Family Vacation to Jekyll Island: Part 1

During our Fall Break last month, we had the pleasure of spending the week on Jekyll Island. I love love love the Georgia coast, but hadn't been to Jekyll since I was a child. When we were planning our trip we wanted to stay somewhat close to Atlanta, and plan for somewhere we could do a lot of exploring. The kids love anything to do with nature and the beach. Jekyll Island seemed like the perfect location for our vacation - and it was!

We were so lucky to experience all that Jekyll Island has to offer, even more so considering the circumstances. Due to Hurricane Irma we weren't quite sure if we would even be able to enter the island, let alone stay for the week. Irma left major damage in her wake, and the Golden Isles were some of her victims. Luckily, Jekyll didn't sustain as much damage, and by the time we arrived (only a few days later) the amazing clean up crews had worked some magic and the island was close to pristine. An amazing feat considering the pictures that locals shared with us over the course of our stay. We spent six days on the island, and could have stayed a lifetime.

WHERE TO STAY ON JEKYLL ISLAND

Jekyll Island has a lot of fabulous family friendly hotels, but the moment I set my eyes on the historic Jekyll Island Club Resort I knew we had to call it home for the week. In 1888, the resort opened its doors as kind of an exclusive getaway for the world's most wealthy. Today, the hotel has been restored and maintained to its original splendor, and can be enjoyed by all. 

From top to bottom the Jekyll Club oozes southern charm, and I couldn't get enough of each and every little detail!

We arrived late afternoon, and the property was quiet due to hurricane recovery. We were greeted by friendly staff, and then I snapped a million pictures of the reception area because I somehow need to recreate this space in my own little home.

If the blue and white decor didn't have my heart, the large sweeping porches and cozy rocking chairs would.

The rockers were one of the kids favorite parts, and anytime we came outside we needed to plan for a "rocking" session.  

Can you blame them? Those porches just scream, "grab a sweet tea, sit on me, and have a good old southern relax session.". 

An exceptionally friendly staff member helped us take our 5,694 bags up to our room, and was so sweet to even let The Cutes' help.

Our suite was located in the main clubhouse. We booked a Double Double room, and it was perfect for our family of five. There was tons of space for us to spread out. 

The suite was made up of a series of three rooms - a bedroom, a living room, and a bathroom. All large and all decorated in lush Victorian style furnishings. 

If we had needed additional bed space, the couch also folded out to a a full size bed. 

It was so much space. We loved it! The kids had large amounts of floor space to play on, we had plenty of room for a crib without tripping over it, and there was even a separate little work space area if we needed to take a minute to catch up on something at home or work. 

It was also especially nice to be able to close the bedroom doors at night and be able to stay up past 8p.m. to have some downtime without the kids. No scrunching under the covers with Netflix on my iPhone trying to hear through my ear buds on their lowest volume. It was heavenly!

The bathroom is oversized as well and consists of two rooms. Also a luxury when you are traveling with a family of five and only have one bathroom to get ready in. 

After getting our selves unpacked, our snacks stowed away in the in-room fridge, and the kids took out some energy bouncing on the super soft beds, we made our way to explore the island. 

Be forewarned though, I was crazy in love with all the historic details and southern charm our hotel had to offer. You will be hearing/seeing lots more! I took a million pictures because #dreamhome. 

DAY 1

Our first official order of vacation business was...dinner. We were given a few recommendations from the bell hop, and let the kids choose their favorite. They were still crazy from the car ride so we were a little nervous for the good patrons of Jekyll Island for what we were about to unleash on them. 

The bell hop (and the kids) couldn't have chosen a more perfect location. Only a few minutes from Jekyll Club, Red Bug Pizza hit all the marks for everyone involved. 

First, it was pizza. A crowd favorite obviously. But it was located in the original clubhouse for the golf course. That means it was a whole lot nicer than your typical pizza restaurant in terms of atmosphere and wine selection (yes, please!). 

But it was super family friendly, and was extremely delicious!

They also deliver anywhere on the island, which we thought was neat. Especially if we needed a little pizza fix on the beach. 

The kids quickly declared it their favorite pizza place ever. And not only because of the super yummy food, but because this was right outside of it...

There are actually two large playgrounds right outside of the restaurants doors. One is for larger kids and one is for more of the toddler set. They could not wait to play on them, and the moment dinner was done we spent the next hour and a half running back and forth between the two. 

They even got a little nature lesson while we were there. 

I'm not sure if it is like this all the time, or if it was due to the time of year or the hurricane, but there were dozens of tiny frogs around the playground and on the fence. The kids had a blast checking on them and holding them. 

We could have stayed at Redbug the whole trip and the kids would have been in heaven. 

We wrapped up our day watching the sunset from the lawn of Jekyll Club, and quickly realized why this area was dubbed the Golden Isles. So pretty! 

Stay tuned for more about our trip tomorrow! 

Jen

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**A huge thank you to Amy and the Jekyll Club Resort for providing accommodations during our stay. All thoughts, opinions, and tan lines are our own. **