Whenever you visit, you’ll find Jekyll Island a unique treasure. I’ve visited it many times, and this is my second Christmas season visit. The entire island is lit with about two million lights. In summer, its seven beaches are beautiful. Touring the Historic Village is a step back in time to the Gilded Era, when only wealthy members could enjoy the Clubhouse and the entire Island.
The writer was hosted.
She Buys Travel Tip: There’s a $10 toll to enter Jekyll either in advance or at the tollbooth. It can be paid by credit card or cash or paid online in advance. You pay each time you enter.
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History of the Jekyll Island Club
The Clubhouse is the island’s ultimate structure. Its majestic three-story turret is part of the Presidential Suite. Charles A. Alexander built the Queen Anne-style hotel in 1888 for members of the Jekyll Island Club, a hunting winter retreat for the elite. The club was dubbed “the richest, the most exclusive, the most inaccessible club in the world.”
The members represented one-sixth of the world’s wealth. The Federal Reserve Bank began here on November 22, 1910, at a secret meeting of Senator Nelson Aldrich, chairman of the National Monetary Commission and six other influential millionaires who met in secret.
It was part of the first transcontinental phone call between President Wilson in Washington, DC, Alexander Graham Bell in New York, Thomas Watson in San Francisco, Henry Higginson in Boston and AT&T President Theodore Newton Vail at the Jekyll Island Clubhouse.
The annex was added in 1901. Golf eventually replaced hunting as the main sport and in 1898, members built the island’s first golf course. Today, it’s Georgia’s largest public golf resort with four courses: Great Dunes, Indian Mound, Oleander and Pine Lakes courses.
Rooms in the Historic Clubhouse
If you stay at the Clubhouse, you access your room via stairways with polished wood balustrades. The rooms are furnished in a style reminiscent of the Gilded Age but with modern conveniences. You have a TV and a view looking out into ancient oaks. (Plantation Oak is about 375 years old.) Contact the lobby via rotary phone for any service. Price range, $200 to $500.
Stay in a Millionaire’s Cottage
Some millionaires wanted more room than staying at the clubhouse and built “cottages.” Some are part of the resort. Many others are viewed on the trolley tour or by walking around the Historic Village. They are called “cottages” since they were winter retreats and smaller and less elaborate than the owner’s permanent mansions.
- Sans Souci, constructed in 1896 by J. P. Morgan and several other club members as one of the country’s first condominiums. Four rooms are pet-friendly here.
- 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, as his 20-bedroom, 17-bath winter retreat. It’s the most popular wedding venue with its sunken garden, courtyard and fountains.
- Cherokee, built in 1904, is another Italian Renaissance cottage with 10 guest rooms.
Amenities and Extras
- If you’re there on Friday or Saturday, enjoy a Champagne sabering, a ritual of opening champagne by slicing off the top with a saber, a tradition linked to Napoleon’s cavalry.
- Don’t miss “The Falcon,” a 1940 Black Buick Special 8, driven by Humphrey Bogart in the movie, The Maltese Falcon, parked in front of the Club.
- Enjoy beach chairs & umbrellas at Ocean Club and Beach Pavilion for guests of either hotel.
- Rent a bike or beach cruiser and pedal the island’s 20+ miles of trails.
- Heated pools for more than swimming. Have s’mores at the fire pit by the pool.
- Work out in the fitness room.
- The resort shuttle runs between the Jekyll Ocean Club and the Jekyll Island Club
- Reserve a time and equipment to play croquet on the lawn.
Jekyll Ocean Club
Jekyll Ocean Club, with 40 suites directly on the ocean, offers you a beach view directly overlooking a heated pool. It is more kid-friendly than the Island Club. Pets are allowed in the first-floor rooms.
Dining
In the Gilded Era, club members dined in the Grand Dining Room. Today, it serves a buffet breakfast, Sunday Brunch and hosts teas and special events.
Our Afternoon Tea in the Grand Dining Room began with a glass of champagne. For our tea choices, I chose a delicious Fireside Fig and Port Tea. Servers bring three courses beginning with scones and croissants, followed by small sandwiches and ending with a Tower of Delights with finger sandwiches and desserts. Some other resort dining choices are:
- I loved the snow crabs at The Wharf, where you dine near where millionaires visiting the club once docked by yacht or ferry from the mainland.
