Jekyll Island Club Hotel

"This is the house that Jack built."

Well, not Jack.
 
More like the Vanderbilts, the Rockefellers, the Goodyears, the Fields, the Morgans, and other wealthy industrialists. They came to this place, Jekyll Island, Georgia, and built an elite, private, social club here. This was the place for them to spend their winters AWAY. In general, they spent from New Year's until Easter here.
 
They rested, hunted, played sports, ate well, dressed up, visited with each other, danced, had high teas, and tooled around the island in horse and carriages (or later in go-cart like vehicles called "Red Bugs.") This was a place for their pleasure.
 
AWAY FROM IT ALL.
 

Their beautiful clubhouse, now the Jekyll Island Club Hotel, was finished in 1888 to the tune of $45,000.

The Jekyll Island Club Hotel is the pinnacle of the Historic District in Jekyll.

Jekyll Island Club Hotel at night
I took this picture from the Shrimp and Grits Festival, held on the lawn

Their winter retreat was private. Set completely apart from the "world" by water. The only access was by boat. Or in the case of these folks, by yacht.

Jekyll Island, off of the southern Georgia coast, was their own private island.  They purchased it in 1886 just for this.

Now, something to note is that the Jekyll Island Club Hotel is not on the beach. Interestingly that's not where Jack, I mean the Jekyll Island Club, built their clubhouse. The view from the Hotel is of the "river" or "intracoastal waterway" rather than the ocean.

Great oaks, covered in Spanish moss, surround the property.
It is said that these great oaks exist 300 years. They spend 100  years growing, 100 years living, 100 years dying.

Only lucky family and friends of those wealthy families were invited to come to this enchanted place.

How lucky we are that it is now part of the State of Georgia.
How lucky I am that I got to attend the "5th Annual Shrimp and Grits Festival" and stay in this hotel.

I am particularly drawn to historic places.

I like the way old things look and smell.

I like the way they share their past with us.

I liked the view of the turret, looking out of the upstairs window.

The turret was used to look out for the arrival of guests by boat.
Eventually the wealthy no longer came here to get AWAY from it all. Eventually, I guess, there was no getting AWAY for anyone.

What, with the advent of the world wars, the stock market crash, the Depression-----Even the rich people couldn't justify spending the kind of money necessary to keep their enchanted retreat open. It ultimately fell into a state of partial disrepair.

In the mid '40's the State of Georgia purchased the island from Club Members through condemnation proceedings.

Now it has been renovated and rejuvenated.

It maintains its relaxed air of comfort and charm. Yet, there is a definite air of sophistication.

In the main building you will find the Grand Dining Hall. It is grand, indeed.

A baby grand sits in the Grand Dining Hall.
Hello there, Baby....

No one was playing during breakfast, so I was tempted to sit right down and play my rendition of

 "Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley grow..."
My family begged me not to. I complied. So we were able to stay...

This is known as the Hall of Mirrors. There are numerous floor to ceiling mirrors lining the hall. This is the area with conference rooms. They were all being used when I was there.

The Main Building also has this bar.......

The bar is not original to the place; it was added after the movie, The Legend of Bagger Vance, was made here. They needed a bar, so voila. I've got to see that movie now that I've been here. Have you seen it?

Everywhere you look, there is somewhere soft to sit down and rest.

And if you look hard enough, you might see someone who was told to hide so they wouldn't show up in the
pictures....

This cozy fireplace is outside of the Grand Dining Room and is surrounded by inviting leather chairs.

Here's where you check your look before you step out of the elevator hall.

The staircase is spectacular. It is not original, but was re-made. The State of Georgia removed the original staircase to install elevators. In the '80's a staircase modeled after the original one was built and the elevators were moved.

looking up----

looking down

This is the upper floor and must lead to the Presidential Suite. The hallway was long and narrow and the ceiling low. (Feels rather like that scene from the original Willie Wonka movie.)

Our room was in the Club Building. 

It was spacious and welcoming.

With a lovely sitting area.

You might be reminded of a room you'd stay in at your rich aunt's old house.

There were closets on each side of the REAL fireplace.

Funny thing. We were in a handicapped accessible room. Turned out that it was a perfect fit. After that killer 4-mile beach run Saturday night, those bars to hold onto in the bathroom were well appreciated.

Surrounding the Jekyll Island Club Hotel are several homes built by Club Members who wanted some of their own space. These homes, along with a Chapel, comprise the Historic District.

Crane Cottage





There are lovely gardens outside of the Crane Cottage.

You can see why it's a popular place for a wedding.

Crane Cottage Garden

There were three separate weddings at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel over the weekend, one was at the Crane Cottage. 

I'm sorry to say that I didn't lay my eyes on one bride in a wedding gown the whole weekend. I had my camera ready, just in case. (I did however hear some serious partying going on all night long in the room across the hall from us. I'm pretty sure they were the groomsmen from one of the weddings. Let me just say that they had a really good night....)

What I longed for on this trip was more details. More details about the way it was at the Jekyll Island Club. More photographs of those days in the late 1800's and early 1900's. More specifics. What was it REALLY like for them, the wealthy U.S. elite? That is my misson----to find out more. I'll back one day with that goal in mind. But this trip was all about the Shrimp and Grits Festival and the Challenge Runs.
Next post I'll tell you all about the Festival and the Races!