x
| Jekyll’s
new residents transformed the island, opening its backdoor to the tourist trade. Once, the
prosperous club members preferred sedentary activities more suited to the calm marsh
waters of the west side. Now, the new wave of middle class sun-seekers flock instead to
the ocean’s waves to engage in activities once shunned by the elite. |
Beach strolling is the big game now. Seaboarders, sailors, and big
kids on inner tubes shun the Georgia cost. The seaboard’s coastal shelf is at its
most shallow here and, as such, is not subject to strong wave action. So, with neither the
repute or the ill-repute of Spring Break hang-outs like Myrtle Beach, the Golden Isles
have become a refuge for retirees. They come, golf clubs in hand, to escape the bitter
winters of the northeastern states and eastern Canada. The island’s three watertowers
are a towering dedication to Jekyll’s new economy. |
xiiii |
 |
| Today there are four
courses from which to choose: Oleander, Pine Lakes, Indian Mound and Great Dunes.
Remodeled in the 1920s, Great Dunes was the original Jekyll Island Club course. It’s the least challenging of the
four but it’s the
only one where you can sink that perfect putt on the very same greens that Rockefeller,
Morgan and Getty once played. If golf’s not your thing, there’s a 9-hole mini-golf course for kids and for adults in need of a little
practice. There’s
also the Summer Waves waterpark for the kids. Visitors are invited to watch
up-and-comers at the Ralph Lundy Soccer Academy. Tennis magazine named the Jekyll
Island Tennis Centre as one of the top 25 courts in the United States. If you prefer something more passive, just walk the island’s 35 kilometres of pathways and
take in the island’s
flora and fauna.
Next |
|