how the Guale and Mocama tribes ate, worshipped, lived, and eventually moved on after their arrival on Jekyll around 2500 B.C. An example: Oysters and mollusks always have been a culinary staple of islanders. Now, their shells have become part of the walls of

the dozens of middens found on the island. Bird, fish, and deer bones found in the middens' depths help to explain the island inhabitants' well-rounded diet. Maybe the most insightful find in middens: Traces of pollen, which help determine what was blooming in each bygone season.

The middens also show evidence of cooking, proof that tribes were staying long enough to call Jekyll home. (Some of the oldest North American pottery is found on Jekyll. Sherds from broken cooking pots are found in middens.) Charcoal in middens—made of everything from nutshells to corn cobs—enables us to use radiocarbon dating to determine when tribes began to settle on the island. Each layer in a midden gives us insight into different time periods.

All of that rich history isn't readily apparent, though. Uncovering the past takes skill and a good bit of patience. "Care must be exercised in excavating middens and recording the findings," says Bruce Piatek, the Director of Historical Resources for the Jekyll Island Authority. "To unravel the story of who, what, where,

and when, we need all the clues that are part of the midden: its location, artifacts, pollen samples, and other features."

Like many Jekyll visitors today, Native Americans first came to the island for its favorable climate. They stayed for its easily traversed waterways and bountiful access to food. Eventually the Guale and Mocama settled here, as evidenced by the burial mound in front of Indian Mound Cottage.

That mound is part of a larger midden that encompasses the Historic District and shows the robust life that Native Americans once led here. The burial ground was discovered when the Rockefeller family, looking to improve the cottage’s view of the river, had part of the mound dug up.

"What we find in middens is the unwritten history of Jekyll Island," Piatek says, "and parts of the story have yet to be told."

HIDDEN IN THE MIDDEN

Explore a midden through a hands-on exhibit at Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum, and find what archaeologists have uncovered about Native American life on the Island. jekyllisland.com/Mosaic

What we find in middens is the unwritten history of Jekyll Island." "

Excavators under the supervision of anthropologist Ray Crook of the University of West Georgia uncover a midden on Jekyll in the late 1990s.

Great Grapes

Sweet but tough muscadines flourish on the island

BY CANDICE DYER

Grapevines around Jekyll produce a lot of grapes, even if they're the not-so tender kind.

"Muscadines are not the grapes you buy in the grocery store," says Guy "Yank" Moore, Conservation Land Manager for the Jekyll Island Authority. "They have a thick, fleshy outer shell."

They're irresistibly sweet. The grapes themselves are purple, and their leaves turn red late in the year. "Their red color makes them part of our fall foliage," Moore says. "People can pick [the grapes] and eat them from the vine."

Muscadines are native to this part of the country and have been for centuries. The University of Georgia operates the oldest breeding program for muscadines in the country. Established in 1909, it aims to lengthen the harvest time and make those skins a little less chewy.

Muscadine seeds are spread throughout Jekyll by the animals who eat the berries. The grapes begin to appear in mid-summer before turning up in homemade jams, jellies, and wine. The grapes begin to appear in mid-summer before turning up in homemade jams, jellies, and wine. The muscadine species boasts more than 100 varieties, several of which are found on Jekyll. "They are all over the island," Moore says. They've been around a long time, too. Some of Jekyll’s muscadine vines are so old that they’re a whopping 10 inches in diameter. "They're like a tree," Moore says. "It may have taken 100 years for them to get that big."

years for

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They're like a tree," Moore says. It may have taken 100

them to

that big."

" "

A place to make memories

Where EAGLES SOAR

Two pairs of the American icons roam the island skies

BY CANDICE DYER

Bald eagles know how to commit. "They mate for life and remain monogamous," says Ray Emerson, lead park ranger for the Jekyll Island Authority's Conservation Department. "They also practice what we call 'nest fidelity' in that they return to the same nest year after year, as long as the nest has not been destroyed."

Jekyll boasts two active pairs of bald eagles, but only one has successfully reared hatchlings, laying eggs at the beginning of December 2018. Bald eagles produce chicks that fledge in about four months.

The eaglets test their wings by flying among the treetops before striking out on their own. These birds of prey—fed on a diet of fish, water birds, and small mammals—settle here from October to May, then ride the thermals to cooler climates. They can boast a wingspan as long as seven-and-a-half feet.

Like humans, these birds age into their snowy pates. "They are mottled for the first three or four years before their heads turn completely white," Emerson says. Bald eagles in the wild typically live 20-30 years. The oldest bald eagle to have died in the wild at a known age was 38.

The beloved national symbol

used to be classified as an endangered species, but it's making a comeback. "The pesticide DDT was in the bodies of the animals that eagles eat, and it made their eggshells very thin and easy to break," Emerson says. "Now that DDT has been banned, they’re considered stable and expanding."

See for Yourself

The island's rangers offer guided tours, with shared binoculars and a spotting scope, every Saturday from December through January, at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Visit jekyllisland.com/rangerwalks for more information.

These birds of prey settle here from October to May before riding the thermals north for cooler climates.

LEARN MORE

Master of the Craft

BY JOSH GREEN PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN AUSTIN LEE

s she does most years, Yvonne Grovner hosted a three-hour basketmaking class last February for snowbirds and other visitors at the Jekyll Island Campground. As usual, the class was full.

Under her watchful eye, Grovner’s two dozen pupils that day—like those she continues to teach in places around Georgia and the more regular disciples she leads at her Sapelo Island home—shaped baskets of sweetgrass and sawtooth palmetto. They left with something even more impressive: an appreciation for a threatened craft that’s integral to the Gullah Geechee, descendants of Africans once enslaved in coastal communities from North Carolina to Florida.

