Skip to Main Content
Georgia

New Year’s in Style: Jazz and the Jekyll Island Club

Program No. 22503RSBLOG
Ring in the new year at Jekyll Island, where Gilded Age millionaires wintered. Learn about jazz from our instructor, enjoy live music and explore the island.

Enroll with Confidence

We want your Road Scholar learning adventure to be something to look forward to—not worry about. Learn more

Protecting the Environment

We offset a portion of the emissions created by your travel. Learn more

Prefer to enroll or inquire by phone? 800-454-5768
Select your type of room
Price will update based on selection
Prices displayed below are based on per person,doubleoccupancy.
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
Filling Fast!
Dec 29 - Jan 3, 2025
Starting at
2,399
Dec 28 - Jan 2, 2026
Starting at
2,499
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
Filling Fast!
Dec 29 - Jan 3, 2025
Starting at
3,169
Dec 28 - Jan 2, 2026
Starting at
3,299
This date is available to book as a private experience for your group!

At a Glance

The Jekyll Island Club Hotel was once the winter resort of America’s Gilded Age millionaires — a Victorian mansion amid the unspoiled beauty of Georgia’s Jekyll Island. Follow in the footsteps of America’s wealthiest patrons with a New Year’s celebration for the ages, complete with an in-depth look at the origins and evolution of the uniquely American musical art form: jazz. Relax amidst the Club’s unrivaled elegance as you enjoy live jazz performances and learn the history of America's music. Explore the island’s natural beauty with local experts and ring in the New Year with new friends and new discoveries.
Activity Level
On Your Feet
Walking a few blocks per day. At the hotel, there are steps leading from the Bellstand to the veranda at the entrance (there is a handicap lift available). There are also 4 steps leading to the front desk. There is a gift shop at the hotel that has steps as well, which include 3 steps up and 3 steps down.

Best of all, you’ll…

  • Enjoy a fabulous New Year’s Eve dinner at the Jekyll Ocean Club and discover the story of the ring shout — a Gullah tradition thought lost until the 1980s.
  • Learn about great musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and others with expert lectures and live performances.
  • Take a field trip to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center to learn about sea turtle conservation and their incredible nesting habits.

