Sea Island, Georgia

Sea Island is an unincorporated area of Glynn County, Georgia, and is part of the Golden Isles of Georgia, including Jekyll Island, St. Simons Island, and Little St. Simons Island. The seaside island is located along the Atlantic Coast near Historic Brunswick, and is a well-visited resort island. Sea Island Acquisitions, LLC owns the island, operating two resorts, limiting most public access. The island sits about 60 miles north of Jacksonville, FL and about 60 miles south of Savannah, GA. The surrounding marshland, through which visitors are able to drive, was immortalized in 'The Marshes of Glynn' by Sidney Lanier in 1878.[1]

Sea Island houses three well-visited resorts, the "Sea Island Beach Club", "The Cloister", and "The Lodge" each operated by Sea Island Acquisitions. The Beach Club and the Cloister are located across the street from one another, connected by a roundabout in the middle of Sea Island Dr., Sea Island's main connecting road. The Beach Club lies by the ocean-side, providing visitors who sit on the beach with accommodations and access to pool areas. The resort contains restaurants, a game room, an ice cream shop, a bar, and two pools. The Cloister sits south-west on the island along the Black Banks River and functions as the main hotel of the resort island, containing restaurants, several hotel rooms, a spa, tennis and squash courts, an exercise facility, and is home to the only Forbes Five Star restaurant in the state of Georgia, "The Georgian Room". Sea Island Acquisitions also owns property on St. Simon's Island, including a shooting school, and three other golf courses.The Lodge, commonly referred to as "The Golfer's Paradise" is located on St. Simons Island and is the home of two of three golf courses the company owns, Plantation and Seaside. The third golf course is located at the residential community Sea Island owns known as Retreat. The Lodge has been host to the newly formed golf tournament The McGladery Classic, for the past five years.

It is one of the several Sea Islands, along the coast of the Southeastern United States, lying just off of St. Simons Island and just north of Jekyll Island.

History

Throughout the first three decades of the 20th century, Sea Island had been drawing developers and other investors:

Eugene O'Neill on Sea Island in May 1936.
Credit: Carl Van Vechten

21st century

Sea Island is owned by Sea Island Acquisitions, LLC, which also owns property on St. Simons Island. On St. Simons Island, the company operates "The Plantation" golf course, as well as a golf house and restaurant to complement known as "The Lodge." Prior to its bankruptcy the company was managed by Bill Jones III. In an interview with Cigar Aficionado magazine, he discussed the expansion of Sea Island and was quoted, saying, "The banks almost pay you to borrow money today."[2]

G8 summit

In June 2004 (June 8–10), the Sea Island Company hosted a summit of the Group of Eight leaders at Sea Island. Continuing the pattern with other previous venues of the G8 meeting, the island is remote, easily secured, and has luxurious accommodations. As part of the security measures, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designated the summit a National Special Security Event (NSSE). DHS also began to deal with another NSSE: the state funeral of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

The venue was specifically chosen to control access to the conference. The geographic isolation was enhanced by positioning the International Media Center for the Sea Island summit in Savannah, 80 miles away on the Georgia mainland.[11] Protestors and demonstrations were effectively marginalized, in part because the conference venue was located in a nearly inaccessible place. The island's security cordon was enhanced when the Governor of Georgia declared a state of emergency in six counties, beginning on May 25, 2004 to deal with the potential danger of violence or damage by demonstrators during the Group of 8 economic summit.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Porter, Darwin. Frommer's The Carolinas & Georgia, p. 476.
  2. ↑ Hurt, Harry, III (Sep–Oct 2003). "Profile: The Scion of Sea Island". Cigar Aficionado. Archived from the original on 2007-05-18. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  3. ↑ Robbie Brown, "An Unwelcome Guest Intrudes on a Worry-Free Zone for the Rich," New York Times, 30 Sept 2008
  4. ↑ "Sea Island Co. restructures loan with Synovus - Atlanta Business Chronicle". Atlanta.bizjournals.com. 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  5. ↑ "Debt-ridden Sea Island selling land - Atlanta Business Chronicle". Atlanta.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  6. ↑ Waldman, Peter (2009-11-24). "Wells Fargo Takes Over Deed to Sea Island’s Frederica Community". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  7. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20100516152841/http://www.allbusiness.com:80/banking-finance/banking-lending-credit-services/13820354-1.html. Archived from the original on May 16, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ Businessweek - Business News, Stock market & Financial Advice
  9. ↑ "Sea Island Co. to file Chapter 11, sell properties". www.ajc.com. 2010-08-11. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  10. ↑ Mollenkamp, Carrick (October 11, 2010). "Sea Island Resort Acquired for $212.4 Million". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  11. ↑ Sanger, David and Richard Stevenson. "Gathering on Sea Island: the Scene; World Leaders Get a Glimpse of America's High Life," New York Times. June 10, 2004.
  12. ↑ Hart, Ariel. "Gathering on Sea Island: the Protests; At Summit, Police and Delegations Outnumber the Demonstrators," June 10, 2004; Hart, Ariel. "National Briefing | South: Georgia: Group Of 8 Security," New York Times. May 25, 2004.

Further reading

External links

Coordinates: 31°11′09″N 81°20′34″W / 31.18583°N 81.34278°W / 31.18583; -81.34278

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