Savannah & Jekyll Island's Historic Coast

Two days up the Georgia coast from Jacksonville — Savannah on day one and Jekyll Island on day two — through the most historically layered stretch of the American Southeast. Savannah's 1733 plan of 22 public squares survived intact through the Civil War (Sherman's famous letter to Lincoln offering the city as a Christmas present ensured it) and defines a walkable downtown unlike any other in America, with Forsyth Park's iron fountain, the SCAD district's gallery scene, and a restaurant culture that has developed serious credentials over the past decade. Jekyll Island, 90 minutes south of Savannah, was where the Jekyll Island Club formed in 1886 — America's most exclusive private resort where members controlled one-sixth of the world's wealth, including Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Morgans, and Astors — until the state of Georgia bought the island in 1947 and opened it to the public.