Accomodations for Jekyll Island Turtle Crawl

turtle crawl will be there next year.

don't go.

Your son will have many "Championship" tournaments as well.  Your wife will be there so I don't see a problem going to the race.  He's 6 and I'm sure the tournament is all weekend.  Make the games you can, drive down and race and come back.

Not seeing the problem here.

im kind of down with what latrina says and im oc personality when it comes to this stuff. but seeing it on a msg board, its so clear. kids come first. plenty of other tris to do all season long.

in fact, another kids tri just popped up on the same day for the clemson tri that i regsitered for. i think i will drop the clemson tri so i can take amy to the kids tough tri in decatur on 5/16.

 you gotta have priorities dan. thats what this is about i think but i may be wrong. its not like you can do both. youd have to sacrifice one for the other imo.

Thank you all for the input thus far.  To answer the question on which direction I was headed with the post, the answer is both.  I'm torn on going vs. not going, but the reality is that my son doesn't know the difference between a "tournament" game or any other game I go to.  I wouldn't take the weekend off from work to go to his game, but I will to do the triathlon.  That sounds cruel as I type it, but I simply mean that the game is no more important to me or him than any other game of the season and I will be going to any of the games that I can attend based on my schedule. 

As for accommodations, I was wondering what others do when they go to out of town triathlons.  I have only done one before, and that was an hour away, so I simply drove there and back.  I am just trying to decide how close I should stay to the race site, how long I should stay, how nice a place I should stay at, etc.  If my whole family was coming, there would be more restrictions on all of those topics based on having four kids with us. 

I did not respond earlier because it seemed to me that you were asking both questions and I did not want to get into the do I do something for my child or do I do something for me question.  Now that you have it down to just accomodations, I may have some beneficial input.  I did the Turtle Crawl last year and am doing it again this year.  I stayed in Brunswick last year by myself about eight miles away from Jekyll and paid $50 for one night.  The island getaway is romantic if you have someone to share it with, but if you just want a place to lay your head at night, stay a few miles away and save the money.  You could buy your kid a present with the money you save.  BTW, they do have a great festival right after the race.  They released three sea turtles into the ocean last year.  It was my favorite event last year.  You can contact me with any questions that you may have.

I appreciate your reservation on responding based on that.  I think the original post probably misled everyone a bit more than I intended.  I probably shouldn't have introduced the issue of his baseball game in the decision at all because it came across as being more important of an event than it really is.  Spending time with my family is my number one priority.  One of my other sons has surgery on Wednesday to remove a tumor from behind his lungs.  We don't yet know if it's cancer or not, but to have to go through this with my 20-month old son has made me realize more than ever, that spending time with them is all I care about.  It's also been the biggest limiting factor on my training, because I refuse to sacrifice the time I have with them to go for a ride, run, or swim.  I wouldn't trade that mindset for the World. 

Now, for the Turtle Crawl...Is it still easy to get to the site staying in Brunswick?  Honestly Neal, you were the one I was most curious to get some feedback from since you're the main reason I've chosen this race (no pressure or anything!).  I'm looking forward to the *not*sharks in the water!!!   =)

How long does the festival go on?  If it's something the kids would enjoy, then I'd pull Kyle from his baseball game that weekend and have him come out there to support daddy on his first OLY and have some fun watching the turtles, etc.

I just made accomodations for this race. A lot of the hotels are already booked up so you'll want to start looking now.  I believe that some of the Brunswick hotels might have availability though. 

You can also stay on St. Simon's Island- it's also a short drive to Jekyll. 

I ended up booking a studio room at the host condo advertised on the race website.  It was more pricey than a hotel in Brunswick, but we'll have a fridge/microwave there so we can "kinda" cook in instead of eating out as much.  So the price kinda evens out when taking the food factor into consideration    

I did check out vrbo.com but I only needed a one bedroom condo and they were all booked up for that weekend.  You might want to check it out though- they might still have some larger condos available if that's what you'll need.

I can only tell you about last year.  I stayed about 8 miles from Jekyll and it took about ten minutes to get to the race site.  I think you pay $4 to cross the bridge to Jekyll.  As for taking the family, I would say that if the tournament is not a big deal that it would be well worth taking the family.  Last year the festival was right after the race.  It was actually geared more toward children although they had a live band.  They had lots of activities for kids.  The band played some kid songs along with the rock.  They had a person dressed in a turtle costume.  They released three rehabilitated sea turtles back into the wild.  Two of them were about a foot in diameter, but one was about three feet and had a transmitter attached to it.  The only thing you may want to know is that Jekyll is not a carnival type beach town.  There are no amusement parks, but I like that.  It has a quaint historic atmosphere.  I hope this helps.  Oh yes, the race; great race, swim with the current (I am a so so swimmer, but had a 19 minute swim time),  almost COMPLETELY flat bike ride, two loops around the island, and a flat run by the beach.  It does not get any better than that to me.  If you have more questions pm me or give me a call at 770-355-8260.

BTW, there is a 5 k run/walk for the family.  It starts after the swim so the kids could be occupied while you are racing.  I got this off the net.

"The triathlon begins at 7:30 a.m., and the 5 km Fun Run/Walk (open to people of all ages and athletic abilities) starts at 8:00 a.m.

For more information, contact the Georgia Sea Turtle Center at 635-4444 or the Jekyll Island Visitor Information Center at 635-3636. 

Nest Fest is from 12 - 4 pm. Learn more about sea turtles and their habitats. Kids can participate in the ever-popular Kids’ Turtle Crawl on the beach, face painting, sea turtle related games, and many hands-on exhibits. And turtles will be released!

Contact: The Jekyll Island Welcome Center / 877-4-Jekyll"

How did the operation go?  I hope it went well.  It has been on my mind more than I would like since I read this.  I can not even imagine how it has been for you guys.

Was thinking the same.  Please give us an update when you have time.

Thank you all for your well wishes!  Colin is hanging in there as best as someone can who had to have their side split open.  He's in a lot of discomfort but we're trying to stay ahead of the pain with his meds.  Much like I am always impressed by the open hearts and overwhelming kindness in the Triathlon community, I am also extremely pleased with our stay here at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite.  We have not had one negative encounter and continue to be impressed with everyone we meet here.

As I told Neal in a PM, I can't just tell my little guy to HTFU.  He's had a lot to deal with over the last 24 hours, but is being a real trooper.  The doctor removed the tumor and believes part of it had some malignant cells, but apparently that's fairly common with this sort of tumor.  Now we're just waiting to hear back on the official word on the tissue and then we'll meet again with the oncology team to determine the plan of attack moving forward. 

Thanks again for all your support and happy training.  I'll be with you in spirit until he gets better.  I'm looking forward to joining you all on some training rides soon!  Finally some warm weather to ride outside -- I'm really started to hate that trainer!!!

Duane

I did the race last year.  The race starts in a Beach access parking lot about a quarter of a mile south of the convention center which is at the intersection that you noted.  You park in the grass next to the parking lot which is used for the race staging area.