General Notes

Due to the nature of this program, listening devices are not available.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Profile Image
Dr. Cliff Towner
Dr. Cliff Towner is director of band activities and associate professor of music at Georgia College. His duties include conducting the wind symphony and jazz band, as well as teaching classes in conducting and music education. He has been a music educator and trumpeter for over 25 years and holds memberships in several professional organizations including the Jazz Education Network. Dr. Towner also hosts Jazz Soirée a monthly radio show on WRGC, which celebrates jazz music while linking it to the current trends today.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Profile Image of Linda Arthur
Linda Arthur View biography
Retired from a career in education, Linda Arthur served as a professor, assistant superintendent and interim superintendent, and received numerous community service awards. She enjoys sharing the history of Jekyll Island, playing bridge, mahjongg and golfing.
Profile Image of Georgia Graves
Georgia Graves View biography
Georgia Graves has developed and coordinates teacher training workshops on Georgia's sea turtles, shorebirds, marine mammals and coastal ecology for the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, one of 26 such reserves in North America. Georgia leads nature and history programs and works with Georgia's sea turtle conservation project.
Profile Image of Dr. Cliff Towner
Dr. Cliff Towner View biography
Dr. Cliff Towner is director of band activities and associate professor of music at Georgia College. His duties include conducting the wind symphony and jazz band, as well as teaching classes in conducting and music education. He has been a music educator and trumpeter for over 25 years and holds memberships in several professional organizations including the Jazz Education Network. Dr. Towner also hosts Jazz Soirée a monthly radio show on WRGC, which celebrates jazz music while linking it to the current trends today.
Program
At a Glance
Duration
6 days
Program Begins
Jekyll Island, GA
Program Concludes
Jekyll Island, GA
Meals
12 | 5B | 3L | 4D |
Activity Level
The Jekyll Island Club Hotel was once the winter resort of America’s Gilded Age millionaires — a Victorian mansion amid the unspoiled beauty of Georgia’s Jekyll Island. Follow in the footsteps of America’s wealthiest patrons with a New Year’s celebration for the ages, complete with an in-depth look at the origins and evolution of the uniquely American musical art form: jazz. Relax amidst the Club’s unrivaled elegance as you enjoy live jazz performances and learn the history of America's music. Explore the island’s natural beauty with local experts and ring in the New Year with new friends and new discoveries.)
Best of all, you'll...
  • Enjoy a fabulous New Year’s Eve dinner at the Jekyll Ocean Club and discover the story of the ring shout — a Gullah tradition thought lost until the 1980s.
  • Learn about great musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and others with expert lectures and live performances.
  • Take a field trip to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center to learn about sea turtle conservation and their incredible nesting habits.
General Notes
Due to the nature of this program, listening devices are not available.
Featured Expert
Profile Image
Dr. Cliff Towner
Dr. Cliff Towner is director of band activities and associate professor of music at Georgia College. His duties include conducting the wind symphony and jazz band, as well as teaching classes in conducting and music education. He has been a music educator and trumpeter for over 25 years and holds memberships in several professional organizations including the Jazz Education Network. Dr. Towner also hosts Jazz Soirée a monthly radio show on WRGC, which celebrates jazz music while linking it to the current trends today.
Please Note:
This expert may not be available for every date of the program
Profile Image of Linda Arthur
Linda Arthur
Retired from a career in education, Linda Arthur served as a professor, assistant superintendent and interim superintendent, and received numerous community service awards. She enjoys sharing the history of Jekyll Island, playing bridge, mahjongg and golfing.
Profile Image of Georgia Graves
Georgia Graves
Georgia Graves has developed and coordinates teacher training workshops on Georgia's sea turtles, shorebirds, marine mammals and coastal ecology for the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, one of 26 such reserves in North America. Georgia leads nature and history programs and works with Georgia's sea turtle conservation project.
Activity Level
On Your Feet
Walking a few blocks per day. At the hotel, there are steps leading from the Bellstand to the veranda at the entrance (there is a handicap lift available). There are also 4 steps leading to the front desk. There is a gift shop at the hotel that has steps as well, which include 3 steps up and 3 steps down.
HAVE QUESTIONS?
Prefer to enroll or inquire by phone?
We can help. Give us a call, and we can answer all of your questions!
Call 800-454-5768
While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of our published materials, programs are typically advertised more than a year prior to their start date. As a result, some program activities, schedules, accommodations, personnel, and other logistics occasionally change due to local conditions or circumstances. Should a major change occur, we will make every effort to alert you. For less significant changes, we will update you during orientation. Thank you for your understanding.
Duration
6 days
5 nights
What's Included
12 meals | 5B | 3L | 4D |
8 expert-led lectures
3 expert-led field trips
3 performances
An experienced Group Leader
5 nights of accommodations
Taxes and customary gratuity
