Recently our team headed to these golden shores for our In-Market visit as a part of our Destination Branding process. Our first stop was Jekyll Island, known for its historic Jekyll Island Club – a playground for America’s rich and famous around the turn of the 20th century. (Think: Rockefellers, Vanderbilts.) We stepped out of our car near the Jekyll Island Club Hotel and there it was - the proud silhouette of a mammoth live oak tree. Sheathed in the gauzy wrap of Spanish moss, the tree seemed to be beckoning to us with its gnarled finger branches. What was it trying to tell us?
This fused figure of tree and moss is not uncommon to marshy southern climates, particularly New Orleans and parts of South Carolina. In fact, the picture the oak tree and its moss strike is said to be a metaphor for the spirit of the south. As described by James J. Kilpatrick, the moss is “an indigenous, indestructible part of the southern character, it blurs, conceals, softens and wraps the hard limbs of hard times in a fringe shawl.”
So while I found this silhouette visually arresting, I chalked up my awe to lack of exposure. After all, we had no such trees in my native Indiana! But as our team continued our trip, it surprised me how much the noble oak and the Golden Isles area really were intertwined – just like the moss that wraps itself around the majestic oak branches.
On St. Simons Island, we learned how the heavy wood of the oak is so strong, that it was used for the framework of large ships. The frame of the ship the USS Constitution was made from live oak wood collected from St. Simons Island. You may have heard of the ship’s nickname – “Old Ironsides,” which it earned because its wood was so strong that it survived cannon fire!
In the city of Brunswick, our Fam Tour brought us to the Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation, an historic site which was once a working rice plantation. The property is dotted with 600-plus-year-old oak specimens, each more mighty than the last. Walking beneath a mossy canopy, we felt transported back to another time. These trees had been there in the plantation days, and even before then. Touch the trunk of one of these oaks, and you are touching history.
The next day we took a boat ride to Little St. Simons Island, a private, naturally preserved barrier island. It is the owner’s mission to preserve the island and to educate all visitors about the island’s environment and green practices. Our naturalist guide explained how the Spanish moss that adorns the live oaks of the area is not parasitic; instead it uses the tree for support while getting its nutrients from the air. In fact, it is in the bromeliad family of plants – which makes it a relative of the pineapple!
Our last stop was to visit Sea Island, home of the exclusive, 5-star resort, The Cloister. Inside holds the table used by the world leaders who attended the G8 Summit held here in 2004. As we marveled at is craftsmanship, I ran my finger along its thick wooden edge and felt again the possibility of being transported back in history.
As we headed toward the Sea Island Golf Club on our way back to St. Simons Island, a tunnel of stately oaks appeared before us. Planted in 1848, this “Avenue of Oaks” was originally meant to greet the visitors of the Retreat Plantation. Today, they serve as the entire area’s permanent welcoming committee – ready to greet any newcomer with open arms.
And these oaks – solid, moss-strung, and reaching out to each other as much as the sky – seemed to be waiting for us, too.
Waiting with arms exalting up to the heavens in blessing, yet outstretched to the ground in an open invitation. Their arms sheathed in the silken Spanish moss, provoking wonder and daring touch. And as I thought of the welcoming oak branches, I realized how it made sense that the Spanish moss on those branches was a cousin of the pineapple. After all, the pineapple is a universal symbol of hospitality.
Together the moss and oak encourage everyone to feel the nature and history of this place. They welcome exploration. There is certainly so much more to Brunswick and the Golden Isles than the oak tree and its Spanish moss, but there is something to be said for a destination whose very plants are visibly and symbolically welcoming each and every visitor that comes to its shores.
~ Jennifer Williams
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