The type of basketmaking that Grovner utilizes began in Africa, and came with the slaves that were brought to the American South in the 1600s. The first baskets, known as "fanners," were used to separate the grain from the husks of a new crop that soon would become a major money-maker for Southern plantation owners—

rice. Others were used to carry food, and to cradle babies while their mothers worked the fields. Still others had different uses, from straining foods to covering the head.

Basketmaking was passed on to generations of American slaves through the mid 1800s, but faltered after the Civil War wiped out much of the rice industry. The skill soon fell more into the realm of art and crafts, regarded more for its beauty and nostalgia than its practicality.

Throughout the 20th century, artisans sold their wares along coastal highways in the South, but hurricanes and storms often devastated the makeshift stands.

Grovner, a master basketmaker with clientele from New York to Colorado, is among the most prolific—and one of the few—skilled weavers remaining in Georgia. "You know, it’s a dying art, a tradition that came from Africa," says Grovner, 59. "You don’t want it to die. You want to continue it, keep it going."

Today, baskets are a side gig for Grovner. The grandmother of two works full-time as a Georgia Department of Natural Resources island tour guide. She's also a cookbook author, and she's a first-responder on an island with no doctors.

But at night, while watching TV, she keeps the art alive, cranking out up to 15 baskets a month.

A native of nearby Crescent, about an hour north of Jekyll, Grovner moved to Sapelo four decades ago and marveled at baskets crafted by her husband’s uncle, the masterful Allen Green. He’s regarded as a local treasure, the Rembrandt of basketmaking, with work featured at the Smithsonian. Two years before his death in 1998, Green finally agreed to teach Grovner his techniques. She’s passed on those skills now to her daughter, husband, and other friends, aided by a grant from the Sapelo Foundation.

For materials, Grovner collects sweetgrass near ditches and snips the stems of abundant palmettos. With little more than scissors, a flattened and sharpened paint-can opener for poking holes, and an old-timey, safely dulled knife, she shaves down the palmetto stems, begins a small base with a knot, and

builds outward from there. Sometimes, she incorporates handles for variety or pine needles for color. A basket the size of a dinner plate takes at least 10 hours of stitching time alone. Grovner's work fetches her anywhere from $50 to her record, $800.

"You have to have a whole lot of patience to make a basket," Grovner says. "I got patience. Also, I like artwork. And it’s good therapy for your hands. It’s real relaxing to sit and work on baskets."

One repeat customer is Bill Hodges, a retired environmental engineer. His home on Sapelo is dotted with handwoven baskets used for holding everything from bread and vegetables to spare change. Others are just for show.

"Everybody makes them a little differently, some a little fancier, but [Grovner’s] are unique—the true, traditional basket," says Hodges. "They’re a cultural artifact of this area, this region, and have been made for hundreds of years, basically the same way. I just enjoy being able to tie the people to the culture."

You can contact Grovner about her baskets at yvonnegrovner@ yahoo.com or (912) 485-2262.

CONNECTING ON JEKYLL

On the island’s south end, at St. Andrews Beach Park, visitors can learn more about Gullah Geechee culture at The Wanderer Memory Trail, which relays the story of one of America’s last known slave ships and where it landed (illegally) in 1858. Onboard were more than 400 enslaved Africans, for whom basketmaking was a timeworn tradition.

More on The Wanderer can be found at Mosaic, the Jekyll Island Museum (jekyllisland.com/Mosaic), where a replica hull of the ship is on display and you can hear accounts of those who survived the voyage. Also at Mosaic; a display of baskets made by local Gullah Geechee artists, including Grovner. — Josh Green

Nightly Prix Fixe Menu–$49.

Savor a four course dinner featuring an amuse bouche, appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert. Wine pairing available for an additional $20. Become a part of our storied history. Grand

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Grovner, one of the few master basketweavers remaining in Georgia, can turn out as many as 15 baskets a month.

LEARN MORE

Move Over, Boys

Kate Papin was the first female member of the Jekyll Island Club

BY JENNIFER SENATOR

While the original Jekyll Island Club was plenty progressive for its time—women and children could join men in a number of island activities—when Kate Allerton Papin became the club’s first full-fledged female member, it made national headlines.

"Clubs and clubmen will be interested in the decision of the Jekyll Island Club to admit women to full membership, with all the club rights and privileges accorded to men," said The New York Times of June 3, 1893.

"This was unique," says Andrea Marroquin, Curator of the Jekyll Island Museum, "as many private clubs were exclusively for either men or women."

Papin, a widow, inherited her membership from her father, Samuel Waters Allerton, a banker considered the third wealthiest man in Chicago. She was granted access to the island, accommodations at the Jekyll Island Club, hunting privileges ("Women were very involved in hunting," says Marroquin) and was permitted to participate in activities such as golf, tennis, croquet, lawn bowling, and horseback riding.

But there were limits, says Marroquin.

"She expressed interest in buying into Sans Souci, the

apartment complex built on the island in 1906," Marroquin explains, "but the club objected because she was a widow. J.P. Morgan ended up with that apartment."

When Papin married Hugo Richards Johnstone, she transferred her membership to him. After Johnstone died in 1907, she retained her membership.

Over the nearly five decades beginning with Papin's admittance into the Club, 31 women became full members and, as a result, the club’s priorities expanded. The women, involved in philanthropic efforts in their home cities, were very interested in the social welfare of the area. "That was new for the club," says Marroquin.

The women introduced balls and galas. They helped establish a school for children of club staff, spearheaded the opening of a hospital in Brunswick, and were involved with the chapel and other projects. The ladies also made time for less serious activities, too.

"They created a society of spoon and egg races on bicycles, known as the Ladies Rough Riding Obstacle Bicycle Society," Marroquin says with a laugh. "The club had so much to offer, and they got a chance to enjoy it every bit as much as the men."

