St. Simon Island

St. Simon Island Lighthouse

We drove over to explore St. Simon Island today. It is another barrier island in the Atlantic off the Georgia coast. What a gorgeous place! Beautiful, huge live oak trees draped with Spanish moss are everywhere. It is much more commercialized and affluent than Jekyll Island with many lovely old homes. We took a trolley tour to get the history of the area and then had lunch at a "famous" BBQ joint - "Soul Food." Very good - but, a rub vs a spicy sauce like we are used to in Texas..

We heard the story of what made the difference between Jekyll and St. Simon Islands today. Two families settled Jekyll Island with land grants then their heirs sold the land to the Jekyll Island Club - an exclusive resort. It was eventually sold to the state. Recently, the government provided a grant to the State of Georgia to build a convention center on Jekyll Island but once it was done "they" realized there is not enough hotels/housing for people attending a conference. No private enterprise is interested because the land is owned and governed by the state of Georgia. Plus, since Jekyll Island is a State Park you pay a daily rate to get on the island! So, the white elephant sits empty on Jekyll Island and all the shops and restaurants are on St. Simon Island. Another exclusive resort, Sea Palms, with a private golf course is on St. Simon Island - on land that was once a 1,000 acre cotton plantation. 



"White Elephant" convention center on Jekyll Island



Oak tree on St. Simon Island