Discover the Magic of the Holidays on Jekyll Island

Jekyll Island Club Resort, located on one of the Golden Isles off the coast of Southern Georgia, is one of those incredible places where family travelers can experience luxury from a bygone era. But during the holidays, the property, which sits on the land of a beautiful state park, pulls out all the stops to bring the magic of the holidays a little closer.

The resort sits on nearly 6,000 acres of beautiful southern landscape decked out in sparkling Christmas lights for the season. While you can walk the grounds to enjoy those lights, kids will no doubt prefer a more exciting way to experience them. Book a horse-drawn carriage for a ride around the property with a guide who will share interesting information about the property and its history along the way while you take in the Christmas light displays of jellyfish, turtles and shrimp hanging from the trees, as well as leaping frogs, fields of colorful flowers, elves riding bicycles and even Santa on his sleigh being pulled by nothing other than a team of alligators (because it is coastal Georgia, after all!). Live oak trees covered in hauntingly beautiful Spanish moss are all lit up for the holidays, creating a surreal wonderland.

© Eugenia Lazaris

Each year throughout the holiday season, there are fun events for the family, including fireworks, drive-in movies, lunch with Santa, breakfast with the Grinch and a winter carnival in early December, not to mention special holiday meals on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. The Landmark Trolley Tour, a special tour starting at the Jekyll Mosaic Museum, takes you around the property to see the incredible cottages that once belonged to notable families like the Rockefellers. These cottages, each designed to the unique tastes and architectural specifications of the individual owners, are beautifully decorated for the holidays. The tour takes you inside of one so you can see for yourself what life was once like for the rich and famous.

One of the fun activities the resort has set up for the kids (and I must admit, this one is fun for the adults too!) is finding Jekyll the Elf in his hiding spots around the property. There are eight different elves cleverly hidden in plain sight, and if you find all of them and take their photos to prove it, you will get a prize from the resort. There is also a special mailbox for the North Pole so kids can mail letters to Santa — and the hotel ensures every letter gets a response to help keep the magic of Christmas alive.

© Eugenia Lazaris

During the holidays, the resort hosts a special event every Tuesday and Thursday at 2 p.m. in the Grand Dining Room. The Holiday High Tea is an incredibly popular event that lets you introduce the little ones to this fun tradition. Live Christmas music and beautiful holiday decorations provide the perfect backdrop for an elegant tea service, complete with a variety of tea choices and a delectable selection of finger sandwiches and bite-sized snacks.

During the week of Christmas, there will be special entertainment by way of Tim Akins, a local bagpipe player who wanders the grounds playing a beautiful mix of Christmas songs, Irish songs and Scottish songs on the Highland bagpipes. Decked out in traditional garb, his music creates a beautiful soundtrack to a night of viewing Christmas lights and sitting by a roaring fire.

The resort’s sister property, The Jekyll Ocean Club, situated perfectly for families with kids thanks to its beach-front location and family-friendly suites, gets in on the fun with annual fire-side movies events (this year was The Polar Express), where kids and their families get to hang out in their pajamas and enjoy a special outdoor movie event with hot cocoa and s’mores. The hotel also has elves of their own hiding out around the property waiting for the little ones to track down for another prize.