Jekyll Island, Georgia

We had an early start today, getting up at 4:30 am. We took Pat to the airport for a much-needed vacation. She will be visiting antebellum sites in Georgia and South Carolina for the next 7 days. She starts her tour by going to Jekyll Island in Georgia.

Me being me, I had to learn about the island. Georgia was established as a colony in 1733 by General James Ogelthorpe. He named the island after his friend Sir Joseph Jekyll (aside -- I wonder if he was related to Dr. Jekyll). During the first 150 years of private ownership, Jekyll Island had a plantation. By 1885, however, the island became a private club for the wealthy. The island was privately owned from the 1730s until 1947 when the state of Georgia purchased it for $675,000. Legislative mandates requires that 65% of the island remain undeveloped and left in its natural state.

The island has been featured on TBS (video link), CNBC (video link), MSNBC (video link) and in Islands Magazine (pdf link) and Family Fun Magazine (pdf link). The music in the video below really reminds me of the old TV show Designing Women.