Sunday, 30 November 0.0 SM 69F !!
The Clubhouse was built as the center of life for those who wintered on Jekyll.
The climate here is categorized as subtropical, of which Britannica’s definition is “a major climate type characterized by relatively high temperatures throughout the year.” Aboard Steadfast, the definition is simpler. Just say “wonderful!”
Along with an attractive climate, Jekyll has a fascinating history. For a brief period, it was home, they say, to a fleet of pirate ships. In 1858, fifty years after Congress outlawed the importation of slaves, the Wanderer landed 400 Africans on the island’s eastern shore. The smugglers were indicted but never convicted.
The chapel was built just behind the Clubhouse.
After the late unpleasantness, former Confederate Army officer Newton Finney bought nearly all of it and, together with his brother-in-law, began developing the Jekyll Island Club. It became an exclusive hunting preserve, winter playground for gentlemen of America’s wealthiest families (Vanderbilt, Morgan, Rockefeller, Pulitzer and the like), the same crowd that built summer cottages along Newport’s Bellevue Avenue. Several of those big wigs listened in as the head of AT&T placed the first trans-continental phone call here in 1915.
One must be properly outfitted for croquet on the lawn.
The state bought the island in 1947 for just $675,000 and since then, it’s been open to the public. There are miles and miles of paved bicycle trails which were put to good use on a tour of the historic district. The Jekyll Island Clubhouse now is a grand hotel which converted to guest rooms some of those former homes of the wealthy. There are four golf courses, oceanside beaches, hotels, gift shops, two small marinas (each just fine but neither reflecting the ritz of the island’s past) and a few places to eat.
Oh, and a subtropical climate.
Steadfast out.
At Sea with Steadfast 
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