Chris and I just returned from a secret (well not secret, but we really didn’t tell anyone) weekend on Jekyll Island, Georgia at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. Since Chris has to work next weekend on my birthday, we decided to spend some time alone, just the two of us. Now you might be saying “wait a minute - you just spent the weekend in DC together” - well to quote Chris “I wanted to go someplace where we would not be obligated to meet co-workers, classmates or family members, just us”. So the laptops stayed at home, the hotel had VERY POOR cell coverage and GASP - I turned the blackberry OFF the entire weekend.

The Jekyll Club dates back to the turn of the 20th century - it was home to millionaires like Vanderbilt, Rockefeller and Pulitzer... the rooms are smaller and quaint, but I really enjoyed myself. It was great!!  We arrived around 6pm on Friday night, and yesterday spent the morning at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.  Additionally, the Georgia “Shrimp and Grits” festival was going on very close to the hotel - which provided more things to do. We relaxed by the pool Saturday afternoon (I actually finished reading a book!! The first I’ve finished in months), we swam, walked around the festival and dined at two of the hotel’s restaurants.  Chris surprised me with a nice dinner in the Grand Dining Room (steak and lobster) and had “Happy Birthday” played on the piano by the dining room pianist when they brought out my dessert.

While we were at the Sea Turtle Center, we learned they would be releasing three of their patients (they do sea turtle rehabilitation) today around 3pm - so we stayed in the area, had lunch on St. Simon’s Island, explored near the pier and light house (even found a right whale!) and then headed back to JI to see the release.  We took a bunch of photos of the three turtles - Skidaway (a small Kemp’s ridley), Pumpkin (sub-adult loggerhead) and Nightwatch (another loggerhead), and then headed home to JAX, arriving around five PM. I should note that GSTC has a great website - and since Pumpkin has a satellite transmitter - we should be able to track her on the internet!

We really enjoyed our restful and quiet weekend on JI and plan a return in the future. There are many more things to do on the island (horseback riding, nature center, ecotours, etc) as well as at the Club itself - at one point, Chris and I had even considered getting married at the club, but they could not accommodate a wedding as large as ours is planned to be.

I’ve posted some photos from our weekend - here is a link - Jekyll Island Birthday