Jekyll Island
Jekyll Island is often known as a millionaire’s playground due to its club period, when everyone from the Carnegies to the Rockefellers to the Morgans vacationed there, and the natural attractions that once lured the country’s richest families remain powerful draws today.
Though the island is inhabited, you wouldn’t know it looking at the beaches, where wild sea turtles still nest and locals catch fish without wading more than calf high into the water. Both the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, which has an outpost on the island, and the University of Georgia 4-H Tidelands Nature Center offer hands-on guided nature walks of the shore.
To get even closer to the local marine life, boat tours, which can be chartered or taken during regularly scheduled operation times, take visitors into the sound to meet the dolphins. Eric Garvey, chief communications officer for the Jekyll Island Authority, recommends an evening sunset cruise along the river for some of the island’s best photo opportunities.
According to Garvey, one of the island’s best draws is its 12-month season. During the club period, New York’s first families visited in the winter, when the infrequent storms don’t pose a problem to reaching the island and the weather is still ideal for golfing.
“When the weather turns up North is a great time to be down here,” he said.
