Have a Jolly Jekyll Christmas

Story and photos
by Kathleen Walls

For my friends who have never visited Jekyll Island, the holiday season is the perfect time to visit. The Island's Historic District, that was once a millionaires' playground, is decorated as it might have been in the Gilded Era. The former clubhouse and "cottages,"built by the millionaires who bought this island in 1886 for a winter hunting club, sparkle with lights and holiday cheer.

Jekyll Island Club Resort

The Jekyll Island Club Resort, now owned by Noble House, spent 25 million dollars on a recent upgrade so the clubhouse and resort cottages all sparkle, but retain that Gilded Age feel. The magnificent  Queen Anne-style hotel, built in 1888 for members of the Jekyll Island Club, was named as "the most exclusive, the most inaccessible club in the world." Today, its towering three-story turret is part of the Presidential Suite.

 The Annex was added in 1901. Even if you can't afford the Presidential Suite, all the resort rooms and suites are gorgeous and the perfect place to stay. The rooms are furnished in a style reminiscent of the Gilded Age but with modern conveniences. I stayed in the Annex and my room had a beautiful view. It was furnished with a confortable bed with a large brightly colored headboard. There were all the modern conveniences, including a refrigerator, but little touches like the rotary phone added to the charm. 

Later golf replaced hunting as the most popular sport. Club members built the island's first golf course in 1898. Now, its four courses: Great Dunes, Indian Mound, Oleander and Pine Lakes courses make it Georgia's largest public golf resort.  

Dining at the Club

The Grand Dining Room is a study in Victorian splendor with tis nature themed custom-made carpet, six column, its fireplace and shuttered windows looking out onto the veranda and the resorts swimming pools, Yes there are two heated pools. This was where members all dined. Now you can enjoy a  buffet breakfast, of if you're there eon Sunday, a Sunday Brunch. Our breakfast was delicious. I choose scrambled eggs, grits, bacon, and biscuits covered with the sausage gravy. there are lots of other choices including an omelet bar. It hosts events.

One event we attend in the Grand Dining Room was an Afternoon Tea starting with a glass of champagne. We were offered four tea choices, all exotic sounding.  I chose a Fireside Fig and Port Tea. we enjoyed three courses while listening to music of a cello and a violin playing softly. 

I love the seafood at The Wharf , the resort's river side restaurant. where you dine on a pier jutting into Jekyll river r where millionaires visiting the club once arrived by yacht or the club's private ferry from the mainland.

Alexander's Bar and Boars Head Lounge, just before you enter the Grand Dining room, was installed for the movie, The Legend of Bagger Vance, filmed here in 2000.

Eighty Ocean Kitchen and Bar is the beachfront restaurant at the Ocean Club which is located on the ocean and part of the resort's Ocean club.. They specialize in seafood and Southern dishes. For an appetizer have their Fried Green Tomatoes. 

There are two other dining events not miss. If you're there on Friday or Saturday, the club hosts a Champagne sabering, a ritual dating back to Napoleon's cavalry, of opening champagne by slicing off the top with a saber. The other event is a nightly s'mores by the firepit next to the pool. The club proves graham crackers, dark chocolate, marshmallows, and skewers to enjoy a traditional camping activity

Tours

Take a ride on Jekyll's Holly Jolly Trolley to see about two million lights around the island. There are lights from the Historic District to Beach Village. Trolley riders will enjoy festive holiday beverages, and sing along to Jingle Bells and other carols.

Besides the Trolley Tour, we took a fun nighttime Carriage Tour to see all the Christmas lights on the island. This tour also tell much of the history.

Mosaic

Mosaic, Jekyll's history museum, it a good place to start. It recalls events from the culture of the Timucuans, inhabitants before the first white settlers came. It tells the history of the island, from the earlier settlers to the millionaire era. It tells of two events that affected world history.

Jekyll Island was one site of the first transcontinental telephone call on January 25, 1915. Four locations participated in that call. Alexander Graham Bell was in New York. His former assistant, Thomas Watson, was in San Francisco. AT&T President Theodore Vail spoke from Jekyll Island, and President Woodrow Wilson at the White House. 

Another history shaping event led to forming The Federal Reserve Bank. It began here on November 22, 1910 at a secret meeting of Senator Nelson Aldrich, chairman of the National Monetary Commission and six other millionaires which led to the Aldrich Act that later morphed into the Federal Reserve. The room in the Clubhouse where they met has their pictures on the wall.

History of Jekyll Island

William Horton was the first owner of the island. The ruins of his home, The Horton House, was built in1743. It is one of the oldest tabby buildings in Georgia. Well worth the drive to view it.

Then came the DuBignon Family, from 1790 to 1886. At first, they lived in the Horton House from 1790 until the mid-1800s and then built a home in what later became the millionaires' village. The cemetery where they are buried is across the street from the Horton House. .