- The Pantry is the perfect place for a quick snack or to-go items.
- Alexander’s Bar has a later history. It 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. They specialize in Low Country cuisine, seafood and Southern dishes like my tender scallops and the Fried Green Tomatoes.
SheBuysTravel Tip: There are other restaurants besides the resort ones. My favorite is Tortuga Jacks, a Baja Mexican restaurant near Great Dunes Park. I love their wings. Another perfect evening spot is Wee Pub in the Beach Village next to the Ocean Club.
Behind the scenes
We had some behind-the-scenes experiences. Chef Ryan Caldwell demonstrated his recipe for the Island’s annual Shrimp and Grits Festival. At the woodworking shop, we met Ed, who repairs the cottages using traditional materials.
Historic Village
The Historic Village consists of over 30 cottages and many other structures dating to the club era.
- You can visit Faith Chapel for free, but from 12pm to 4pm there is a docent who tells the chapel’s history. The chapel has a famous signed Tiffany window, “David Set Singers Before the Lord.” The Armstrong window is also beautiful.
- DuBignon Cottage, built in 1884 by John Eugene DuBignon, who sold the island to the club, is a simpler Victorian-style home.
- Goodyear Cottage, a Mediterranean Revival-style, built in 1906, houses the Jekyll Island Arts Association and the Jekyll Island Pottery Guild.
- Indian Mound, built in 1892 by Gordon McKay, was bought by William Rockefeller after McKay’s death. He expanded it to nine bedrooms, nine bathrooms and seven servant rooms.
- Moss Cottage, built in 1898 for the Struthers’ family, who were the gamekeepers for the island. There’s a game room where hunters register their killed animals. Since the Struthers arrived early, this is one of the few cottages with a kitchen.
- 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.
- The Landmark Trolley Tour took us through the village and our knowledgeable driver, Kira, told us the island’s history. Our morning tour included visiting Moss Cottage. Later tours include Hollybourne.
- We enjoyed seeing all the Christmas lights on our Narrated Historic Carriage Tour.
SheBuysTravel Tip: For movie fans, these movies have been filmed all or in part on Jekyll Island:
- Glory (1989)
- The Menu (2022)
- The Walking Dead (2017 & 2019)
- X-Men First Class (2011)
- The Tomorrow War (2021)
- The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
- Live By Night (2016)
Mosaic
Mosaic, the Island’s museum, tells Jekyll’s history from the Native Timucuans to modern history, like the first transcontinental telephone call on January 25, 1915. Several exhibits tell the story of The Wanderer, the last large slave ship and how the island became an exclusive club.
Wanderer Memory Trail
The Wanderer Memory Trail on Saint Andrews Beach, where the last illegal slave ship, The Wanderer, landed with its cargo of 409 West Africans. It walks you through the horrific experience of these people with exhibits and audio stations. It ends at an observation tower where you may see water birds or dolphins.
Horton House and DuBignon Cemetery
Be sure to visit one of the oldest tabby buildings in Georgia, built in 1743, the ruins of the William Horton house. He was the first owner of the island. He sold it to the DuBignon Family, who owned Jekyll from 1790 to 1886. Across the street is the DuBignon family cemetery.
Georgia Sea Turtle Center
The Sea Turtle Center is Georgia’s only sea turtle education and rehabilitation facility. It’s housed in what was the Island’s Power Plant. There’s lots of information about turtles and tortoises in the front section, but the best part is in the rehabilitation section behind the main building, where you meet injured turtles being treated.
Jekyll’s Beaches
Jekyll Island has seven beaches. Driftwood Beach is most famous for the incredible giant driftwood. Glory Beach, where they film portions of “Glory,” is on the Island’s south end. St. Andrews Beach, on the marsh side, houses the Wanderer Memory Trail. The other beaches, with white sand and dunes, are more traditional.
SheBuysTravel Tip: Dogs on leashes are allowed.
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