Brunswick, which in 1778 was designated by George Washington as one of the five original points of entry to the United States, was named for the ancestral home of the Hanoverian kings of England. Its rich history is preserved in both the Old Town commercial zone and the residential Historic District. This is the quintessential small Southern town, with a farmers market, shrimp boats, antique and specialty shops, and enormous live oak trees draped with Spanish moss.

One of the most striking features of St. Simons Island is its lighthouse, which stands 104 feet above the island's shoreline. This 1872 structure is still in operation by the US Coast Guard. The adjacent dwelling was built to house the two light keepers and their families. From the top of this lighthouse you can watch tourists explore St. Simons village and get a bird's-eye view of "Johnson's rocks" - placed there to prevent erosion after 1964's Hurricane Dora. The lighthouse marks the spot of Fort St. Simons, which was captured by the Spanish before the British beat them back at the Battle of Bloody Marsh. It was from Fort Frederica that the British spotted the Spanish invasion at the southern end of the island. The British waited in nearby woods and attacked the Spaniards in a marsh, giving the British a decisive victory (the Battle of Bloody Marsh). At Fort Frederica National Monument you can view the ruins of the fort, including four walls of "The King's Magazine," and the ruins of a number of homes and fort-related buildings.

The first recorded settlers on Jekyll Island were the Gaule ("Wally") Indians, whose burial mounds gave their name to the "cottage" the Rockefellers built here. The Spanish and British both established presences here, but it was British General James Oglethorpe who named the island - after a friend who had contributed toward his campaign to colonialize the Georgian territory. This former sea island cotton plantation became the exclusive playground of New York's elite, a "winter Newport," with cottages built here also by the Vanderbilts, the Pulitzers, and the Astons.

The Golden Isles present history is a beautiful, relaxed setting. What more could anyone want?