Five ladies and one gentleman of the Jekyll Island Club congregate on the old Jekyll Wharf, circa 1910.

Josh Rachel believes that every brewer falls in love with a certain aspect of the beer-making process. Some are obsessed with the chemistry involved. Others are gearheads when it comes to the equipment. Rachel gets wrapped up in the history of his craft, a seemingly magical ritual of fermentation that has remained largely unchanged since it was brought to this continent by its earliest European settlers. History is also why Rachel’s company is called Jekyll Brewing.

The full name of the brewery is Jekyll Brewing of Alpharetta, Georgia. Though the actual beer is made

some 350 miles northwest of its namesake isle in an Atlanta suburb, every bottle, can, and keg is infused with the spirit of Jekyll Island. "We’re based in Alpharetta," says Rachel, "but we wanted to pay our respects to where beer developed in Georgia and the Southeast."

Rachel is referring to what is believed to have been the first brewery in the Deep South, started on Jekyll Island by Maj. William Horton, friend and military aide to Georgia’s founder, Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe. Horton was granted rights to Jekyll Island by the trustees of the Colony of Georgia in 1735, and years later purchased a "Great Copper" pot to brew barley into beer—considered the beginning of the region's first brewery.

In those days, alcohol was used less as a refreshment or intoxicant and more as a clean source of hydration. Water drawn from local streams and lakes was teeming with bacteria and could cause illness or death. But when it was boiled into wort for beer, the malignant microbes burned away.

Horton’s brewery helped to sustain an entire island of troops and colonists. When settlers arrived from Europe, they were issued a plot of land, some farming tools, and 44 gallons of beer. "Beer was part of what their survival was based around," says Rachel. "That’s where it all started."

For Rachel, it started about 260 years later when he came home from the University of West Georgia for Father’s Day and agreed to help his dad brew a batch

of beer. Rachel’s father was a longtime home-brewer, and the knack proved hereditary—so much so that, after college, Rachel went to work in a homebrew supply store. Meanwhile, he honed his own takes on traditional styles of beer while being careful to stay true to their history.

By 2013, his recipes were ready for public consumption, and with the help of a Kickstarter campaign, Rachel and business partner Mike Lundmark launched Jekyll Brewing. When it came time to name each beer, the pair doubled down on their regional heritage

with Hop Dang Diggity Southern IPA, Cooter Brown American Brown Ale, and, of course, the Major Horton Export Stout. Today on Jekyll Island, the tabby remains of what is now referred to as the Warehouse Ruins—what some still call "The Brewery"—are still visible across from Horton House on Riverview Drive. Meanwhile, at bars and restaurants all over the island and all over Georgia, thirsty residents and travelers can order a beer from Jekyll Brewing, toast Rachel and his muse, Maj. Horton, and taste a modern spin on a crucial part of Southern history.

JEKYLL OCEAN CLUB

Jekyll Brewing co-owner and brewmaster Josh Rachel, here in his Alpharetta brewery, is behind favorites like Hop Dang Diggity Southern IPA and Cooter Brown American Brown Ale.

“Everything took on a new perspective, since this was the first time in my life I was unable to walk. I looked at every building and event with a new eye to how I was going to get in and out. But I enjoyed my time at Jekyll immensely. I could access everything—the beach, restaurants, the new museum [Mosaic], mini-golf, the trolley tour, and especially the water park. I rolled my chair right into the pool! I floated for a long time down the lazy river on the tube, which was very liberating. And my family was together the whole time.

I didn’t feel as if there was a divide between them and me. I felt a part of everything that we did.”

—debra hughes

As told to JENNIFER SENATOR Photograph by KATIE BOWER, BOWERPOWERBLOG.COM

debra hughes, of snellville, georgia, broke her leg before a planned trip to jekyll with her family of nine, including five grandchildren. while hughes considered skipping the trip, she says her daughter, katie bower, convinced her that she could still enjoy jekyll because of the island’s attention to accessibility, and the improvements that are continuously being made to provide access to all.

SeRviCE

of others

BEHIND THE OPULENCE OF THE CLUB ERA ARE STORIES OF hard-working people WHO KEPT JEKYLL ISLAND RUNNING

BY TONY REHAGEN

Jekyll Island has many different histories, from the modern State Era, when Jekyll opened as a State Park, back through the Plantation and Colonial Eras, back even further, thousands of years ago, to the time that the Mocama and other Native Americans settled here. The island’s best-known and most mythologized period remains the Club Era, from 1886 to the start of World War II, when Jekyll was a private playground for America’s rich and famous. Titans of industry—the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Morgans among them—vacationed in luxurious cottages and the lavish Jekyll Island Club. They transformed the island into the world’s most exclusive retreat.

Within that gilded age existed a separate history, though, a photo-negative that ran parallel to, but mostly apart from, the storied world of old money. It was a place of back staircases, outbuildings, and a subterranean laundry; of cramped quarters and modest houses where the working class faithfully toiled in the shadows of their celebrity benefactors. It was a world inhabited by hundreds of men, women, and children who, while the wealthy had their fun, worked to keep Jekyll Island alive and running.

Life was not easy for the workers of Jekyll Island. Their days were spent filling many different roles: maid, cook, chauffeur, valet, nurse, carpenter, and laborer, to name a few. Though it’s impossible to get a true feel for a typical day for the servants toiling in the shadows of the rich and famous—typical days did not exist in the Club Era—a patchwork of anecdotes passed down through generations of Jekyll residents paints a picture of these people who dedicated much of their lives to the service of others.

To view the Club Era through the eyes of those who served, the natural place to begin is with Charlie Hill, the patriarch of Jekyll servants. Hill was said to have been part of the first delegation sent to survey the island when the possibility of a grand club on Jekyll was being considered in the 1880s. In 1891, the Maurice family of Hollybourne Cottage hired him as a coachman and caretaker.

