Wanderlust "On Location": Jekyll Island, GA

Once the playground for wealthy elites, now a place for ALL to enjoy the beauty and serenity that is Jekyll Island. It's reputation did not disappoint. 

To begin your journey, I would suggest walking through the historical district and viewing the many "cottages" (MANSIONS) that were established when Jekyll Island was in its prime. One such cottage is the DuBignon Cottage shown below.

If you have time, take the historical tour (Landmark Trolley Tour) from the Mosaic museum and learn all the juicy details about the life and times of the Rich and Famous who made Jekyll Island their home away from home. This tour is a 60-minute guided experience that offers entry into one of the historical cottages on property and includes a visit to Faith chapel. Cost is about $20/person.

Or if you would rather FEEL like one of the wealthy elite and look down on the commoners riding their bicycles or walking the paths, you could up the ante and take the Millionaire Motorcar Tour. This historical tour will be pricey, about $125 for a group of four, but it will be given in a 1930s Model T replica.

As you can probably guess, the Landmark Trolley Tour was the one we chose, or rather, the one our pocketbooks chose for this experience.

After our tour we took a walk through the historic district enjoying the "tiny" cottages (mansions) along the path. We headed to the pier to enjoy dinner at the Wharf.

This restaurant has both outdoor and indoor dining available. I had hoped to dine outdoors, but unfortunately the sand gnats made it unbearable to dine outside. So, we moved our dinner indoors.

The menu dishes are a bit pricey. My suggestion for a way to enjoy the experience and still stay within budget is to order appetizers and waters and share with each other. We especially enjoyed the Fried Green Tomatoes.

After lunch, we traveled to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. This is a hospital for area sea turtles, and it offers up close observation of their care. The professionals working in the center were very knowledgeable and eager to share information with the guests. I would highly recommend this experience. There is also a small museum at the center that offers further sea turtle information, if you are interested. The exhibits are kid-friendly and allow children an opportunity to do what kids do best "mess with everything."

It was nearing mid-afternoon at this time, so we traveled over to an area that is a beloved favorite of area locals. Driftwood Beach is like the Granddaddy of all driftwood finds. We are talking entire trees washed up on shore. It creates a kind of fantasy world that both the young and young at heart will love.

To end our visit to Jekyll Island, after some shopping at Beach Village, we made it full circle back to where our day had begun. We ended our visit by exploring the Mosaic Museum. This offers a history of the area and has many artifacts to peak your interest. It even has a few really playful photo ops you can enjoy with your family to help you remember your holiday.

To fully experience all that Jekyll Island has to offer, I would suggest you schedule at least a two-day trip. We would have enjoyed exploring the museums more thoroughly and taking part in the bike trails and the dolphin tours that are available on the island. Unfortunately, a one day trip is just not enough to fully experience this magical place.