DuBignon Home

The DuBignon Home, built in 1884 by John Eugene DuBignon, the man who sold the Island to the Club is the simplest of the cottages. They decorated it in garlands and poinsettias.

Sans Souci

Three of the cottages, Sans Souci, Crane Cottage, and Cherokee, are part of the resort and can be booked. Sans Souci, built by J. P. Morgan and a few friends in 1896  is one of the country's first condominiums. Sans Souci means "no worries."  It's 24 guest rooms are decorated in Victorian style  Four rooms are pet-friendly here.

Crane Cottage

Crane Cottage, an Italian Renaissance style cottage housing 13 recently refreshed guest rooms, was built between 1917 and 1919, by Richard Teller Crane, Jr, owner of Crane plumbing, based on a European castle as his 20-bedroom, 17-baths, winter retreat. He had a hard time getting it approved by the Jekyll Island Club who said it was "too elegant" he compromised by changing his plan of marble floors for pine wood floors. It's the most popular wedding venue with its sunken garden, courtyard and fountains.

Cherokee

Cherokee, built in 1904 for Dr. George Frederick Shrady and his wife and named for Georgia's state flower, The Cherokee Rose, is another Italian Renaissance cottage with 10 guest rooms.

Indian Mound

An earlier trolley tour took me inside Indian Mound, originally built by Gordon McKay in 1892. After McKay's death, William Rockefeller bought it. It was originally smaller. Rockefeller expanded to nine bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and seven servant rooms. He added an elevator, a cedar-lined walk-in safe, and taps for hot and cold salt water on the bathtub in Mrs. Rockefeller's bath. The driver, Amanda, explained that both the Rockefellers had medical issues. Mrs. Rockefeller had neuropathy and believed bathing in salt water helped relieve it.

Amanda talked about the furnishing and family stories. It's simple things like the hat and hairbrush sitting on the dresser in Mrs. Rockefeller's room, and the doll and tricycle in the grandchildren's room that give you a feeling what life was like for some of the richest people in American.

Moss Cottage

On my latest trolley tour, Kira, our driver, took me into rustic green Moss Cottage, built in 1898 for the Struthers' family, who were the gamekeepers for the island.  The building date is inscribed in seashells on the front gold trimmed dormer window. this is one of the few cottages with a kitchen because the Struthers were the club's gamekeeper and arrived early. Normally club members were expected to dine in the Grand Dining Room.

Hollybourne

Built in 1891, Hollybourne is a Jacobethan-style, two-story property built for bridge builder Charles Stewart Maurice. Reputedly the most haunted house on the island.

Faith Chapel

The Trolley Tour also includes a history tour of Faith Chapel after the trolley tour. You can visit for free earlier, but from 12pm to 4pm there is a docent who tells the chapel's history. The rear of the chapel has one of the most famous Tiffany windows, "David Set Singers Before the Lord."

Maintaining the History

We had a behind-the-scenes experience when we visited the woodworking shop. Ed who keeps the cottages in shape explaine how all repairs must meet historic standards. He explaind how he saves parts of damabged items so remaind parts can be reused in similar objects that break. 

Georgia Sea Turtle Rescue Center

Georgia's only sea turtle education and rehabilitation facility will thrill nature lovers. It's housed in what was once the Power Plant building. It's a cross between a museum and a turtle hospital. Turtles have thrived since the time of the dinosaurs, but could become endangered by today's careless boaters, reckless drivers, and lighting that directs hatchlings away from, instead of, into the ocean. You learn about the different kinds of turtles and tortoises.

The best part is in the rehabilitation section behind the main building. There you meet injured turtles who are being treated.

The Wanderer

The Wanderer, the last known slave ship to bring slaves illegally into the country, has exhibits telling that sad story. The Wanderer Memory Trail, located outside the village, also tells the story of that fateful voyage.

Even what were the simple buildings in the servant's area have been converted to shops like the Commissary. It served much the same purpose in the Club era as general store and is decorated in Victorian style.

Beach Village

Beach Village is located midway between the Horton House and the Historic Section next to Corsair Beach Park. There's plenty of parking in front of the boutique shops, restaurants, and pubs. You can drive into the first section on Main Street, but the section nearest the beach is walk-only. There's shopping and dining. You'll find dining places like Sweet Georgia's Juke Joint and Wee Pub here. The Resort's Ocean Club is located next door.

Beaches

Aside from the holiday spirit, it's a place filled with natural wonders. The seven beaches are unique. St. Andrews Beach Park is on the marsh side. The most unusual beach is Driftwood Beach. You walk through a tunnel of low-hanging trees and scrub bushes and then step into a view unlike any other beach in the world. T The ancient driftwood that has been on this beach for decades form strange shapes like giant petrified sculptures.The other beaches are more conventional. All are beautiful stretches, with white sand protected by dunes, that offer peaceful swimming or suntanning spots. (South Georgia's winters sometime are warm enough for that.)

Jekyll Island is a place you will enjoy any time of year.