Coastal Georgia

Trip Summary:

When: November 2020

Why: Covid road-schooling trip

Duration: 10 days

Why did we choose Georgia?

When you’re looking for summer weather in November, your options in the United States become quite limited. Darien, GA, our home base and where our Airbnb was located, averaged 75-78 degree days during that time, and was the shortest distance we could drive and still guarantee that a dip in the ocean would be tolerable. The weather plus the “off season” timing made it a perfect destination. In addition, if your usual go-to warm weather spot is Florida - as it is for many Michiganders - coastal Georgia offers a nice change. Overall, it feels less touristy, carries a lot of charm and history, and you don’t have to go far to find some delicious, authentic southern cooking.

Drone view of our “backyard” in Darien, GA.

Foodie Stop in Savannah

This stop in Georgia directly followed our stay in Wadmalaw Island (South of Charleston) and we couldn’t sail past Savannah without making a quick foodie stop for lunch. Normally we take advantage of vegan offerings in big cities, but this time we did a 180 and headed to The Treylor Park. I’m not sure how to describe the food there, except to say it’s what I imagine a talented chef would throw together in his or her own home at 2 am when the party continued, but the food was running out: Cheese Steak Egg Rolls and PB & J wings are both on the appetizer list. It’s modern-day comfort food to the extreme.

**Separate Savannah, GA post coming soon!

Waffle Fry Nachos at the Treylor Park - the boys still talk about this place!

If you’re looking for other great food options..

Collin’s Quarter - a beautiful space, with amazing salads!
Fox & Fig (vegan)
Henny Penny Cafe - coffee & baked goods. The vegan lavender donuts are AMAZING, and your kids can make art while you sip your coffee!

Where we stayed:

Normally, we use Airbnb (super user-friendly) to book our accommodations, but when nothing appealing pops in the area we’re searching, we turn to VRBO. Both are reputable and we haven’t had any significant issues with either site. We ended up booking this amazing house on the marsh through VRBO.

Whenever roadschooling/working we do put in the extra effort to find the right space because we are going to be spending more time in that space. This house provided my husband with a desk/work area, a dining table where I could teach, AND we were on the water! The included bikes and kayaks made the outdoor space even more accessible and fun.

Favorite features:

A screened in porch with comfy furniture
A dock that we could fish and swim from
Kayaks and bikes
A gorgeous tree-lined street, with low traffic and amazing Spanish moss hanging from every branch
Old ruins of a rum distillery that my kids could play “forts” in at the end of the road!

Darien, Georgia
We did not come here for the town, we came for the house and the proximity to other interesting sites. That said, Darien is a decent stop and the downtown area has some charm.

Check out:

Turnip Greens (small market with prepared foods)
Skipper’s Fish Camp (seafood on the water)
B & J’s Steak & Seafood (total dive, but people keep coming back for the fried seafood)

Venturing Out

The Golden Isles:

St. Simmon’s Island
Sea Island
Little St. Simmon’s Island
Jekyll Island
Brunswick (a mainland city in the area)

The four barrier islands in this area of Georgia are known as The Golden Isles, and they have started to receive a lot of attention lately by the travel industry. In fact, Travel & Leisure magazine voted this area the 2020 World’s Best Islands in the Continental US.

I’ll give a brief summary of the two that we didn’t visit at the end, but you can find more information on this tourist website for the whole island chain here.

Driftwood Beach

No trip to Jekyll Island is complete without a visit to the famed Driftwood Beach. This is an amazing playground for the young and young at heart. We played an epic game of “the floor is lava” while climbing through the driftwood and fallen trees. I think we made it through eight trees before running out of connecting limbs! A few small parking lots dot the road along that area and it’s just a short 2-3 minute walk through a palm forest to the beach area where you can stroll up and down for about a mile.

4-H Tidelands Center

If you are traveling with kids, this is a must-visit. This small building far exceeded my expectations. They have quite the assortment of live animals inside - including horseshoe crabs, sea turtles (rescued) and numerous tortoises, snakes, and even a couple of baby alligators.

The displays are dated, but incredibly educational and it was truly one of our favorite experiences on the island. In fact, so much so that we came back a second time to participate in a seining activity (the net pictured below) led by a staff member. Originally we were supposed to cast our net into the ocean, but due to a riptide we settled for the pond adjacent to the center.

