The last day at Jekyll, I woke up AGAIN an extra hour before the alarm. Ugh.... not sleeping in your own bed is hard! (And - they're supposed to be "heavenly" beds at the hotel, but... ??)

I already contacted a colleague about going over to Driftwood Beach to take in the sunrise there. She and I met up at 5:30 in the lobby and headed to the other end of the island!

Before getting to the sunrise over the ocean, I turned to look the other way and caught another moon-setting!

It took awhile to find the right spot, but we found a couple of trees with an interesting composition and hung out in one spot most of the morning.

Two cool things happened while standing in that spot:

1 - a shrimp boat passed by... birds flying all around it. It made for some interesting shots!

2 - the sun looks like it is clinging to the horizon... if you look closely at the sun, it doesn't appear to be round in the "up close" shots!

This beach actually got quite crowded once the sun started to rise. A woman there told us a couple of places to take photos... we thought she may want our spot? :)

But - after the sun rose, we did go to the "most photographed tree on Jekyll Island" per her suggestion.

This one reminded me of the giving tree. At some point, the boy carves his initials in the tree.

And - the woman told us another "shot" that is commonly taken... scrunch down and take a photo of the lighthouse through the arch of this tree.

It's really hard to see the lighthouse, though. There's a tiny thing sticking up over the tree-line in this shot. That's it.

A couple of final shots before leaving.

My colleague had not seen the "historic" district on the Island so on the way back to the hotel, we drove through. This is my 1st experience with Jekyll - a dozen or more years ago - staying at the historic Jekyll Club with the lady from Keep Marietta Beautiful (Joan) who has since passed away. We were treated to lodging and a recycling conference - sponsored by a beverage corporation's recycling division.

Lots of people from Keep Georgia Beautiful affiliates went. I remember going to the sea turtle center then (and later working on the greening of that building when I worked at the green building non-profit).

THIS is the part of the island I remember! So it was nice to drive through and take a trip down memory lane.

Some information on the history of this site:

https://www.jekyllclub.com/about/jekyll-island-history/

Colonization - 1733

General James Oglethorpe founded the colony of Georgia and named Jekyll Island in honor of Sir Joseph Jekyll, his friend and financier from England.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered - 1792

Fleeing the French Revolution, Christophe DuBignon purchased property on Jekyll Island.

Hunting Club - 1879

Newton Finney, and brother-in-law, John Eugene DuBignon, a descendant of Christophe DuBignon, collaborate to turn Jekyll Island into a private hunting club for the nation’s wealthiest individuals, quickly becoming their winter hideaway.

The Club Opening - 1888

The Club officially opened its doors in January 1888, quickly becoming a retreat for families that represented one-sixth of the world’s wealth.

Sans Souci - 1896

Owned in part by J.P. Morgan, this six-unit building is recognized as one of the first condominiums in the United States. The floors, leaded art glass, stairway and skylight are all original still today.

The Annex - 1901

Built as an addition to The Clubhouse, The Annex featured eight suites for members and their guests on the first and second floors, some offering enclosed parlor rooms and river views.

The Cottages - 1928

Families with names like Rockefeller, Morgan, Vanderbilt, Pulitzer, and Baker built elegant cottages designed for comfort in Victorian architectural styles. Villa Marianna was the last of 18 cottages to be completed, in 1928.

The State Era - 1948

The state of Georgia purchased Jekyll Island from the Jekyll Island Club for $675,000. The Island opened to the public as a State Park in 1948.

Resurrection - 1985

After a decade of neglect and abandonment, two friends, one a lawyer, the other an architect, climbed through an unlocked window and fell in love with the deteriorating Clubhouse. Together, they planned to preserve and renovate The Club to its original splendor and re-open it as a hotel.

Grand Re-Opening - 1987

Conservation - 2007

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center opened in the renovated power plant of the Jekyll Island Club.

Cool gargoyles on the chapel!

The part of the island that we were staying at (the new hotels, mixed-use "town center," and convention center) was not there - at all - when I was down last time. We headed back to that part... got ready... packed up and went to the morning meeting in the convention center. There was a break - I suppose to visit the vendors and/or to check out of the hotel room. We asked for a late check-out and needed every minute of it to gather all of our items / pack back into the car / head to Savannah.

Jekyll Island Convention Center Officially Opens

JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga., May 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 300 people gathered Sunday to celebrate the official grand opening of the new Jekyll Island Convention Center.

The 128,000-square foot Jekyll Island Convention Center has been in planning for more than four years. Construction on the Center began in 2010, and was completed several months ahead of schedule and under the planned $50 million budget.

The Jekyll Island Convention Center is silver-level LEED certified. Its design and construction took into account the delicate coastal eco-system, and includes locally-sourced materials such as shells, sea glass, and reclaimed pine. The end result showcases an efficient, state of the art, and one-of-a-kind venue.

