In celebration of anniversary number 34, Jake and Stone headed to an old favorite -- Jekyll Island in the Golden Isles off the Georgia Coast. Jekyll is certainly the least "golden" of this stretch of four barrier islands. LittleSt. Simons Island can be reached only by boat, has a total of six guest cottages, and offers a luxurious get-away focused on natural beauty, beaches and birding. The "golden" continues on Sea Island, where single family homes can't be had for under three million dollars, and the lone resort on the island is the Cloister at Sea Island, one of the top (and most expensive) resorts in America. The "golden" endures, if to a lesser degree, on St. SimonsIsland, where at least some non-millionaires live, but it is still the kind of place where you'll find the likes of PGA players such as Davis Love, Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar among the residents.
Then there is Jekyll, which started out famously "golden," in fact, one might say "platinum," being founded and favored by turn-of-the-century aristocrats such as Morgan, Rockefeller, Astor, Vanderbilt -- those sort of folk. But this enclave ultimately fell on hard times and the state of Georgia bought the whole place in 1947. Jekyll Island is now a Georgia state park that caters to middle-class families. Its allure for Jake and Stone is the variety and general low cost of vacation rentals, the 20+ miles of paved bike trails, the 63 holes of golf, miles of walkable beaches and the Jekyll Club Hotel, which gives the island a needed bit of luxury.
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| Jekyll Island -- Georgia's Best State Park? |
Sunday, January 19, 2014 -- Previously Jake and Stone had driven down to Jekyll with two stopovers, but this time, fortified with a brand new car that considerably reduced the stress of driving, they decided to stop just once, just outside Roanoke,Virginia. Through booking.com they got a room at the La Quinta Inn in Salem, VA, for only $75 and found it worth every penny. Sundays in the South can make it challenging to find a good place to eat, but they found Mac 'n Bobs where Jake had a nice green salad with seared tuna. Stone's steak salad was only average, as was the ambiance, but they both agreed the service was quite good, and left happy with the experience.
Monday, January 20, 2014 -- After an early start back on the road Jake and Stone had a late breakfast at a wonderfully local place called Yolk, in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Being the MLK holiday, the place was packed, and to avoid a wait they had to sit at the counter. Both of the breakfasts were simply great. Jake's pecan waffle with bacon was done perfectly, as was Stone's omelet. And the accompanying grits alone would have been worth the slight trip off the interstate. Highly recommended.
Our couple rolled into Jekyll just in time to pick up the key to their 2BR rental in a development named Villas by the Sea. This 2-story, walk-up condo proved to be ideal. Suffice it to say it was as nice and stylish as the photos show. (Not always the case with vacation rentals.) The Wi-Fi was easy to access and and plenty fast, the beds were comfortable, and all was immaculately clean. It also provided quick access to the beach, so Jake and Stone took a pleasant sunset walk on the low-tide sand, then had dinner from their brought-along cooler on one of the two little (but adequate) balconies overlooking the condo's grounds, with the edge of the dark ocean just visible above the trees.
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| Sunrise at Driftwood Beach |
Tuesday, January 21, 2014 -- A typical Jekyll day. Jake and Stone got up early to stroll the beach and see the sunrise of the Atlantic. Their condo was at the northern end of the island so it was a fairly short walk to Driftwood Beach, one of the most photographed places on the island.
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| Olelander Course at Jekyll Island |
The condo was not only close to the beach but also close to the Driftwood Bistro, by far the best restaurant on the island. If Jekyll has a downside, it is the paucity of good restaurants -- especially so in the off-season winter. Luckily, the Driftwood proved to be excellent. The local Georgia shrimp and grits dish was just fabulous. The tab at Driftwood proved to be another positive, including the cost of a bottle of wine ($19!), the unfinished portion of which is dressed in a paper bag for patrons to take home.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014 -- The historically cold Winter of 2014 had reached all the way down to southern Georgia when Jake and Stone got up with temps in the mid to high 30's. After a breakfast of oatmeal, our hearty duo dressed appropriately and rented two bikes from the front desk at Villas bythe Sea (also a quick walk from the condo) and took off to enjoy some of the bike mileage that Jekyll offers.
