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Jeckyll Island sunset.
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The first time I ran the loop around the northern part of
Jekyll Island in Georgia I was on a touring holiday of the US in 1985 and never dreamed I would end up vacationing there a number of times in years to come.
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Jeckyll Island bike path.
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Jekyll Island is one Georgia's barrier islands and is connected to the mainland by a long causeway. It has a colourful history, starting with the American Indians and followed by European colonisation in 1510 by the Spanish and subsequently the French and British. There were slave plantations on the island from the 1700s and it was the site of intermittent fighting between the Spanish and British. There are still rumours of pirate treasure buried somewhere on the Island. Between 1888 and 1942 it was owned by the Jekyll Island Club, a group of wealthy families who holidayed there each winter and built a lavish club and some mansion-sized cottages which remain today.
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Spanish moss hangs from the trees in the historical
mansion district of Jeckyll Island.
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With such a varied history, along with beautiful coastal and marsh scenery, it was a lovely place to run during the Spring Break vacations we had there in the 1990s. It was also extremely flat, which allowed for fast running when fresh and fit. My favourite
9 mile loop headed north along the coastal road from one of the holiday houses we rented to the campground where a bike path started and was followed down the mainland side of the island overlooking the marshes and passing some of the old mansions with ancient trees cloaked with the eerie Spanish moss. It was a magic place to run as the sun set over the marshes in the evenings. The run finished by following a laneway and bike path across the island and back northwards to the house. Just writing about it makes me want to go back there for another lap this evening.
Instead, however, I just walked 5km today as a gentle loosener for the tired muscles and sore right knee and Achilles from yesterday's long run.
