Jekyll Island Beach : Travel Journal (Part 1)

Jekyll Island is a tiny little island off the coast of Georgia and it really is the perfect spot for a relaxing and low key vacation.

We headed up on a Saturday after one of Will’s baseball games and couldn’t wait to meet Jeremy’s mom there for a few days of spring break beachiness.  On the drive, Jeremy and I were talking about the last time we had been to Jekyll….our stories included riding bikes, attempting to sleep on the beach which led to sleeping in the car which led to sleeping in a cheap motel, an unfortunate bodysurfing accident that resulted in a scab that looked like a small mustache, and assisting a friend who sawed off a part of the pier that had a carved declaration of love to their high school sweetheart.  Our lives are weird.  I’ll let you guess who had a scab-stache for the better part of the summer in 1998.

Obviously with that slew of memories, we had no idea what to expect!  Ha!

We arrived late and quickly rearranged the bed situation to fit the boys.  We have found that usually we can scoot the mattress into a corner and pile all three big boys in one bed.  The next morning Maxi Knight woke up early so I had the chance to experience my first Jekyll sunrise – it does not disappoint!

The other boys were up soon afterwards and it was amazing to see that our hotel and the beach were both dog friendly.  LJ was especially excited to see all the doggies!  (Obviously he is a dog lover – what with his Paw Patrol obsession!)  He would point and bark and throw things off our balcony to play fetch (one of which was our thermometer…..errgh!)

The hotel was PERFECT for our family.  Like we just don’t know what to expect sometimes but this setup was amazing.  It was a suite that had a big sleeping area with two queen beds and then the sitting area had a small kitchenette, a pull out couch, bathroom and balcony.  It had plenty of room to play on the floor and everything was so new and clean!

Our room was on the very end so we were near a stairwell (which helps when you have 1.3 million kids bags)….

And since we were on the second level, it was a perfect view while still being able to trap the kiddos on the balcony 🙂  Yay for child containment!

But it was a huge perk to be right near the beach access!

Apparently this hotel is not brand new – just remodeled and FEELS like new.  It’s psychologically nice to know things are newer when you have kids that will eat the carpet fibers if you let them 🙂

So that first morning we settled in and started figuring out the schedule.  The biggest hiccup of our whole trip was the clothing situation.  It was a very chilly spring break!  We looked at the weather daily trying to figure out what to pack and when we arrived the temperature for our entire stay dipped about five degrees plus there was a chilly wind!  I should have known better but this is our first real spring break trip ever so yeah….now we know!  Next time we do a spring break – I will pack for spring not just summer!

The first place that we recommend hitting up is the Beach Village.  It has this market and deli area and the omelets are so good!  The prices are like a Starbucks….so you can score a pastry and a coffee and hot eggs but their menu is limited for breakfast.  We got our food and we also picked up some groceries (like popsicles, bottled water, pop tarts and donuts) so that we could try to eat breakfast in our room.

Besides the hot food and groceries, there is also a store section with sunglasses, shirts, hats, Crocs, sunscreen and these creepy little hands 🙂

This is our first true vacation with Jeremy’s mom and it was so fun to have her around!  She entertained the boys constantly and it was such a treat to be able to sit and eat meals with little interruption!  Thank you MOM!

The other thing that made this trip amazing was Jekyll Island Authority.  They contacted us to offer their help in planning our spring break and we were amazed at their sweet gesture.  They even gave us this little Jekyll Island tote with beach towels, activity passes, a bottle of wine and a hand blown glass ornament as a thank you for coming!  I was blown away!  They are also the ones giving away a beach vacation on our Instagram right now – so definitely enter for your chance to win!

That first afternoon was a little bit crazy (the babies were tired from being up late the night before and Weston started running a fever) so after getting Maxi Knight down, Will and I went to explore the hotel while Jeremy got LJ and Weston down for a nap.

Apparently the hotel lobby was also revamped and it looked so cute!  I loved the arm chairs and the coffee table!  Who else shops for their house when they go to a hotel?!  Only me?

   

The outdoor area also had strong coffee table game….check out that beauty at the little poolside bar/restaurant!

Will said his favorite part was the pool and the little playground.  But I think honestly he loved the hot tub best – it was the perfect temperature 🙂

As fun as the playground looked, Will was DYING to go to the beach so we headed back to get him changed and he went out with GrandB while Jeremy and I did some work.  Weston was acting especially fussy so Jeremy stayed with him in the hotel while I went to join the beach family (Weston is all-daddy’s boy and when he is sick, he usually wants to sleep on Jeremy’s face!  Not even kidding!).

The beach itself was so beautiful!  It is a hard compact sand and it makes it perfect for walking and running and doing cartwheels and jumps.   Not that I jumped….but I imagined jumping and it was glorious 🙂

Will loved the fact that there were real sand dollars still alive on the beach!  He collected some in his bucket of water and told us that he couldn’t wait to tell his friends at school.