In the beginning, two kinds of servants worked on the island. There were those who traveled with the wealthy snowbirds from the cities in the north. These were personal assistants, mostly of European descent—usually Irish or German—who filled any number of specialized needs, from footmen to hairdressers. Andrea Marroquin, curator at Mosaic, the Jekyll Island Museum, says that one family reportedly brought along a person whose sole responsibility was described as “packer of jewels.”

The rest of the island’s workers, like Hill, came

Life was not easy for the workers of Jekyll Island. Their days were spent filling many different roles: maid, cook, chauffeur, valet, nurse, carpenter and laborer, to name a few.

Charlie Hill with wife Angie (right) and daughter Anna (left).

Charlie Hill was employed on the island for 51 years, most of that time as the Maurice family caretaker.

from the nearby mainland, mostly from the Brunswick area. Like Hill, they lived on the island year-round. A vast majority were African American (about 77 percent), and they worked either for the Club (as anything from ferrymen to housekeepers to groundskeepers to gamekeepers) or the individual families (as cooks, maids, stable keepers, caretakers, or just about any other job). Some, like Hill and his wife, Angie, who also worked for the Maurices as a laundress, lived in houses near their employer’s cottages. Sometimes, the servants lived in rooms inside the cottages themselves. But a large cluster of them lived just steps from the Club in buildings along Pier Road.

During the Club’s heyday in the 1920s, Pier Road sported nearly 120 structures, both

residences and businesses, for employees. There was a taxidermy shop, an upholsterer, several woodsheds, a dining hall, and The Commissary, a general store that sold provisions and served hot food. Every day, the Club foreman would ring a bell at noon, calling in the workers for their midday meal. He’d ring it again for dinner in the evening. As a result, Pier Road became known as “Feeding Road.”

The rest of the time, from dawn to dusk and into the night, the servants were performing their labors; out in the Coastal Georgia sun, or in kitchens, laundries, and workshops. Still, these positions were highly sought after. For working-class, blue-collar people, a position on the Jekyll Island workforce was as exclusive and elusive as Club membership was for the rich. “It

wasn’t just the members who had to have the right checkbook balance, relatives, and acquaintances to get onto the island,” says Marroquin. “It was the same way with employees.”

Hill, as one of the original servants, wielded his patronage up and down his family tree. His brother was a groundskeeper, his nephew a caddy, an in-law was a wagon driver, and his daughter was a schoolteacher.

The allure of the work, primarily, was the pay. Hill made $25 a week during the height of the Great Depression, when most people were lucky to scrape together a dollar or two. A head chef made $150 per month, a chambermaid $50, with

Club employees and servants participate in a St. Patrick’s Day dance held at Frederic Baker’s stable, circa 1909.

An employee hangs clothes up to dry, 1903.

Club employees arrive on Jekyll Island, circa 1910.

most unskilled jobs still earning $20 a month. As everywhere else, men were paid more than women and whites more than blacks. (A white woman earned double that of a black woman.) Work on Jekyll was relatively lucrative for the time.

There were perks, too. Sometimes the wealthy employers were good tippers and gift-givers at birthdays and holidays. Other times they might even invite the employees to dinner or a party or dance. Sometimes, the Maurices were known to leave their house to their staff so they could have the run of the place for their own party.

Perhaps the biggest bonus to working and living year-round on the island was the fact that the aristocratic bosses were usually around for only three or four months during the winter. For the remainder of the year,

IN THEIR SHOES

the full-time residents were mostly free to roam the island and take advantage of its amenities. They could use the bowling alleys and tennis courts, swim at the beach, and enjoy their own dances and costume balls. Hill’s nephew, Earl Hill, became a scratch golfer by hitting the course in the offseason. “The island was still segregated,” Marroquin says. “But there would have been a lot more freedom for the African Americans from the Jim Crow rules on the mainland.”

The party, unfortunately, didn’t last. With the onset of World War II, the Club Era came to an end and the Club closed. Charlie Hill and Angie helped the Maurice daughters pack up their house for their final winter on Jekyll, in 1942. The island all but shut down. Hill, one of the originals, died in 1974, at age 99.

Get a sense of what life was like for the servants of the Club Era through "In the Service of Others," a guided livinghistory tour of the Jekyll Island Club and its grounds. Staff from Mosaic, the Jekyll Island Museum embody real-life workers from the Club’s heyday, leading visitors down back staircases, through underground passageways, and into the servants’ quarters where hundreds of men and women toiled to keep the island running for its wealthy patrons. Tours are offered seasonally on select Saturdays in April. For more information or to book tickets; (912) 635-4036 or jekyllisland.com/ history

TONY REHAGEN

photo (right): brian austin lee

The allure of the work, primarily, was the pay. Hill made $25 a week during the height of the Great Depression, when most people were lucky to scrape together a dollar or two.

Thomas Gage, hired to build Crane Cottage, enjoys a day at the beach with his family, 1916.

Employees eat watermelon on the servants' annex porch.

1:16 p.m.

The brontosaurus at Jekyll Island Miniature Golf is not exactly prehistoric, but it is the attraction's oldest, and maybe most beloved, resident. The green one has been around since the 1960s, and now watches over (among other obstacles) turtles, the standard windmill, a familiar-looking bulldog and a red-nosed egg. Dustin Corbitt (pictured) puts a fresh coat of paint on the big dinosaur.

Photography by BRIAN AUSTIN LEE

3:10 p.m.

Taking a turtle for a walk is not exactly like taking a dog for a walk. But it's close. "Even if they just sit and don't move," Allison Hardman, a rehab tech for the GSTC, says, "we try to keep them out there. Vitamin D is very important for their metabolism…" Volunteer Mary Kathleen Ritter (pictured) watches as recovering gopher tortoise Pherus takes her daily stroll.

