Evelyn came with us to Joe’s annual judge’s convention at the newly refurbished Westin Jekyll Island. Notice the sea urchin shadow box in our room!
We spent a couple days at the beach where you can combat the heat by asking their guy to deliver frozen drinks to your beach chair set up.
Another option for cooling off is to cross the expansive beach to visit the normally calm ocean water. Coincidentally our pictures of Joe and Evelyn at water’s edge and of Evelyn playing in the tidal pools recreated similar pictures of Kellan at Jekyll about ten years ago.
When we weren’t eating PB&J in the room, the local, freshly-caught seafood is always a treat at our favorite restaurants (The Wharf and Sunrise Grille).
One afternoon we explored two nearby state historic sites.
Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation State Historic Site
This site preserves the history, culture, and legacy of five generations of the William Bralsford family. Originally a rice plantation with enslaved African laborers in marshes along the Altamaha River from the early 1800’s, the family transitioned to dairy farming in 1913 when post-Civil War struggles threatened their family home.
We always try to watch the films. In this case, the theatre included church pews and the walls were lined with painting from the annual Albert Hendig-Hofwyl Plein Air Affair held at the historic site each March.
https://www.outdoorpainter.com/painting-a-plantation-in-georgia/
Acres and acres of moss-laden Live Oaks were everywhere you looked. One problem though, Evelyn thought I was saying “moths” not “moss”.
Ophelia’s Oak, named for the last surviving heir, is nearly 800 years old.
The 1851 antebellum plantation farmhouse contains family heirlooms and furniture, just as Ophelia left it to the Nature Conservancy, and ultimately to the State of Georgia. The ranger-led tour emphasized the resiliency of the family as they transitioned from a rice plantation to a dairy farm.
The entrance hall and parlor
The dining room featured paintings of the family’s ancestors, Cantonese china, and uranium glass that shines under UV light.
Fort King George State Historic Site
The oldest English fort remaining on Georgia’s coast was the southern outpost of the British Empire in North America in 1721. The garrison endured seven years in the harsh, unfamiliar coastal environment marked by disease and threats of Spanish and Indian attacks. After the garrison abandoned the fort, General James Oglethorpe recruited Scots from Inverness to settle Darien, the second oldest town in Georgia.
We toured the cypress blockhouse, officers’ quarters, moat, barracks and palisades. Joe and I have been here with various DSW sixth grade trips. Evelyn was intrigued on her first visit.
The next day, on the way home from the conference, we stopped at a state park, a state historic site, and a campground.
Jack Hill SP
This southeast Georgia park features boating and picnicking around its small lake as well as a nice playground and splashpad. The park’s ten cabins face the golf course. The sites at the small campground are a bit too open, though, and only a couple are on the lake. The park was renamed from Gordonia-Alatamaha to Jack Hill in 2020 in honor of the community’s late Georgia senator.
Jarrell Plantation SHS
From its inception in 1847 to 1974 when the family donated the property to the state, the cotton plantation was owned by three generations of Jarrells. The property survived General Sherman’s “March to the Sea,” typhoid fever, the cotton boll weevil, the advent of steam power and a transition from farming to forestry.
In 1847, John Jarrell built the simple heart pine house and made many of the furnishings still in the house today. In 1895 Dick Jarrell built a larger house to accommodate his 12 children after he returned to the farm to take over operations. Dick Jarrell’s 1920 house lies just off-site and served as a bed and breakfast until recently.
In 1863, the 600-acre plantation was farmed by 42 enslaved African laborers. Post Civil War, the nearly 1,000-acre farm employed formerly enslaved Africans.
The plantation’s authentic buildings depicted the early agricultural economy and the later industrialization.
The spinning wheel in the 1847 house
The 1895 house furnishings
Dames Ferry Campground – division of High Falls SP
Located on the shores of crystal-clear 3,600-acre Lake Juliette, many of the 30 campsites at Dames Ferry have magnificent waterfront views. The Whistle Stop Cafe, in nearby Juliette, was made famous in the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes.” The campground is overseen by nearby High Falls State Park.
We hope to visit soon with our kids and grandkids since many of the secluded campsites are perfectly located for canoe and paddle board access.
Whistle Stop Cafe
Two weeks later Joe and I had a Sunday lunch date at the Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette, a couple of miles from Jarrell Plantation.
The hour long wait was worth it for Southern cooking at its finest: squash casserole, country fried steak, and the required fried green tomatoes that were made famous in the Julia Roberts movie.
Our waitress said occasionally someone leaves without ordering fried green tomatoes but they talk bad about them! We decided this would be the first of many trips to this cute little town.