He asked to keep them but we said that since these ones were still alive, we would have to throw them back.  But we did get one big picture of his collection before he put them back into the ocean.  Thank goodness for cameras….my kids usually just want the memory of something as much as they want to keep that item!  Isn’t that cool though?!  The bio nerd in me was so excited!

The little boys woke up and we got them a snack….

And then headed down to the pool.

LJ our daredevil 🙂

And Maxi Knight did not like the water.  Typical 🙂

But I mean….just look at that face….even if he hates the beach, he is like the little Coppertone baby 🙂

He was getting his pushups in for the day 🙂

That first night we tried out Tortuga Jacks.  We heard it had great atmosphere and decent Mexican food so we were ready to get our fajitas on!

I’m such a sucker for string lights and palm roofs.

It’s hard to picture but LJ was really in vacation mode…

GrandB getting her cuddles…

Poor Weston still not feeling good.

The food was good….the outdoor music was really fun….we should have brought coats….Jeremy had to run back to the hotel and get us all sweatshirts while we waited for the food…..it was FAH-REEZING.  And when we finally finished eating, we tried to hit up mini-golf but it was already closed 🙁

The next morning, I woke up to Weston gagging.  Not exactly my normal routine 🙂  We rushed him to the bathroom and after throwing up, he said he felt so much better!  I think it was just a mean 24 hour bug that got him!

We did our own breakfast in the room that morning and it was much more low-key and easy.  We have found that we really like eating out on vacation but if you do it three times a day in a restaurant, it gets really pricey and it’s stressful!  I’d much rather pick something up for the boys to eat in our room or on the run.

Monday was our warmest day and so we designated it BEACH DAY.

The little kids were excited to be able to go down (they missed it the day before because of naps and sickness!) and I was excited to get them into matching swim trunks!  Yes.  I will do the matching for as long as humanly possible.

I really really love seeing them all play together.  It makes me so happy when they get into a little huddle and dig in the dirt.  They don’t even talk a lot…they just dig and squeal and make these little boy noises.

I think next year this dude will be hanging in there with them.  I can already see how social he is and how funny he thinks they are!  It makes me tear up to think my little baby will be big enough to walk soon!  He is SUCH a sweet baby and I love him in this stage….I just want to keep him little forever!

Speaking of sweetness – I did manage to get this one picture of their matching swim suits.  Weston didn’t want to take a nap.  He said he was all better 🙂  He didn’t realize that we had fun stuff planned for that night.  And yes, LJ is tickling himself 🙂

One of the funnest activities to do on the island is play the mini golf course!  It is located near Red Bug Motors pizza and honestly – if you have kids, you have to hit this little spot!  It’s perfect for the little ones.

The little pizza joint is located directly next to the put-put place and is attached to the playground area so you can play mini golf, then order your pizza, sit on the patio area and watch your kiddos play!

That night we took the boys and Will was the most excited.

Look at LJ’s tongue!  Whenever he tries really hard, that little tongue pops out 🙂

Watch out Tiger Woods – this one has amazing form.

Random side note – Maxi Knight refuses to wear shoes or socks.  It’s a constant battle!  I will put them on and he rips them off in record time!  I am so thankful that it’s finally warm enough where his little toes won’t freeze!

Weston struggled with the game.  He wanted to hit the ball but he just couldn’t figure it out.  Being a leftie is hard buddy!

GrandB giving some pointers….

Max was determined to get that ball!  We would sing “neeeeever gonna get it…never gonna get it…neeeever gonna get it.  never get it.”

We call this the “don’t hate me because I’m beautiful” look….

And this is the Shakespeare hand…..(Will used to do it all the time!  I missed it!)

And the group photo directly after Weston learned that once the ball goes down the last hole, it disappears FOREVER.

Jeremy complained that evening of the sand gnats eating him alive (he really did have like a thousand bug bites) and so my biggest piece of advice is to get Skin So Soft as bug spray.  Apparently that works the best according to locals.

We ate at the Red Bug Motors pizza that night but chose to go inside so Jeremy didn’t feel like he was on an episode of Survivor 🙂

The food was good – we got pizza and I really liked their BBQ wings.  And then afterward we let the kids play on the playground for a while!

All three kids had a blast – especially on the baby swings (three baby swings is hard to come by but my boys LOVED it!)

Overall – those first days were super fun and I can’t wait to show you the rest of our adventures on Jekyll!  It is full of gators and exploring and the coolest beach I have ever seen!  You have to stay tuned!

p.s.  Did you get the first ever Bower Power newsletter?  What did you think?  Was it fun?  Did you like the printable?!  I’d love to hear what you think!

Update : So many folks asked – we stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort at Jekyll Island, and they provided these accommodations.  All opinions are 100% my own.