4:00 p.m.

With some 25,000 artifacts to inventory, the custodians of the island's history are always busy. Rose Marie Kimbell (pictured) uses a new scanner to make a digital copy of an historic manuscript. "The end goal is to make a lot of our collection more accessible to the public," says Andrea Marroquin, Jekyll Island Authority's curator. "This is a huge step forward in bringing us in that direction."

7:01 p.m.

"Light Lady" Delores Johnson has been hanging the island's holiday lights—as many as half-a-million of them—for 13 years. "I look forward to it each year," Johnson says. "I'm up on that lift quite often." It takes her and a team a few weeks to get everything untangled, but the lights start to go up in September and come down in January.

10:17 p.m.

Jekyll Island's Wildlife Response team— (912) 222-5992—is always on the ready. "People call us for everything and anything as far as animals go," and that includes, once, an escaped guinea pig, says wildlife biologist Joseph Colbert. "Who else you gonna call but Wildlife Response?" Here, Colbert and AmeriCorps member Collin Richter measure and tag a wayward gator before relocating it to a wetlands area.

1:15 a.m.

Every night from May through July, UTVs patrol the beaches of Jekyll, searching for nesting sea turtles. The Night Patrol team (and guests on a ride-along) measure the turtles, conduct tests, check or apply ID, then set up protective fencing around the nests. "It allows us to see a lot of beautiful nights, a lot of interesting turtles," says David Steen, a research ecologist for the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, "and some great sunrises."

To keep Jekyll's four award-winning golf courses in top shape, Aaron Saunders' crew is on the mowers by 6 every morning, before the first guests tee off at 8. Saunders (pictured), the director of golf course maintenance, also checks that the fairways and greens are free from disease, and don't have too much (or too little) moisture. "There's always something," Saunders says.

11:29 a.m.

Captain Larry Crews (pictured) and wife Judy have been on the Jekyll Island fishing scene for 22 years. Dragging for live bait—shrimp— is part of what they do at the Jekyll Fishing Center. When they drag is not up to them. "We go by when we need it," Judy says. "Also by the tides. It's never a consistent thing. It's kind of Mother Nature's time frame."

9 a.m.

On any given day, hundreds of thousands of gallons of drinking water and wastewater stream through the Jekyll Island treatment plant. It's constantly tested for safety. "We have a state certified drinking water lab, as well as the wastewater lab, which runs all the samples on the wastewater side," says Alan Thurston, the island's water superintendent. Lab supervisor Lydia Crawford (pictured) checks samples for acidity.

IndIspensable horseshoe Crab

Research on Jekyll could help this primordial creature, medical science, and an entire ecosystem

BY REBECCA BURNS ILLUSTRATION BY ANDY LOWELL

W W

The horseshoe crab might seem alien, but it probably shouldn't. This animal has been here for somewhere around 450 million years, predating dinosaurs. "This is a very old species," says Anthony Dellinger, president and lead scientist for North Carolina-based Kepley BioSystems, "with a very specialized immune system." Paradoxically, that natural immunity contributes to the risk that the species now faces. For the past few decades, the blue blood that protects horseshoe crabs from infection has become a key ingredient in a substance that ensures

that biomedical devices, cosmetics, and certain drugs and vaccines are free from potentially deadly bacteria. The increased demand for crab blood for these medical purposes has led to dangerously aggressive harvesting. The resulting decline in the horseshoe crab population—the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List classifies the crab as "vulnerable"—has had ripple effects through a coastal ecosystem stretching the entire Atlantic coast. A small project on Jekyll has big ambitions: to reverse the fortunes of the horseshoe crab.

FREAKING OUT

is understandable when encountering a horseshoe crab on the beach. After all, these ancient creatures have five pairs of legs, ten eyes, long spiky tails, and mouths on the bottom of their shells. They're the incarnate version of those things inside the robot suits on Dr. Who or a scale model of an extraterrestrial that Sigourney Weaver might battle. And if you come across a recently injured crab, you might discover another startling fact: It oozes azure blood.

Kepley BioSystems research scientist Kristen Dellinger (right) eyes a sample of horseshoe crab blood.

Some 500,000 horseshoe crabs are captured every year for medical purposes. How many survive the ritual is uncertain.

the jekyll experiment

Some 500,000 horseshoe crabs are captured every year for medical purposes, generally in May and June, when they flock to beaches to spawn. Captured crabs are bled and returned to the ocean, a process that can take up to 48 hours. How many survive the ritual is uncertain. Estimates put the mortality rate as high as 30 percent.

"Collection can be dangerous to the crabs and often is indiscriminate," says Kristen Dellinger, a scientist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a senior scientist at Kepley.

Just as Western cattlemen protected the bison through controlled ranching, the Dellingers and Kepley hope their project on Jekyll Island, the first phase of what Kepley is calling the Horseshoe Crab Ranch & Blood Institute, can preserve the horseshoe crab.

Tucked into Tidelands Pond, adjacent to the 4-H Tidelands Nature Center on the southwest end of the island, the experiment is funded by a National Science Foundation grant and managed in partnership with the University of Georgia Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant. About 40 crabs are residents in the pond, all housed in 15-by-15 foot enclosures in a protected pool that is freshened daily by tidal flows.

Like those who herd livestock from pasture to pasture, the UGA marine extension team rotates the crab enclosures in the estuary to prevent "overgrazing," says Bryan Fluech, associate director of extension at Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant. Aided by interns from the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick, Fluech's team checks on the crabs, monitoring when and how often they feed, and supplements the natural food sources—such as krill and minnows—with other food. The crabs, it appears, are fond of anchovies.

