Summer Family Vacation To St. Simons Island, Georgia

Raise your hand if you have ever gone on a family vacation to St. Simons Island, Georgia?! Oh wait, you didn’t know Georgia had islands? I get that reaction a LOT. I grew up on SSI, so I commonly tell people where I’m from and they’re like… Georgia has a coast?!

Georgia indeed has a coast (and a beautiful one to boot).

We have been talking about going away somewhere before school started. We have truly never been on a real family vacation (all of us at the same time), and I was ready to put my anxieties aside and try again. When deciding where to go for the last week of summer, we knew we wanted:

1. A Beach
2. A Relaxing Environment
3. A Family Friendly House

We have a few driveable options from the Atlanta area, like 30A in Florida for example. Ultimately, we went with St. Simons Island for the added bonus of getting to spend time with my family there and the familiarity of the area. We hopped on AirBnb to find a house and landed the PERFECT one. Seriously, we couldn’t have dreamed up a better one.

Our little bungalow was centrally located to everything we needed, sitting right off of one of St. Simons’ main roads. Just a mile or so from beaches, walkable distance to shopping and eating, and a straight shot off the island if we wanted to go into Brunswick (hello, Target runs) or over to Jekyll Island (which we did later in the week).

The home, which was recently renovated, had three cozy bedrooms and one stunning bathroom. Each bedroom had it’s own TV/Amazon Fire Stick. The kids’ bedroom had a bunk bed with trundle and fun touches like puzzles and toys. My kids thought they were in heaven. The other two bedrooms were a little oasis away from home with the most comfortable beds ever.

We loved how open the home was while still having multiple rooms for us to split up and do our own thing. The commons area was perfectly decorated to be warm and inviting without being TOO much. If you have kids, you know how stressful it can be to stay somewhere with too many hazards and things to break laying around. I just can’t say enough about how family/kid friendly the home was. Did I mention there is a fenced backyard and patio for the days we didn’t want to venture far?

We were there for four nights and I’m not exaggerating that it was a totally stress free vacation and I 100% owe it to the home we chose. We would not have been nearly as comfortable and happy in any other setup. You can check the house out HERE and go ahead and marvel at their insanely affordable rates! (I’m already thinking about going back for a girls trip…)

The rest of the vacation was laid back. We split up and did our own thing here and there, we spent time with my Dad, and we went on many family outings around the island. We didn’t do all of the things I’m about to list for you on this trip, but having been there a million times- here are my recommendations for a summer vacation to St. Simons Island, Georgia.

Where To Eat Breakfast

Sandcastle Cafe (Best Buffet)
Sweet Mamas (Get the pork pops.)
Palmer’s Cafe

Where To Eat Lunch

Southern Soul BBQ
Sal’s Pizzeria
Iguanas
Bubba Garcias

Where To Eat Dinner

Crabdaddy’s
Crab Trap
Coastal Kitchen
Barbara Jean’s

Where To Get Coffee

Wake Up Coffee Co.
Palm Coast Coffee

Where To Go To The Beach

Gould’s Inlet
East Beach at Northbreakers

Where To Get Ice Cream

Moo Cow Cream
Frosty’s
Fuze FroYo

Where To Shop

Pier Village
Redfern Village
Shops at Sea Island

Where To Go Out For Nightlife

Murphy’s Tavern
Rafters
Ziggy Mahoney’s

Where To Venture Off The Island

Jekyll Island
Downtown Brunswick

It’s definitely safe to say we will be going back again next year. I also kind of loved doing it the last week of the summer. It was a perfect way to get time together as a family, say goodbye to summer break, and recharge before school starts. Until next time…