We recently spent a long weekend on Jekyll Island, Georgia and we had such a wonderful time that I want to share it with you. I did not know anything about the island before our visit, and was blown away by the natural beauty, history, and abundance of activities. I feel like we have found a hidden gem and I can’t wait to share it with you guys. I also reviewed the island for kidtripster.com, and you can read that article here.
Since we were visiting off-season, I was a bit worried about both the weather and the choice of activities available. We got lucky with the weather and had fairly warm temperatures (60’s & 70’s) and only a little bit of fog and drizzle. The only activities that were off-limits were the water park (closed), hotel pool (though there was a hot tub), and swimming at the beach (although we did walk along it a couple times). Everything else was up and running!
We arrived on a Thursday about 4:30 and checked into our hotel, the Holiday Inn Resort. There are only a handful of hotels on the island, and this is one of only 2 ocean front hotels that I saw. We had a suite with 2 queen beds, a living room with a sofa bed, and a kitchenette with a full-size refrigerator. All of the suites are on the second (top) floor and have balconies that face the beach.
Here is the view from our balcony:
We unloaded the car and were anxious to walk around and check out the resort, so off we went. That’s the pool area straight ahead:
This hotel is pet friendly (we saw lots of dogs during our stay!), and if you bring your pet you will want to stay in one of these rooms that open directly into a grassy area:
There was a fire pit closer to our room, but this one by the main lobby and pool area was much larger:
Even in the winter with things a bit brown, the grounds of the resort were still beautiful and very well maintained.
These cabanas facing the ocean were so neat!
The hotel has bikes that you can rent. There is a wide sidewalk next to the beach perfect for riding, and the island has over 20 miles of paved bike paths.
We checked out the pool area which was really pretty:
There is a poolside bar & grill which was closed for the winter but looked like a fun place to hang out in the summer:
There was also a little playground next to the pool:
Next we walked over to check out the beach:
I was amazed at how many sand dollars we saw. They were pretty much everywhere you looked. If they’re alive they are brown, if they’re dead they are white.
By this time we were getting hungry for dinner so we headed over to the Driftwood Bistro. Jekyll Island has lots of great restaurants to choose from, and I had made a list before our visit. The Driftwood Bistro was excellent, and very kid-friendly. I tasted my daughter’s chicken tenders and they were outstanding. I mentioned it to the owner and he told us that they make them from scratch, they’re not frozen like most restaurants. I got the shrimp and grits and it was really good, but the star of the show was my daughter’s pot roast. I consider myself somewhat of a pot roast expert, and this was hands down the best I’ve tasted.
Their desserts are made from scratch as well, and the girls chose the chocolate lava cake:
I had the peach cobbler and it was outstanding as well. After dinner we went back to the hotel and called it a night.
Up Next: Jekyll Island, Day 2
.
Disclosure: I pay for all of my own Disney vacations, but occasionally I am sent on assignment for a family travel website, kidtripster.com. We were hosted at the Holiday Inn Resort and Driftwood Bistro for the purpose of a review of Jekyll Island for kidtripster.com.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.