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As a reward for their efforts, Jake and Stone had lunch at the historic Jekyll Club Hotel in the hotel's Grand Dining Room. A lunch-time Stoli martini was only $7.50, the soups were hot and tasty, Stone's portobello sandwich was good, and though the menu said the hotel's shrimp and grits was famous, in all honesty it didn't taste as wonderful (make no mistake, it was still good) to Jake as did the Driftwood's version.
The Jekyll Club Hotel is the luxury anchor for Jekyll and worth a visit just to walk around the grounds, which our couple did, including some shopping at the various shops that dot the expansive grounds. After their bike ride back to the condo it was time for naps, dinner in the condo, reading, some TV, and then sleep.
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| Lots of water but rarely comes into play |
While Jake golfed, Stone did some more walking and shopping. At the hotel they had drinks by the fireplace outside the Grand Dining room and fell into a pleasant conversation with a couple from Pittsburgh. The rest of the afternoon was filled with lunch and dedicated relaxation.
Then it was back to the hotel for dinner and drinks at Vincent's Pub, a intimate bar that offers food transported (at a 20% service charge) from the hotel's dining room. Here the bartender was professional enough to ask Jake what scotch he preferred in his rusty nail, Stone's martini was big and cold, and their warm seafood salads were tiptop. A wonderful way to end the day.
Friday, January 24, 2014 -- The cool weather continued, much to the consternation of the natives who are used to 65 degrees in January, but Jake and Stone found it to be nice walking weather. Very near their condo is a new walking/biking trail called Clam Creek which provided them with a nice 3 mile walk amid marshlands and coastal trees. In the summer this trail is noted for its bird life, but Jake and Stone saw very little aviary activity this cool morning.
If the golf at the 18-holers is rather graciously mundane, Jekyll's historic 9-hole venue is just the opposite. Great Dunes offers golf the way it was long ago. Built in 1926, this little links beauty has some of the smallest greens Jake has ever seen, a wonderful par-5 that ends at an uphill green perched on a plateau that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, and a par-3 that is as tough as any waterless, one-shoter any golfer is likely to find. As a bonus, a walking round is only $10. That totaled $20 for our duo, as this time Stone went along with Jake. When the starter took their money he joked, "It's so cold maybe we ought to be paying you to play." Nonsense, thought our duo after their round. They both had fun (golf's greatest gift) and greatly enjoyed the walk, the golf, and the uniqueness of the layout.
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| Stone on the Tee at Great Dunes |
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| Stone Just Off the Plateau Green |
It was time for some apres-golf martinis back at the hotel, then off the Driftwood Bistro for dinner. But, oh-oh!, it's Friday night and every family that couldn't cancel their weekend getaway because of the weather is at the Driftwood, with multiple kids in tow, waiting for a table. (The Driftwood Bistro takes no reservations.) Jake and Stone's luck proved much better off-island, where they ate at Zachry's, in Brunswick, GA. Zachry's (which several years ago used to actually be on Jekyll Island) proved to be a warehouse type of space with a large bar populated mostly by large Georgia men watching large TVs and drinking large sized beers. However, the food (wild Georgia shrimp, clam chowder, sea scallops, salad -- and a two sides of grits, of course) proved to be very good, as did the beer selection (Stella Artois/$3.50 a bottle-- for Jake) and wine by the glass (Cavit Pinot Grigio/$5 a glass -- for Stone).
