Jekyll Island, the Wildlife

Today is the last of the 3 part series on Jekyll Island. We will talk a bit about wildlife and I will share a few interesting facts as well. A lot of my information was gathered from books picked up at a gift shop on the island...

Interest in the Club dwindled as the original membership aged. In the early 1940's after enemy ships were sighted off the coast, members left the Island and the Millionaires Club never reopened.

The State of Georgia bought Jekyll Island in 1947 and the dwellings were in a state of disrepair. Today the entire Club House along with cottages have been restored. By law, 65% of the island will remain undeveloped. Sorry kids, no McDonald's here just local Mom & Pops places from long ago.

It cost a mere $3.00 to enter Jekyll Island. What a bargain price for us Cheapskates! ha..

Here you will see one of many Great Egrets looking for a snack in the marshes.

We are always excited to see the Pelicans even though not a great picture taken by me. They were moving way too quickly.

We had a visitor on the balcony of our room. This gecko was still in this position when we left so I am kind of wondering if someone did not glue a rubber toy to the wall as a joke for unsuspecting nature lovers such as ourselves. Hum, what do you think, Live or Memorex?

We saw a raccoon and opossum and we also spotted deer tracks on the beach. We are still trying to figure out why a deer was on the beach. Do they eat the sea oats?

Ah, a cute sea turtle in the landscaping! How fun it must be to be a gardener on this island. But wait, that is not the only turtle we saw...

Jekyll Island is home to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, click to learn more. This wonderful center has been open for about a year now and they take care of sick and injured Sea turtles then release them back into the wild. We toured the facility and learned that of the 7 sea turtles, 5 of them can be found in this area. I did not know that a day of building a sand castle on the beach could be a hamper on a baby turtle getting safely into the ocean once hatched. Knock down those castles people because they are barriers to the little things!

This turtle to the left had an issue with not being able to go under water. Notice how his shell is out of the water. They think this is a gassy issue and once cleared up, he should be able to sink below the water. He was a huge turtle but not fully grown my any means. I believe the smaller turtle below was fairly close to being released. The turtle will have a transmitter on his shell so the center can keep up with its progress and learn more about their behavior. This center also monitors the nesting turtles along the island.


The beach by our hotel is missing with high tide. Look at how natural this area remains. Sea Oats keep the dunes in place so never touch the Sea Oats because they have a purpose. Rip Rap rock has been put in place to keep the sand from washing out to sea with rough waters.

On the north side of the beach is the area known as Driftwood Beach. This area is full of dead trees with an eerie look about them. Unfortunately, we did not get to this spot with low tide so we were not able to walk about the area for the great views of driftwood. Remember, do not bother the wood it is protected being in a state park!

There are about 586 houses on the island that are privately own with land leased and a fee paid to the Island Authority under a 99 year lease which expires in 2049. The lease is transferable when ownership changes. Permanent residents number about 900 with no more lots available for building.

The island has the purest water being supplied by Artesian wells. Everything on Jekyll island is maintained and like walking into another time with its beauty.

The first Brewery in Georgia was on Jekyll Island and made of Tabby construction. Tabby is composed of equal parts of sand, lime, oyster shell and water mixed into a mortar and poured into forms.

History was made at the Club when the Federal Reserve Act was drafted there in 1910. Also when the first transcontinental telephone call was placed there in 1915. There is so much yet for me to learn about the island!

I must thank my Saint for taking me to this wonderful place. He did all the research and whisked me away for this most wonderful weekend.

Even though this is a natural state island, there is lots to do while on a visit. They have a camp ground, horseback riding, golf, tennis, museums, art galleries, shopping, the beach, 20 miles of walking or biking paths, water park and putt putt for the kids.

You can also take a boat ride for dolphin watching or hop aboard a Shrimp boat for a few hours of catching legendary Wild Georgia Shrimp. We happen to be there during the Shrimp & Grits festival. Don't knock them until you have tried them. I have never heard of them until we moved here and I love them!

This brings us to the end of our 3 part series on JEKYLL ISLAND. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did reliving our little weekend get away.

The sunset over the marsh was the perfect ending to this spectacular place. We WILL be going back and soon! But for now, I must get back In the Garden...

*Note: After reading the posting on Sunday of the Jekyll Island Oak trees, In the Garden was contacted by David Egan. He is the co-director of an all-volunteer, non-profit organization called the Initiative to Protect Jekyll Island State Park. One of the main goals of the IPJI is to ensure that whatever new development takes place on Jekyll Island, it does not adversely affect Jekyll's environmentally-sensitive areas or damage or destroy any of its natural assets. Click on the link to learn more about IPJI and to see some wonderful pictures.

Jekyll Island, the Cottage and gardens

Part 2 of my 3 part series on Jekyll Island will consist of history, the cottages and gardens on the island.

The Island had many different occupants over the years. The Creek Indians and Spanish were coexisting until the British attacked the island, destroyed the mission and drove off the Indians and Spanish.

Pirates such as Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard roamed the sea lanes to prey on coastal shipping.

In 1736 General James Oglethorpe established Fort Frederica on St. Simon's Island to the north. He named the island Jekyll in honor of one of his sponsors, Sir Joseph Jekyll.

During 1742-1886 the island had a working plantation farming cotton, rye and indigo. The cotton was called Sea island and was in high demand for its long strong fibers. Frenchman Christophe Poulain duBignon was the islands owner.

In 1886 the island was purchased for $125,000 by a group of northern millionaires with names such as Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Morgan and Goodyear. The Club was formed and the island became their winter homes from New Years until Easter. Their Club House opened Jan 21, 1888 and was basically their hotel while enjoying mild winters. Here is the Club House today after extensive renovations. Visitors can stay at the hotel today.

