December 31, 2020- January 2, 2021: The Golden Isles of Georgia--Hospitality, Beaches, Forts and Turtles!

 

A little memento of our anniversary #9 on Sea Island, Georgia

“Forever is a long time, but I wouldn’t mind spending it by your side.”

                                                  ----Anonymous

Since our anniversary this year was "covidized," and it was "my turn" to plan the getaway to celebrate, I looked for a really nice place with temperate weather in driving distance and came up with---The Golden Isles--- Jekyll Island, St. Simons and Sea Island, Georgia. We settled for the anniversary itself and the next few days on Sea Island at the Cloisters.

Sea Island is a private island whose hospitality heritage was begun by Hudson of the defunct automobile manufacturing fame. 

You have to have a reservation and a pass to get about on Sea Island, but it is pretty nice. There are many types of accommodations. We elected to stay at the cloister which is basically a swanky, service-oriented  hotel with outstanding service and Mediterranean style spacious rooms. One consideration was the availability of restaurants, as being NYE and such, we weren't sure what might be shut down due to COVID. We knew this hotel would serve guests. We had a great NYE/anniversary meal at TAVOLA, the Italian variant within just a few yards of our room. 

On our way in, we visited Fort Frederica, a British outpost of the pre-Revolutionary War era overseen by "the father of Georgia," James Oglethorpe. This was a planned grid-like city and post inhabited by soldiers and immigrants of the English debtor prison variety. As you walk the site of the old town today, ruins are intact in places, and the exact business or inhabitant has been delineated via old diaries and public records. A definitive battle against the Spanish, who disputed the ownership of this area near Florida took place in the "bloody marsh' nearby and ended the conflict with Spain. (That is, the British won that one.)

Fort Frederica

Cannons in 1750 but peace signs in 2020

There are oak trees up to 300+ years in age and beautifully draped in Spanish moss.

We enjoyed the visit here and learned a bit of Georgia history. 

From here, it was onto Sea Island itself. On New Years Day, we slept late, then embarked on a walk of discovery around Sea Island both through the neighborhood "cottages" and out on the beach. Famous inhabitants include Ben Affleck, Davis Love III and numerous other famous golfers as well as former Braves pitcher John Smoltz. The houses range from huge and ornate to really freaking huge and crazy ornate. 

A little bitty ole Sea Island "cottage"

There was a lot of variety in the construction but suffice it to say they were all gargantuan, showy and expensive. This is a very exclusive community. I am surprised they let us on the island!

We also walked along the beach for a long distance watching the calm Atlantic and kicking over the shells of deceased horseshoe crabs. The island is about 5 miles in length and has plenty of empty beach in the winter. Probably less so in summer. Our room was on the marsh which I believe I prefer for the peacefulness and bird life.

The beach of Sea Island on a temperate and overcast January day.

We enjoyed walking through our host island and seeing how the other half lives. We also might have enjoyed a ($30) couple of ice creams. 

Today, having seen part of St Simon's Island and a good bit of Sea Island, we thought we would take a nice long walk on Jekyll Island. This area has many dunes and is a state park. We followed (mostly) the bike path and got a pretty good lay of the land. 

Although a good bit of the walk was on paved bike trail, we enjoyed the strolls through the palmetto forest on soft sands as well.

Don't miss the driftwood beach. It is stunning and stark. We saw a wedding taking place amongst these barren trees on white sand near sunset.

Birdlife is pretty fun to watch in this area. We also saw kingfishers, painted buntings and woodpeckers as well as usual shorebirds.

This snowy egret was on a mission and didn't mind us getting near with a camera.

Paul in the driftwood forest on the beach.

Rescued baby Ridley sea turtles

 We also were fortunate to get to visit the Georgia sea turtle hospital where there were a number of rescues.  Most of the turtles were injured by boats although some were injured by predators or had a form of hypothermia called "stunning." These folks do their very best to nurse them back to health. We enjoyed seeing their efforts. 

The food on Sea Island has been good, especially Tavola, the Italian restaurant and Colt and Alison, a steakhouse. Some of the restaurant remained closed presumably due to decline in occupancy as well as possibly social distancing. In general, they have enforced mask use and distancing pretty well.

"The Golden Isles is a place well named. A landscape and a legacy that is, in every way, golden. One needs only to witness a gorgeous sunrise over the ocean or bask in the beauty of the sun setting westward beyond the mainland to know the namesake of this stretch of Georgia’s coast."

Paul's Ponderings:  What a great couple of days on Sea Island....I was familiar with this area only by reputation and geography, but not in person.   The fort was great to see as a start and the accommodations on Sea Island (plus the dining) was outstanding.    We had some great walking (not really hiking, it's flat as a pancake here) both days and the weather was pretty pleasant overall.   Hope to be back at some point!