By Christine Tibbetts
CNHI News Service

EAGLE ISLAND, Ga. -- It was so quiet I heard my heart and my thoughts for three days. A little scary you say for a vacation?

Or comforting?

Go alone or take 11 favorite friends because peaceful Eagle Lodge sleeps that many. Even with a group, quiet can abound because this house-to-rent off the Georgia coast is the entire island show.

There's no one and nothing else unless counting the blue shell crabs you can trap for dinner, or the songbirds.

About 1,500 square feet of screened-in porch circle the lodge’s second story, and tidal marsh and waters surround 10 acres of maritime forest.

A crazy big price wasn’t the reason I could hear my heart beating; peace, calm and serenity were. This private island costs less than a lot of beach houses I’ve priced over the years.

Twenty minutes by boat to get here, yours or islands’ owner/operator and licensed captain Andy Hill’s. That’s right; he has more than one little Georgia barrier island.

Choose his boat and hear some stories en route from Darien to Eagle Island, descriptions of the hiking trails, picnic spots, kayak routes, boardwalks, eco huts and lodges – some ready and others in the works — for his private islands in this stretch of Georgia tidal waters.

Choose your boat and he’ll lead the way, introduce you to the island and accommodations, then ride with you to be sure you’re comfortable with your vessel in these waters.

“So many people with boats are uncomfortable with them, leave them in the marina all year and use only a few times,” Hill says. “I’ll teach you to be confident so you can enjoy.”

That’s not all Hill is willing to teach; he’s a visiting kind of guy, quick to smile, interested in your ideas, happy to deliver fresh Georgia shrimp and tell you his favorite Low Country Boil recipe.

I’ve only dropped sausage, potatoes, corn and shrimp in boiling beer water one group at a time. He makes a fancy roux while the water comes to a boil and sautés some of his ingredients.

The oyster steamer in Eagle Lodge’s second kitchen, an outside version with a big sink and cookers for shrimp and other fish, demands you ask for the recipe. How does he top fresh steamed oysters with jalapeno pepper, grated cheese, bacon and butter?

The inside kitchen is fully equipped, and can be grocery-stocked too if you like. Breakfast casserole? Pork marinated and ready to grill? Whatever, just place the order with the reservation.

“I want someone to be able to come with just a toothbrush, easy luggage and a little cooler,” Hill says.

Private Islands of Georgia has none of what Hill calls ‘up charges.'

“If you want groceries, we get them for you, but no extra price for doing the shopping, just the groceries receipt," he says.

If you want easy access to information, you get that too based on my experience. Hill likes to answer his own phone, chat about visitor desires and help set up just the holiday you have in mind.

“Two, three phone conversations are not unusual in shaping up a reservation; when guests call back with more questions, I like exploring the options with them,” Hill says.

Christine Tibbetts writes for The Tifton (Ga.) Gazette.

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cutlines:

A beautiful home on an otherwise deserted Georgia island is all about returning to nature and turning off the hussle and bustle of the world your left.
G.W. Tibbetts/The Tifton (ga.) Gazette