Halfway between Savannah and Jacksonville, the beautiful Jekyll Island is best known as a low-key place to get away from it all. And while you can certainly enjoy doing nothing on this little slice of paradise, Jekyll Island offers quite a lot to do.
For history buffs, the island’s Mosaic Jekyll Island Museum is a can’t-miss destination, though the museum’s offerings aren’t confined to the galleries. For some time now, Mosaic has led thoughtfully designed walking tours and trolley tours to introduce visitors to various aspects of the island’s history.
To celebrate Women’s History Month, Mosaic is offering a trolley tour that engages with the lives of some ordinary and extraordinary women from the island’s past.
Among the women the museum’s interpreters will bring to life on the tour is Jean Struthers, who’s witnessed the island’s golden age as a getaway for Gilded Age tycoons like J.P. Morgan (whom a young Struthers once beat in a shooting contest).
While women had fewer rights in the late 19th century, for those from a privileged background like Struthers, were sometimes able navigate the world on their own terms. The Jekyll Club, for instance, afforded an unusual amount of leeway to women.
“Women could hold their own membership separate from a husband or father,” according to a statement from a Jekyll Island representative. “And they could participate in all the same activities.”
The tours will take place at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on March 11 and 25 (both Saturdays). The cost is $25 for adults and $12.50 for kids ages 4-12. You can buy tickets on Ticketleap or in person at Mosaic. The tour takes between 75-90 minutes.
While you’re on the island, you can experience some of the age’s gilded glamour for yourself at the Jekyll Island Club and Resort, which has been restored to its turn-of-the-last-century grandeur and now serves as a “living testament to the subtle grandeur of coastal Georgia.”
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