Southern Charm

Ever since I read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in college, I’ve been captivated by the south. The sultry charm, the low drawl, the mint juleps. And there’s something so romantic about those humid Savannah nights and Southern belles and proper, hat-tipping gentlemen.

Though about 80 miles from Savannah, Sea Island in Georgia has all the southern charm and none of the crowds (not to mention no deep fried butter balls, a la Paula Deen). It’s a private island used mainly as a resort, but it feels more like a quiet retreat than your typical, overrun resort. When I was there, the hotel was about 90% booked, but I hardly ever saw more than a few people wherever I went on the property, even at the restaurants. In the evenings, I strolled along the waterfront alone, watching the sunset. I even swam in the enormous indoor swimming pool and shared the water with only one other person.

The décor at Sea Island Resort & Spa is, in a word, stunning. It’s a mix of traditional Southern and Missionary chic. There are both glittering chandeliers and gargantuan candelabras hanging in the lobby, and the rooms feature dark, hardwood floors with antique rugs and plush, velvet furniture. My balcony looked out onto the water, slit with tall swamp grass, and the trees along the roadways dripped with Spanish moss – exactly like I had imagined it would be.

Of course there were many Southern dishes that I tried, for the first time, while there. I had some fried green tomatoes, which came with a Tabasco mayo dipping sauce. They were crunchy on the outside, and moist but not overly juicy on the inside. They reminded me of fried zucchini, and though I didn’t love them they were very, very good. I had a real biscuit – tall and fluffy and buttery – smothered in country gravy, which was excellent.

At St. Simons Island (a quick car ride from Sea Island), I had a shrimp po’boy and reveled in all its crispy shrimp/chewy bread/fresh lettuce/tomato glory. The sweet corn grits at Sea Island’s Oak Room restaurant was a revelation: creamy and dense, with crisp kernels of sweet corn and laced with a buttery sweetness and unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. Ditto on the sweet potato pie I had at the Georgian Room Restaurant, which was topped with a decadent praline and decorated with a luscious cream drizzle.

What I enjoyed most about the place were the people. Though I am not an old-fashioned girl by any stretch of the imagination, I almost came to admire the perfectly coiffed women and dutifully chivalrous men that I met during my stay. I was called “ma’am” a lot and doors were held open for me and there was genuine warmth and care there. Even the rules were somehow delightful. Men are required to remove their hats in restaurants and lounges, and proper attire is requested at numerous places. Coming from Los Angeles, where it seems everyone does whatever they want whenever they want and the self is of utmost importance, it was nice.

I’ll write more about my visit to Sea Island for a magazine early next year. More details to come later!