"...the richest, the most exclusive, the most inaccessible club in the world."

Jekyll Island Club Hotel, looking across the
lawn croquet field.  For the right price, YOU
can spend the night here!

After a week of rain & doing chores around the boat, we headed back over to Jekyll Island to rub elbows with the rich & famous.  We took the tours around the Jekyll Island Club, which existed from 1886 to 1942 as a winter retreat, where membership was by invitation only, limited to 100 of the wealthiest Americans.....gentle folks such as JP Morgan, William Vanderbilt, William Rockefeller, Marshall Field, Richard Crane, and Joseph Pulitzer.  A club hotel was built for most of the members, but some decided they needed a separate "winter cottage" (a.k.a. "mansion").  Keep in mind that the rich folk of this era also had "summer cottages" in places like Newport R.I., in addition to their primary home in towns like New York, Chicago, and Pittsburgh.  On Jekyll Island, Richard Crane (founder of Crane plumbing fixtures & pumps) had the largest "cottage", one with 17 bedrooms.

William Rockefeller's "winter cottage" at water's edge.

The club house & hotel was open only from Jan through March.  One of their rules was that all members had to take their meals in the club dining room, to encourage social interaction.  Obviously, the dining room was elegant.  It was said that during dinner, one-sixth of all the wealth in America was in that room.

I found it interesting that in the early 1900's, an offer of membership was NOT extended to Andrew Carnegie (of Pittsburgh & US Steel fame), so Carnegie bought Cumberland Island, the next barrier south of Jekyll Island & built his winter estate there.

Loggerhead sea turtle recovering from shark attack.

Also on Jekyll Island, we visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, where rehab is provided to sea turtles that have been injured by sharks, boat propellers, or disease.  Also had displays on sea turtle nesting along the beach (we've seen many turtle nests all along the Florida east coast beaches where we swam).  I learned that Loggerhead sea turtles, once they hatch & make it back into the ocean, will ride the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic, all the way across to the Azores Islands off Spain, and sometimes return back to the US to nest again.


Finally, at low tide (remember that GA has 7-8' tides in this area), we walked along the beach at the very northern tip of Jekyll Island, what they call Driftwood Beach.  It was really unique seeing all these huge trees, mostly live oak, uprooted & bleached by the sun & sea.  It seemed a beautiful sight - a photo op - until you realize that this is an example of severe beach erosion by the seas.  All these trees were killed as the soil eroded beneath them.  A local lady said that erosion has taken several hundred feet of beach in only 50 years.  How can you stop Mother Nature from doing just about anything she wants?

Sue at Driftwood Beach with the lighthouse on
St Simons Island behind.  Casino gambling boat
was headed out 3 miles offshore on this windy day.

In a final burst of touristy patriotism (i.e., single-handedly supporting the local economy with MY dollars), we're headed up to Savannah GA tomorrow for a couple days.  When we return to the boat, it will be time to look for a weather window to head south for the winter.