Embedded here are random photos from the island that didn't have a spot elsewhere.

Honestly - I was not there long (because I was tied up for 20+ hours in those 2 1/2 days at the conference)... but did make the most of the time before and after my sessions to see as much as I could!

This is the view from our room while we were waiting for the rain to pass. Below was a parking lot, but when you were laying down, you couldn't see the cars. (Next year - it would be much nicer to get beach-side rooms with a balcony! But - we may actually look at a different hotel all-together so that we have a suite or more beds or something.... if we're going to keep going to this conference.)

And - one FINAL shot from the island: Mercer wanted to make popcorn... he thought the safe in the room was a tiny microwave. (In his defense.... it was in the same closet as the mini-fridge and the coffee maker!) Ha!

________

Back in March - about a week after I received the details of the conference & lodging - I received an email from Savannah Banana's about a limited number of week-day tickets open to the public for 3 different June games. As it turns out, one of them was on the Wednesday after my conference ended.... we would be driving home that afternoon anyways. So, we snagged a 4-pack of tickets, made a small detour off of the highway and hung out in our favorite city for a few hours before the game. We're always amazed at how much it changes.

This quick trip, we ate at a fantastic taco bar, checked out some new buildings that SCAD has added. We went to a part of their campus that is now out between downtown and Southside. (We ran into one of our former classmates at the Savannah Banana's game and he told us there were 5 movie studio buildings in that part of town now + a series of dorms - which we saw.)

There were some antics at the game -- but not as many as that "showcase" game we went to during Spring Break in April. Todd had a great time and was getting into the activities. (THANK GOODNESS he did not "win" the tee-shirt launch activity he was participating in. A gentleman a few rows in front of us really won a giant pair of underwear with a banana on the front! Ha!

They still do the "Lion King" thing where they pay tribute to a baby (baby banana).

There was still the dancing 1st base coach (Maceo - who Isabella was thrilled with watching again) and the dancing grannies (banana nanas) / dad-bod guy / princess potassium / the owner in a yellow tux / marching band through the stands).

Our friend Pat went down with her to meet him and took a photo up close as well. He doesn't know much about baseball... He's a professional dancer and choreographer hired to put on a show!

We left Savannah at 10 pm.... and didn't get home 'til after 2 am! Man.. Thursday was tough!

We got back into the grind of baseball (camp)... Swim team... and unpacking.

Saturday, I went to dinner (had Indian street food beforehand which was unusual but good!) and continued to a book release event from a famous author who wrote Stamped.

He was releasing a children's book called Goodnight Racism.

The facility was stunning... Looked like historic Gothic but built in 1940.

Juneteenth was celebrated this weekend across the country to commemorate the last state (Texas) that recognized the end of slavery -- the Emancipation Proclamation was passed two years earlier, however, was not enacted there. General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston on June 19 1865 and told slaves of their emancipation. The festival has been up on Marietta Square for years and years. We've been up there before during the festival. I bet it was bigger this weekend. Marietta CIty made it an official paid holiday for it's staff. This is the 1st year that it has been recognized as a holiday here. It's also a federal holiday now as well - being passed last year into legislation.

The speaker and the facilitator at Saturday's event talked about Juneteenth as well.

Sunday was Father's Day. And, of course, there was BASEBALL!

Mercer played 2 games for his 15u team Friday night.

He played 2 games for his 14u All Stars team Saturday morning.

And he played 1 game for each of the teams (2 games total) on Sunday!

(Of course ... "Coach" Todd was right there for all of it!)

Isabella and I missed most of the games only going to the first one on father's day. Here are some photos from that game.

Mercer hit 2 triples in his 1st 14u All-Star game Sunday. The second one ALMOST went over the fence. Todd yelled across to Mercer (from his 1st base coach post) that he needed to do pushups so that net time the ball will go OVER the fence. So... Mercer dropped and did pushups at 3rd base. : /

I'm sure the 3rd base coach was telling him to get up! ha. (But it is fun to see M cutting up and enjoying himself at the game!)

(Deja vu: There was a tournament last year on father's day too...... we spent the day at the ball field last year... but I remember last year... it was SOO HOT! This year, it was not too bad. whew.)

We did not go to the 2nd game (at a different ball field for the 15u team b/c Isabella doesn't have anyone to play with on that team but also, needed to get groceries and clean / prep for making one of Todd's favorite foods: mascarpone pasta with Italian sausage.)

We celebrated him Sunday night with that + an "All-Star Dad" Cake..... in baseball decoration, of course!

Monday, June 20, 2022

Last day in Jekyll, Quick Visit to Savannah + Father's Day