Two of the crabs are test subjects for another

innovation. They've been outfitted with ports—like those inserted for intravenous drips—which could allow labs to draw blood less invasively. "We're wrestling with the economics and logistics," says Kristen Dellinger. Kepley's hope is that the next phase of the research, wherever that may be, will allow the company to explore the viability of commercialized ranching of crabs for medical research.

"The solution requires thoughtfulness to create a compassionate and humane solution," says Anthony Dellinger.

an ecosystem in the balance

The contribution of horseshoe crabs to the biomedical industry is only a few decades old, but the crabs have played a pivotal role in sustaining an ecosystem stretching from South America to the Arctic for hundreds of thousands of years, says Abby Sterling. She's a shorebird biologist with Manomet, a nonprofit that has spent decades on the conservation of shorebirds, including work with the Georgia Bight Shorebird Conservation Initiative.

Birds such as the Red Knot make stops on the North Atlantic coast en route from Southern Argentina to the Canadian Arctic.

UGA's Bryan Fluech and intern Ivy Spratling measure the water quality at the horseshoe crab research site on Jekyll. Below, Fluech examines a crab in one of the enclosures.

Above, researchers are using different methods to collect samples less invasively. Left, a horseshoe crab is given a health assessment to ensure vitality and well-being.

They feast on nutritiously dense and easily digestible horseshoe crab eggs, which can allow a single bird to double its weight.

"Horseshoe crab spawning is an important resource for migration," Sterling says. "The birds have to build up their weight to have fuel to get to the Arctic to build their nests and raise chicks."

The Delaware Bay has been the "epicenter" of this migratory pattern for millennia, but birds increasingly have been stopping further south, notes Sterling.

Harvesting of horseshoe crabs by the fishing and biomedical industries now is regulated, but the crab population still is dwindling, threatening the bird population. In the early 1990s, beaches in New Jersey held up to 100,000 eggs per square yard, a yield that has dropped to about 5,000, according to a 2018 report in Audubon magazine.

"Shorebirds face pressures including habitat loss, climate change, and Arctic warming," Sterling says. "Losing an important nutrition source is another pressure."

While crabs have been harvested for the biomedical industry in South Carolina, the industrial harvesting and bleeding of the crabs has been less prevalent here in the Southeast, which Sterling calls "one of the last strongholds" for the birds and crabs. "In Georgia, there has not been significant pressure on horseshoe crabs, and that's something we want to maintain," she says.

TRUE BLUE BLOODS

When a horseshoe crab encounters a toxin, its blood—which is blue because it contains copper instead of iron—clots around the infecting substance, preventing it from pervading the bloodstream. The same action is at the core of Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL), an agent derived from horseshoe crab blood and used to test millions of medical products for contamination.

HERE ’ S HOW IT WORKS:

1. When bacteria like E. coli die, they create a substance called endotoxin. It can be dangerous if it gets into spinal fluid or the bloodstream.

2. Horseshoe crab blood is sensitive to endotoxin; it clots when encountering it.

3. The LAL, created from the blood, clots if endotoxin is detected.

4. So LAL is used to test vaccines (such as the flu shot), devices (such as stents), and medical treatments (such as chemotherapy).

Prior to the development of LAL, medical testing of this type was conducted by injecting live rabbits.

— Rebecca Burns

LEND A HAND

"The whole length of the hemisphere depends on these critical stopover places. Shorebirds need low-disturbance places to roost and to find food resources."

The horseshoe crab project on Jekyll considers all these varying interests; public health, the health of shorebirds, the fishing industry, the survival of the crabs themselves, and the biomedical industry, says Anthony Dellinger. "When we approach a problem, we approach it in its entirety."

from here, a global reach

"We have been blown away by the reception in Georgia. Jekyll Island has been amazing to work with," says Kristen Dellinger. In addition to collaborating with scientists at UGA and the host Jekyll Island Authority, a happy coincidence of the horseshoe crab project has been its proximity to the 4-H Tidelands facility, which has allowed researchers to connect with young people. "We are able to do outreach about this important species," she says.

The Kepley researchers hope the project can be developed into a largerscale model that will offer a more humane and sustainable way to harvest blood from crabs while also allowing wild populations to flourish without the impact of being bled. Beyond that, Sterling points to research into synthetic alternatives that could replace the need to draw blood from the crabs altogether. Eli Lilly, for example, has developed a compound that has been used in some testing and has been FDA approved for testing water sterility.

"The harvesting of crabs for biomedical research is critical for human well-being, but it's important to take into consideration the timeline of the relationship between birds and crabs that has developed over thousands of years," says Sterling. "Reducing pressure on the horseshoe crabs would help birds, and it also would help the crabs."

For Jekyll, the horseshoe crab experiment represents another step in the island's wide-ranging conservation efforts. "In terms of this project, our

goal is to step back and let the research unfold," says Benjamin Carswell, Director of Conservation for the Jekyll Island Authority. The horseshoe crab project, with its potential to advance medical research, aid migratory birds, and to bolster the crab population up and down the coast, marks a reach beyond local conservation.

H"This is exciting for us to host and be part of," Carswell says. "Regionally and even globally, the impact of this project goes far beyond Jekyll."

How you can help both horseshoe crabs and shorebirds at the beach

Do the Flip

If you spot an upside-down crab, simply flip it over so it can find its way back to the ocean. Or carry it (by the sides of the shell) and place it close to the water. (Don’t pick it up by the tail.) In some parts of the East Coast, volunteers walk the beaches and flip the crabs. Wrong-way-up crabs—prevalent on coastlines with man-made structures such as breakwaters and in places like Jekyll, where strong tides can toss the creatures—can get stuck if you don’t help out. “They might look scary but they don’t sting and they can’t hurt you,” says UGA marine scientist Bryan Fluech.

Spare the Eggs

The eggs are tiny, green spheres, laid near the surface of the sand. “They look like green BBs, or those nonpareil candies that decorate cakes,” says Sterling. If you see them washed up on the shore, leave them alone so shorebirds can feast.

