Disclosure: Accommodations and activities were provided by Jekyll Island Resort and the Jekyll Island Authority. However, All opinions of our experience are my own.
Easter weekend has always been one of my favorite times of the year. As my children get older, the way we celebrate of course changes. This year my oldest daughter was in Charleston due to college classes and work. So, my husband and I headed to Jekyll Island Resort with our younger two who are 18 and 9 years old. Knowing this was my last year with my son at home before he heads off to college, I definitely wanted to make the holiday special. Work has been super busy this spring so we wanted to make the most of our short weekend. Thankfully, Jekyll Island is right under five hours from our home in Charlotte. We’ve driven farther than that for soccer tournaments!
After driving through storms, including a tornado warning, we safely arrived in the early afternoon. Thankfully we were able to immediately check in. We dropped off our bags to our room and fell in love with the sunroom. It had a great view where we were able to watch people play croquet. We spent lots of time here laughing together making many memories.
As we only had a short weekend to explore, we were ready to hit the ground running as soon as we arrived. The storms had just rolled on and we took the opportunity to walk around the property of Jekyll Island Resort. The resort is full of history as is the island. The colony of Georgia was founded in 1733 and Jekyll Island was named in honor of Sir Joseph Jekyll, a friend of General James Oglethorpe.
Jekyll Island Club which began as a hunting club, became a club for families in 1888. It was meant for the nation’s wealthiest. It was referred to as “the richest, the most exclusive, the most inaccessible club in the world.”
The island’s history is extremely interesting and I highly recommend reading up on it or taking the historical tram tour while visiting Jekyll Island Resort. It was very cool and captivated both young and old alike.
After many years of changes and even a decade of abandonment, Jekyll Island Club reopened in 1985 as a hotel. The grounds are beautiful and there’s many activities around such as croquet, bike riding, kayaking, beaches, a water park, boating, among others.
Day two promised to be full of excitement especially for my little one. We began our day at The Bunny Breakfast at the resort. We enjoyed a southern breakfast buffet and the children were able to have their photos taken with live bunnies. I secretly wanted to sit and cuddle the bunnies myself! My son was a great sport and had his photo taken with his little sister. He did a great job humoring me! After the breakfast, there’s also the Annual Easter egg Stroll at the historic district.
We decided to head over to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. I was really looking forward to checking out the center which was walking distance from the resort. We figured this out after we took the shuttle from the hotel. Not embarrassing at all! I assured the driver we were not lazy and just didn’t realize how walkable the area truly was! Once we realized this, we were anxious to spend more time exploring.
This rehab facility offers the public the opportunity to learn more about sea turtles and to see rehabilitation first hand. I really loved that they had patient intake posters hanging up. It was a great learning experience for my 9 year old. She went to each one pointing out to me what had happened to the turtle and how the team are working to rehab them. It also gave her the opportunity to learn more about recycling and how harmful some items can be to our wildlife.
After the sea turtle center, we hopped on a historical tram tour which was so cool! It was the first tour of this nature that I’ve been on where we were given ear pieces to be able to hear the tour guide plus we had the opportunity to get off the tram to actually tour historical homes in the area. Our guide made things fun for the little ones and it was extremely informative for those of us who love history.
We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging by the pool. The water was a bit cold for me but my little one loved it. Of course she also loved having Shirley Temples at the poolside bar too. We quickly found out how loved this area is. We even met guests who return frequently because Jekyll Island feels like a second home.
The night before Easter, my daughter lost her tooth! That meant the Easter Bunny AND Tooth Fairy had to come at the same time while on holiday. Talk about a Challenge! But due to the sunroom window, both were able to leave baskets and money for the tooth. Whew!
Our weekend went by way too fast. My husband fell in love with Jekyll Island Resort and I have a feeling he and I will be returning in the near future for a long romantic getaway.
Have you been to Jekyll Island? What is your favorite thing to do there?