Georgia’s Golden Isles

Not far from Georgia’s southern border are the Golden Isles, barrier islands which include St. Simons, Jekyll, and the exclusive Sea Island, where only residents and resort guests are allowed. There is a state park campground on Jekyll that doesn’t get the greatest online reviews, so we decided to stay at Blythe Island Regional Park in Brunswick.

Blythe Island Regional Park is a gem, with spacious full-hookup sites at a reasonable rate. And interestingly, the park employees have pet bunnies living there, which added some excitement to our daily campground walks. The bunnies almost made up for the ticks and other annoying bugs in the campground.

St. Simons is the largest of the Golden Isles, and seems very livable for being such a touristy area. It’s also very beautiful in an old live oak draped with Spanish moss kind of way. The grounds of Christ Church, the Avenue of the Oaks, and Fort Frederica National Monument (remnants of a British town and fort from the 1700s) were nice places to explore.

There are also plenty of shops, a great pier with views of the lighthouse, and a nice beach.

Jekyll Island, once a Gilded Age beach cottage destination, is now a state park managed by a concessionaire. You can stay at the former Jekyll Club and tour a few of the cottages in the historic district.

The trees are also incredible on Jekyll. See Michael in the photo below for scale!

The primary reason we wanted to visit this area was for Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island. The beach has hundreds of tree skeletons left from a forest that was taken over by the ocean, and is one of the most unique beaches we’ve ever seen.

Next up is Charleston!