Part 2 of 2010-10-13 Jekyll Island
On
day two of our tour of Jekyll Island we saw some flora and fauna
(plants and animals) like this cyprus tree, but mostly we saw beautiful
cottages. Just wait 'til you see what they call a cottage.
Here's some of the wild life, and I do mean "wild", that we saw. Since this was an October trip, this little lady would fit right in with Halloween, would she not?
We first went to the Island's museum.
There we learned about the Island's "Club Period." As the the message indicates, it began in 1885 when someone bought the island with the intent of making it into a private club for America's wealthy. Could this have been America's first timeshare?
Since the people there were the richest Americans, some pretty famous events took place on this island. This is where the idea for the federal banking system was first cooked up.
AT&T President made the first phone call that launched nationwide long distance telephone service.
But at first, Jekyll Island was only a hunting club.
And they ate what they caught.
As we walked through the museum, I noticed quite a few illustrations of some of the fine woods and woodwork used to make up the homes.
There was even an historic display of nails.
Back outside the museum we met this fellow. I thought it was funny that every time someone approached him with a camera he would turn toward the camera. I snuck this shot before he turned his head.
We walked across the road. There were signs like this one all over the historic district.
This lane was for pedestrian traffic only. It was lined with buildings leased out for shops. There were all sorts of wares displayed in them from jewelry to bird feeders.
Here, a local artist was creating one of many paintings we saw in one of the shops.
Here's one of the "cottages" I mentioned earlier. Would you call this a "cottage"?
I thought it was fascinating that the old tree limbs would touch the ground before they would break off.
They're Live Oaks, the densest and heaviest of oak trees. They're common to the coast of southern U.S.
Through the trees we could see the historic hotel.
Some of the buildings on this island were built by the likes of J.P. Morgan and William Rockefeller. They among others built the most interesting building in the next photo.
At first the hotel was the only structure on the island where club members and their guests could spend the night. But it offered no privacy. So the men mentioned above built this, the first condos in the U.S.
Next door we spotted this little electric car used by the residents of the island back in the early 1900s. They called them "red bugs."
A modern version of the little red electric car is used on the Island today.
There are signs everywhere that mention them.
This little resident says, "If you want to see more of the buildings, you'll have to move on to the next page." Well, not really. Actually he said nothing. But that's where the rest of the photos are located.