Accommodations in the Club House became popular so members decided to create their own accommodations. Sans Souci, a building of 6 apartments believed to be the first condominium in the nation were built.

The olive color of the wood was really pretty against the blue sky.

In time each millionaire constructed a cottage for their family and friends. The cottages were considered simple with each one having 15-25 rooms! To us common folks, that would be a mansion! ha....

Here you see the Macy Cottage owned by the George Macy family. Mr. Macy was the president of the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company which became the A & P grocery store chain.

The Mistletoe Cottage was owned by US Congressman Kirke Porter from Pennsylvania whose company built locomotives.

William Rockefeller owned Indian Mound Cottage. This 25 room house has exhibits for the Island museum. Many of the original furnishings have been left in place.

du Bignon Cottage was owned by Eugene du Bignon. This was his home during his prosperous plantation era before he sold the island to the Club.

The Crane family was in the plumbing fixture business so their Crane Cottage had 17 bathrooms! Glad I don't have to clean those suckers. Today the Crane Cottage is used as a hotel having 13 guest rooms.

We did not stay there but the entire historic district is open to foot traffic so we checked out the garden in the back of the Crane Cottage with it's Italian Villa look. Reflecting pools are at either end of this beautiful patch of grass.

Guest of the Crane Cottage had fresh flowers on each table on the patio over looking the above garden. Ah, a nice touch don't you think?

Faith Chapel is in the Gothic style. Two more chapels almost identical to this one are located in Lake Placid, NY and Mare Island, CA. The chapel has stain glass from Louis Comfort Tiffany. Only the best for the elite you know...

As you stroll along the winding paths of the cottages, you cannot help but notice all the beautiful plants and flowers because they are everywhere! Ah, what beauty to a gardeners eyes. What is that funny looking thing below? A coconut?

Nope, just the center of this plant. I don't really know my Tropical island plants so I will not even try to guess, well, maybe a palmetto of some type. Eve, you are near the coast, can you tell us this pretty plants name?

Here is a scary gargoyle that I should save for a Halloween posting as it is so scary looking. He is guarding Faith Chapel and believe me with him and his 5 siblings, they surely keep the evil at bay.

More beautiful tropical foliage in lush colors of green.

Small gardens can be found in nooks and crannies along the pathways of this beautiful historic area.

Pretty pink blossoms were trailing up a light pole. Maybe Mandevilla blooms?

Ah, what pretties do we have here? Lets go in for a closer look...

Aren't they just lovely?

I have shown you a hand full of the many renovated cottages and beautiful plants and flowers on JEKYLL ISLAND. Tomorrow, I will show you a bit of the wilder side of things along with a few interesting facts, thus ending our 3 part series...

Jekyll Island the TREES

This will be part 1 of a 3 part series on Jekyll Island. Today we will talk about the trees, so here we go....

Living where we do here in Georgia has two great advantages. One, we are about 2 and 1/2 hours drive from the GA mountains. Second, we are about 2 and 1/2 hours drive to the GA coast! We don't get to the mountains or the coast nearly enough. We were reminded of that with our first recent trip to Jekyll Island.


Lets take a look at this Georgia State Park... (click on the underlined to learn more about Jekyll island)
Jekyll Island is one of a cluster of small barrier islands know as the Golden Isles of Georgia, (click on the underlined to see the other isles) It is about 9 miles long and 1 and 1/2 miles wide. The island is gourd shaped and has 10 miles of beach. Once, known as an Indian hunting and fishing ground and the waters a Pirate stronghold, held by none other then Blackbeard himself. Legend says his dagger is stuck in a oak tree pointing in the direction of hidden treasures. The great trees on this island should be among Georgia's Seven Natural Wonders . (click on the underlined to see the 7 wonders)

Lets look at those natural wonders called oak trees. I was not expecting to see such magnificent trees and this is truly a wonder to the eye. The trees are full of Spanish moss and that seems fitting since Spain Occupied this island from 1566-1686.

Click on the video to see the moss blowing in the wind.



The largest and oldest Oak on the island is the Plantation Oak and is estimated at being 350-400 years old! It is over 7 feet in diameter, measures 128 feet limb to limb, has a girth of 23 feet and a height of 112 feet. I don't believe this is the oak pictured but it could be as it was huge! Look at how the branches lay on the ground.

The Live Oak is Georgia's state tree.

These moss filled trees are all over the island. I found myself looking upward more so then eye level for most of our weekend visit.

It is so tempting to grab a hand full of the moss but we must remember two things here. One, moss is home to those little red bugs that will bite the fire out of your body and leave itchy whelps. And two, this is a State Park so everything must remain as you see it. You can pick up sea shells but that is all... I could not get my fill of the beauty from the trees. I did not know that oak trees could survive on the salt water but I should have known from my visits to Savannah and Charleston, SC as they are full of them as well.
A lot of the trees were covered with the Resurrection Fern (click on the underlined to learn more about the fern) that I have mentioned in the past. Just look at it growing happily along the tree trunks. Here is a close-up of the fern. I have a small clump growing on one of my trees and I wonder if it will ever get this thick? Maybe in 300 years, ha...

What is an island with out getting on the beach? The clouds started to roll in but it did not stop us from hunting seashells along the soft white seashore. Notice how tourist season is over? An empty beach is our kind of getaway!
The Saint lived in Hawaii for 4 years so the ocean does not impress him much anymore. But he admitted, he was very impressed with this natural state park.
We strolled along and picked up what few shells we found. Sorry Tina, if you were wanting to do a project with your requested shells, it will be a small project as we found only a few. I will pass them along to you on our next visit!
Tomorrow I will show you more of this beautiful island that the American elite of 1886-1947 once called their winter homes... Just wait until you see the "cottages" and other scenery on JEKYLL ISLAND...