Don’t Bug the Birds

Resist the urge to rush at birds to prompt them to fly en masse. That might make for a great Instagram moment, but it can have a devastating impact on the birds. “They only have a short window of time to put on the weight they need,” and the energy required for a burst of flight or feeling pressured to move on to another section of beach can slow that process, says Sterling. If birds don’t build those reserves, “they will not make it and won’t survive the journey or breed successfully when they arrive.”

Fill In Those Holes

Digging big pits in the sand might seem like fun, but those holes can be treacherous for creatures such as sea turtles and horseshoe crabs. They can get trapped. Fill in holes before you leave the beach for the day. “The golden rule,” says Fluech, is to “be mindful of marine life, on the beaches, in the air, and in the water.”

Rebecca Burns

"The solution requires thoughtfulness to create a compassionate and humane solution,” says anthony dellinger.

Horseshoe crabs await their check-ups before returning to their enclosures in the estuary.

PLAY ON

JEKYLL’S MOST BELOVED RECREATIONAL PURSUITS HAVE MORE THAN STOOD THE TEST OF TIME

By ELIZABETH FLORIO

t the Jekyll Island Club Resort (established 1888), guests can swing a croquet mallet on the front lawn, take high tea in the Grand Dining Room, and immerse themselves in a Victorian fairytale in the surrounding Historic District. When America’s wealthiest families wintered on Jekyll a century ago, they did much of the same: a bike ride, a tee time, and plenty of vitamin D were always included. Here’s a look at some beloved island pastimes, then and now.

Photography by BRIAN AUSTIN LEE

A Trot to Remember

In 1916, Charles Lanier, president of the Jekyll Island Club, wrote: "Too much cannot be said of the attractiveness and beauty of the thirty miles of drives, also of the bridle and bicycle paths, through the pine and live oak forests and the palmetto, holly and magnolia, thence out on the magnificent beach." (Pictured below: Employees riding horses along the beach, 1911). Experience this majesty on horseback with the help of Golden Isles Carriage and Trail at Three Oaks Farm (threeoaksfarm.com), which offers guided rides.

Long Game

Golf arrived on this golden isle in 1894, when the Jekyll Island Club became the 36th chartered golf club in the nation (Inset: A group tees off on the 13th hole at Great Dunes sometime in the 1930s). The first links came along a few years later but have been lost to time. Of the island’s four public courses, Great Dunes, designed in 1928 by noted golf innovator Walter Travis, is the oldest; nine of the original 18 holes remain in play. All of the courses are Audubon-certified wildlife sanctuaries.

Sands of Time

Jekyll beachgoers of the early 20th century loved to swim, collect seashells, and tuck into a good picnic (though errant sand was clearly a problem then as it is now, as pictured above). The area now known as Great Dunes Beach Park was and remains a popular hangout. To the south, St. Andrews Beach Park would become Georgia’s first stretch of coast open to African Americans—but not until 1955. Today, Jekyll’s beaches are best known as a haven for wildlife—threatened shorebirds and sea turtles, frolicking dolphins—and a collection of ancient driftwood. On the right day, you can have it all to yourself.

Pedal Perfect

Jekyll Island Club member William Rockefeller was such a bicycle enthusiast that he owned one of the first adult tricycles in the country, an "oil-burning motor cycle," and several classic two-wheelers. (Pictured above: Club employees bicycle on the beach, 1901-1910.) He financed a bike path on the island in 1901; the island now offers more than 20 miles of trails spanning lush forest, open coastline, and historic sites. If you want to make like a Rockefeller, rent a trike, tandem bike, or multi-rider surrey from the Jekyll Island Bike Barn—(912) 635-2648.

Swing Time

In 1887, the Jekyll Island Club Prospectus advertised tennis as a prime attraction for female guests, who would have practiced their forehand in floor-length skirts. (Inset: Florence Higginbotham and Florence Crane limber up at the Jekyll Island Club in 1929.) The Goodyear family built the first known courts on Jekyll in 1903, and by 1905 tennis was the most popular sport on the island. Today Jekyll boasts 13 Har-Tru clay courts at the Jekyll Island Tennis Center, where pros like Stewart Atkins (below) offer private lessons.

Thrill of the Hunt

The Jekyll Island Club has roots as a hunting club, with members making trophies (or meals) out of pheasants, quail, deer, alligators, wild boar, and other game. (Pictured above, inside the taxidermist shop at the Jekyll Island Club). Hunting is now illegal on the island, and shotgun-toting sportsmen have given way to binocular-wielding birders scouring for painted buntings and bald eagles, white ibises and roseate spoonbills, royal terns and piping plovers, and thousands of migratory birds on stopover. If you’re new to bird watching, reserve a guided walk with the park ranger at jekyllisland.com/rangerwalks

Where to StayJekyll Style

By CHRISTINE VAN DUSEN Photography by BRIAN AUSTIN LEE

Jekyll

Island’s history as an exclusive, nearly inaccessible club for only the most well-heeled of American families is a fascinating footnote to what is now an inclusive and well-preserved resort for visitors of all walks of life. Though some of the mansion-sized “cottages” from that bygone era still stand, and first-class accommodations are still readily available, the island boasts numerous alternative places to kick back and relax while visiting. Family- and pet-friendly hotels, rentals of differing sizes and shapes, and a popular 18-acre campsite all can be found on this pristine, seven-mile-long, 5,700-acre barrier island.

Here’s just some of what these places have to offer to today’s traveler:

beachfront hideaway BEACHVIEW CLUB HOTEL

For easy access to the beach and set at the north end of the island near Driftwood Beach, try the Beachview Club Hotel. Set among century-old live oaks, this 38-room boutique hotel overlooks a courtyard and heated pool and is adjacent to the Beach House restaurant.