The staff was very cautious with Covid, and masked up the whole time unless we were outside and more than six feet away. They supplied the boys with fishing poles and nets to see what they could drag out of the pond and then taught them how to sein (new vocab word for us!). They pulled up quite a few small fish - including anchovies!

Sea Turtle Center

Checking out the rescued sea turtle tanks…

The Sea Turtle Center was a little slow when we were there (I’m sure ‘busy season’ ebbs and flows with the sea turtle migration), but it was interesting to see how they operate and learn more about these amazing creatures. The gift shop is beautiful and free, so you could always duck in there and ask if they have many sea turtles in the tanks or if they are doing any procedures on a sea turtle (which you can view through a window in the museum).

Horseback Riding

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about horseback riding experiences. What I want it to be (a wild romp through the sand and the waves) is actually a nose to rear-end slow trod in single file order for a very brief amount of time. However, I have absolutely no horseback riding skills at all, so I get that my options are limited (and for good reason).

If you’ve never ridden a horse, or just want to give your kiddos the experience, this is your typical, safe, newbie horseback riding experience. We started out through a palm forest and then made our way to Driftwood beach before following the same path back to the stable. A one-hour “beach ride” with Three Oaks Farm is $65 per person for a group tour.

Brunswick, GA & The Lady Jane

Do this!!! This is one of our all-time favorite family experiences! The Lady Jane is a retired shrimp boat that now gives educational tours in the coastal waters of Brunswick, GA. I’m guessing that these tours are packed in the spring and summer, but when we boarded in November there were only 10 passengers, which afforded us a close-up view of the table.

A naturalist onboard led a talk about the coastal habitat, the shrimping industry, answered random questions from the kids and guests on board, and then pulled up the net and dumped the entire contents onto a large table. Honestly, it’s better than Christmas. The excitement of waiting for that net to open never got old (they cast it three times), and we were ‘gifted’ with a gator gar, squid, a huge butterfly ray, sting ray, hermit crabs, flounder and quite a few other species of fish. Our guide said that one time a four-foot shark fell out onto the table!!!

One of the three hauls on the Lady Jane.

After each dump of the net, the guide pulls out some of the ‘keepers’ and gives a brief talk about each animal before letting the passengers hold, touch, or pose with the critter before returning it back to the sea. Animals in waiting are kept in shallow trays of water and all are returned safely back to the water. Well…except for those that are snatched out of mid-air by seagulls in their descent (my boys found this ‘circle of life’ almost as entertaining as sorting through the catch).

The current rate for guests is $47.99 per person ($39.99 for kids ages 2-5), which isn’t cheap for a full family, but honestly it is so worth it. My boys declared it “better than Disney World.” So there, I just saved you a few hundred bucks. You can book a tour here!

St. Simmon’s Island

We spent an afternoon here, so we barely scratched the surface. I’m guessing that to really make the most of this island you would need to stay for three or four nights, and to do that it will cost you a large chunk of change. If you are a serious golfer, you probably already know all about this island. The links are open to the public IF you stay at one of the resorts, and the views are rumored to be phenomenal.

Gorgeous ‘tree tunnel’ in front of one of the resorts.

We strolled along the coast, searched out some of the famous tree carvings found on the island, and popped into a couple of shops before heading out. In a non-Covid era when you could shop without a mask and social-distancing, enjoy the dining experience, and live up the resort life, this could be a very magical place.

Sea Island & Little St. Simmon’s Island

I’m listing these two islands so that you know they exist, and are part of the Golden Isles area, but we did not make it to either one.

Sea Island

I can tell you that you exclusivity is the name of the game, and although the island is private, your point of entry is booking a room at one of the island’s posh resorts. Sea Island is the only resort in the world to achieve four Forbes Five Stars twelve years in a row. If you’re into the resort lifestyle the island boasts an amazing golf course, tennis center, yacht club, horseback riding, and shooting school. In addition, there is spa that I’m sure is absolutely fabulous. Just don’t forget to pack your Privé Revaux shades for the trip.

Little St. Simmon’s Island

This private island seems like the perfect weekend escape for a nature-focused couples’ trip. Accessible only by boat, the 11,000 acre island offers an immersion into the coastal habitat with naturalist guided tours, hiking, kayaking and beach combing. The Lodge on Little St. Simmon’s Island is made up of six cottages that can accommodate a total of 32 guests and is all-inclusive (three meals a day, recreational equipment, and daily island excursions are included). This may be our next anniversary trip!