The quaint Christ Episcopal Church, designed like an overturned ship, is made of never-stained Georgia heart pine and has no nails in the walls because of its tongue-in-groove construction. The barrier islands are part of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, a designation recognizing the enslaved Africans who created a unique culture along the coast. The Coastal Georgia Lighthouse and Museum explores the life of African Africans forcibly brought to the area, people who introduced West African basketmaking and fish net weaving.įormer slaves established communities and toiled on plantation rice fields - the “golden grain” that brought their masters wealth before cotton was king. This Manhattan-sized island is slow-paced too, with winding roads, beaches, marshes, inlets and rivers, and a salty ocean aroma always pushing in. Their creator, Keith Jennings, said he works with each tree’s soul: “The trees do it all. Contemplative faces seem to gaze at unsuspecting visitors. Scattered around are 20 mysterious, evocative “tree spirits” - carvings in century-old trees, many moss draped, each carving unique. Though the most developed of the Georgia islands, St. The center’s Snake Room has black, gray and red rat snakes, corn snakes and a yellow-bellied slider turtle. Exhibits detail wetland wildlife like fish, snails, crabs, coastal birds and other beach critters.īetween December and March, North Atlantic right whales probe the ocean waters, and from May to July, loggerhead turtles, weighing 170 to 315 pounds, come ashore to nest. Tidelands Nature Center, nestled next to a marsh, offers a fitting introduction to outdoor low country with tidal creek kayak tours and nature walks. Most had wraparound porches and a game room, great room, sun room, parlor, and third floor quarters for servants, butlers, governesses and nannies. Some of the surviving two- and three-story “cottages” are open to the public, like the 8,000-square-foot Moss Cottage built in 1896. 25, 1915, the first transcontinental phone call originated at the Jekyll Island Club. During the winter, the elite northerners indulged in the “simple life,” while during “club season” they were waited on by more than 200 employees, from cooks to caddies.īesides the big-name visitors, the club’s other claim to fame is that on Jan. On a 90-minute tram tour, visitors learn that the original Jekyll Island Club had 53 members, 120 buildings and 16 houses. Today’s historic district consists of the erstwhile 240-acre compound of the aforementioned Yankee millionaires. To preserve the barrier island ecosystem, the agreement under which the state bought the island in 1947 for $675,000 stipulated that only 35 percent could be developed, and that holds today. Jekyll Island features 10 miles of beaches and 28 miles of trails. They also boast many golf courses, plenty of sunbathing spots, friendly villages and a dose of southern charm. Today, Georgia’s barrier islands and Florida’s Amelia Island are a relaxed world of low-key small towns, subtropical beauty, salty air, tranquility, history, marshes and mosses. The Spanish dubbed them Islas de Oro (the Golden Isles) in the 1700s, even though they failed to find the hoped-for gold.īut eventually the gold came to them, when northern millionaires with names like Astor, Morgan, Rockefeller, Pulitzer and Vanderbilt capitalized on the beauty of these islands and created an exclusive winter retreat at the Jekyll Island Club in 1886. Vast saltwater marshes fringe southeast Georgia’s and northern Florida’s barrier islands, acres of luscious wetlands of thick golden reeds and grasses swaying in the gentle breeze as far as the eye can see. Early settlers used it in mattresses, hence the origin of the advice, “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Natives discourage naive amateurs from collecting it because bundles can be full of pesky chiggers. Spanish moss is ubiquitous in the Golden Isles, draping live oak trees and even nearby camellia bushes in the crinkly strands.
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