721 N. Beachview Drive

(912) 635-2256

beachviewclubjekyll.com

If variety is what you long for, the island proves more than accommodating

extended stay

HOME2 SUITES by hilton Jekyll Island

Home2 Suites by Hilton, Jekyll Island is the island’s newest hotel offering. This extendedstay hotel is located across the street from the new Corsair Beach Park and walking distance to Beach Village. The property features an outdoor saline swimming pool and a combination fitness/laundry facility where guests can wash Saturday’s workout clothes while working out on Sunday.

101 Ocean Way

(912) 319-6019

home2suites3.hilton.com

timeless elegance

JEKYLL ISLAND CLUB RESORT

You don’t have to be a Rockefeller or a Pulitzer to visit the Jekyll Island Club Resort, but you may feel like a member of one of those high-falutin’ families when you check into this Victorian property with old-world charm (think croquet on the lawn) and modern conveniences (like a fitness center). Visitors describe the service as impeccable.

371 Riverview Drive

(844) 201-6871

jekyllclub.com

back to nature

JEKYLL ISLAND campground

If roughing it (in an easy kind of way) is more your thing, either in an RV or a tent, the Jekyll Island Campground, walking distance to Clam Creek and Driftwood Beach, is for you. There’s a store on site, a laundry, bathhouses, a pickleball court, and free wi-fi. (After all, roughing it goes only so far.) The campground books up months in advance, though, so it’s wise to plan early.

1197 Riverview Drive (912) 635-3021

jekyllisland.com/campground

JEKYLL OCEAN CLUB

The Jekyll Ocean Club has 40 suites that include living rooms and balconies, but visitors rave most about the adults-only rooftop terrace and open-air dining at Eighty Ocean Kitchen and Bar. It makes for a great romantic beach getaway.

80 Ocean Way

(844) 201-6871

jekyllclub.com

kids’ pick

DAYS INN & SUITES

Budget-conscious travelers may want to consider the Days Inn & Suites which offers some of the island’s best deals on suites. The hotel—in the old days, this was where the Corsair Motel stood—is also a good bet for families, with two pools (one is for children, so you won’t get sideways glances from singles.)

60 S. Beachview Drive

(912) 635-9800

daysinnjekyll.com

eat, shop, relax

The location of the Westin Jekyll Island right next to the Jekyll Island Convention Center and Beach Village shops and restaurants, makes this a popular choice for first-time visitors. In addition to three on-site restaurants, there’s an upper-deck lounge overlooking the beach, which is just steps away.

110 Ocean Way (912) 635-4545

westinjekyllisland.com

WESTIN JEKYLL ISLAND group getaway

Villas by the sea resort & conference center

Villas by the Sea Resort and Conference Center features a renovated, 9,000-square-foot event space. It’s the largest oceanside resort on the island, accommodations that feel like a cross between a hotel room and a condo. The popular Driftwood Bistro is located next to the check-in and 24-hour mini store.

1175 N. Beachview Drive

(912) 635-2521

villasbythesearesort.com

the heart of jekyll

SEAFARER INN & SUITES

For families who want to stay together but not too together, Seafarer Inn & Suites has spacious twobedroom suites with kitchenettes. The property—its name is a nod to the original Seafarer Inn that stood there decades ago—is also close to the island’s golf and tennis facilities.

700 N. Beachview Drive (912) 635-2202

seafarerinnandsuites.com

tranquil escape

HAMpTON INN & SUITES

If quiet is what you seek, consider the Hampton Inn & Suites. This hotel is located on the more tranquil, south side of the island. Follow the oak-lined boardwalk from the pool to the beach. In the evening, enjoy complimentary cookies and time to kick back around the fire pit.

200 S. Beachview Drive (912) 635-3733

jekyllislandsuites.hamptoninn.com

fur-baby friendly

HOLIDAY INN RESORT AT JEKYLL ISLAND

Pet-lovers will appreciate the welcoming policy at the Holiday Inn Resort at Jekyll Island. Close to Driftwood Beach, this hotel—long-time visitors may remember this place as the site of the former Wanderer Motel— boasts lovely views of the ocean, and dining at the Anchor or NorthShore. And to make things easy on you and your pet, many rooms on the ground floor have back doors that open directly to beach access.

701 N. Beachview Drive (912) 635-2211

holidayinnresortjekyll.com

stay like a local

COTTAGES & COndos

Those who want to stick around a little longer than a week or so may want to look into a longerterm house, cottage, apartment, condo, or villa rental. Local realtors regularly list places for rent—most you can book online—and vendors like VRBO and Airbnb can help point you to ways that you can stay like a local.

jekyllisland.com/lodgingcategory/house-rentals.

STARGAZING PATHS

Leave the street lights behind. Stow your glowing phone. Step onto the sand and into the dark embrace of a Jekyll Island night. The sea before you is a black void, whispering as it laps gently onto the cool and darkened beach, protected from glare by the island's exacting lighting ordinance. Now look up. At first, only the brightest stars are visible. But as your eyes adjust, there appear to be more stars than sky. Out of an overhead ocean you recognize the formations of the Big and Little Dippers. In the cooler fall and winter, with less humidity and haze, you can clearly spot the tri-star belt of Orion and the enjoined hands of the Gemini twins. You can connect the dots to conform to your imagination or zoom out, behold the Milky Way—a perspective lost to most urban-dwelling Americans—and contemplate your place in the galaxy. —tony rehagen

New traditions.

Everything’s different out here. Our storied history and grand traditions remain at Jekyll Island Club, yet much has changed, including our new modern amenities and all-suite, beachfront escape –Jekyll Ocean Club. Here’s to new traditions and entirely new levels of comfort.

JEKYLL ISLAND CLUB

JEKYLL OCEAN CLUB