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| Room with a View |
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| If Food be the Music of Love... |
Sunday, January 26, 2014 -- A big and warm breakfast at the inn with the fireplace roaring. And well it should, for the wind-chill outside is cold, even by Jersey standards. Staunton is a town known for its history and culture. In 2012, Smithsonian Magazine named Staunton the 10th best small town in America. Its two main attractions are the American Shakespeare Center, which is in a re-creation of London's Blackfriars Playhouse, and the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, which needs no re-creation. Though Jerseyites are quick to point out that Wilson rose to fame as president of Princeton, and later as Jersey's governor, he was born in Staunton and was at heart much more a southerner than he was Jersey guy. Which, as recent events in the Garden State have shown, may not be a bad thing.
As is the rule in most of the South, Sunday is a day of rest, so the vast majority of Staunton was closed. Still, Jake and Stone were able to do some worthwhile walking around and shopping. One of the few places open for a Sunday lunch was the Byers Street Bistro, an attractive place which provided our duo with a nice southern lunch of pork & hash and gravy & eggs. Mimosas were also available, but the bubbly was not cold so the waitress brought us a glass of ice to cool things down. Perhaps the fridge was also closed on Sunday.
When Jake and Stone inquired at the inn as where to have dinner locally, the Geenleaf Grill, about 5minutes away in Waynesboro was suggested. The ambiance at this grill with a large menu was in need of updating, but the Stoli and wine were good, and the food -- stuffed flounder, grilled scallops -- were also tasty. (Throughout their trip, Stone and Jake were always happy with the sea food they ordered, both in Georgia and Virginia.)
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| Sunset on the Porch |
Monday, January 27, 2014 -- On the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the middle of the George Washington National Forest, is the mountain top resort of Wintergreen. A drive there looked interesting, and besides, on the way Jake and Stone could stop by a store called Country Connections in the town of Stuarts Draft. Jake and Stone, who had shopped in vain in Staunton for a new quilt, had been told that this store might very well have a good selection. Sadly, none of the offered quilts quite fit the bill, but our duo had a good time walking through what seemed like acres of country stuff, and Stone did find (of course!) some little things that caught her fancy.
The road trip to Wintergreen featured pretty snow-covered farms and hillsides at first, then quickly started up hill to some nice mountain vistas. Our duo, who had ideas that they might be able to do some "snow tubing," had thought Wintergreen might be a lot less crowded on this Monday than it would have been on Sunday.
However, parking proved to be a challenge and a harbinger, for once they hiked from the parking lot up to the resort and its ski area, they discovered the scene littered with winter-sport enthusiasts, many of whom were kids who for some reason must have gotten the day off from school. Jake and Stone did enjoy watching the scene, noting the unpretentious atmosphere which was quite unlike the Colorado ski resorts Jake visited, now and then, back in the day.
Still hoping to find that elusive quilt they so desired, Jake and Stone headed from Wintergreen to Charlottesville, which was perhaps an hour's drive through more pretty Virginia countryside. Though their quest for a quilt went unfulfilled, Charlottesville's Downtown Mall provided interesting and robust shopping, including the BlueWhale Bookstore where Jake found an old book he had been seeking.
The Downtown Mall, a pedestrian mall overseen by Charlottesville's Park and Recreation Department, is a large, attractive affair. When seeking a late lunch, our duo had over 30 places to choose from. Citizen Burger was close by and looked nice, so in they went. As luck would have it: CB was perhaps the best burger and beer place, ever. Highly recommended.
Back in Staunton for their final dinner Jake and Stone ate at the Depot Grille. Again the seafood was very good -- seafood chowder, sea scallop and gulf shrimp scampi, and shrimp Greek salad. And also, once again, the food was better than the ambiance, but then, the Depot Grille is likely to be more fun when the cold goes away and the locals once again go out to eat.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014 -- The 350-mile drive home seemed a snap after all the miles this trip covered. Jake and Stone thought Staunton was certainly worth another visit, most likely in warmer weather, and especially to see a Shakespeare production. And a week in Jekyll might just become an anniversary tradition. Number 35 is not that far away.