Road Scholar Assurance Plan
Expand All
Activity Note
Hotel check-in from 4:00 p.m.
Afternoon:
Program Registration. After you have your room assignment, come to the Road Scholar table to register with the program staff and get your welcome packet containing your name-tag, up-to-date schedule that reflects any last-minute changes, other important information, and to confirm when and where the Orientation session will take place. If you arrive late, please ask for your packet when you check in.
Dinner:
We will enjoy a meal together at the historic Jekyll Island Club Hotel.
Evening:
Orientation. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. Periods in the daily schedule designated as “Free time” and “At leisure” offer opportunities to do what you like and make your experience even more meaningful and memorable according to your personal preferences. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local circumstances/conditions. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding. Continue getting to know your fellow Road Scholars, settle in, and get a good night’s rest for the day ahead.
Activity Note
Getting on/off a tram; walking up to 1/4 mile over a flat, even surface, standing in Historic District.
Breakfast:
Breakfast in the hotel’s Victorian-era Grand Dining Room.
Morning:
When the Jekyll Island Club opened in 1888, American music was a divergent mix of forms and styles. Elsewhere, classical music was vibrant and thriving across Europe. Gilbert & Sullivan’s “The Yeomen of the Guard” debuted that year at the Savoy Theatre in London. Among the most popular American songs were “Drill Ye Tarriers, Drill” and “Where Did You Get That Hat?” Ragtime was almost a decade away, but when it emerged, it swept the country with its syncopated rhythms. We’ll gather in our private meeting room at the hotel for the first of our music instructor’s four classes on musical history, structure, and styles, focusing this morning on ragtime and Dixieland. We’ll learn about Sidney Bechet, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong and other prominent Dixieland artists.
Lunch:
Lunch will be served in a private banquet room at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel.
Afternoon:
We’ll board the tram with our Group Leader and ride to the Historic District Museum classroom for a presentation by a member of the Historic District’s team on Jekyll’s history. We’ll then reboard the tram to see the island’s 240-acre National Historic Landmark District, where gilded-era millionaires spent winter vacations with family, friends, and each other. It is said that Jekyll Island’s wealthy visitors once represented 1/6 of our nation's total wealth. We’ll have expert commentary aboard the tram and make two stops in the Historic District.
Dinner:
Plated hotel meal.
Evening:
Appropriately for a program when we’ll “ring in” the New Year, we’ll learn about the history of the “ring shout” that is perhaps the oldest surviving African-American performance tradition in the country. We’ll meet several members of a local group dedicated to preserving Gullah language, song, and dance who will share their heritage with us. The ring shout was an expression of religious culture and a precursor of other forms of music from spirituals and gospel to jazz. Its African origins are apparent in ritualized, dance-like movements in a circle, call-and-response singing, and hand clapping. “Shout” refers to movement rather than vocalizing, a counter-clockwise shuffle considered part of the spiritual character of the experience. Ring shouting was widely thought to have died out but had actually continued all along in McIntosh County, just north of Jekyll Island. It was reintroduced to the wider world in 1980. The McIntosh County Ring Shouters have since performed at state and national folk festivals, at Lincoln Center in New York, on television, and recordings. They continue to practice the ring shout in McIntosh County on Watch Night, New Year’s Eve.
Activity Note
Getting on/off a van; walking up to 2 blocks; standing about 1/2 hour at Sea Turtle Center. For dinner at the Jekyll Ocean Club, attire will be jackets or collared shirts and slacks requested for gentlemen. Sunday attire for the ladies
Breakfast:
Hotel buffet.
Morning:
To experience another aspect of this special place, we’ll walk over to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, where we will tour the facility and visit the patients in the Rehabilitation Pavilion. We will then walk back to the hotel where an expert will provide us with an in depth behind the scenes tour to see how high standards of luxurious service been maintained since 1888.
Lunch:
At the hotel.
Afternoon:
In our private meeting room at the hotel, our music instructor will lead our final class with short biographies of some of the most influential jazz musicians and groups over the past century. We’ll delve into the various geographic hot beds of jazz such as New Orleans, Chicago, Kansas City, and the influence these different locales had on the music and musicians. We’ll learn how recording, technology and world events shaped jazz as an art form. We’ll also get an overview of jazz in social, political, and economic perspectives as well as where we are today. Our class will conclude with a special wrap-up session about the music we’ve experienced during the program.
Dinner:
We'll enjoy a fabulous dinner with entertainment at the Jekyll Ocean Club.
Evening:
After dinner, our instructor along with a few friends will provide some entertainment. After the evening's entertainment, we'll continue on our own - maybe by strolling under the twinkling oak trees of an era past, taking a ride in a horse-drawn carriage, or counting down the minutes to the new year in the bar overlooking the Jekyll River. Happy New Year!
Activity Note
Getting on/off passenger van. Leisurely walk on sandy terrain up to 1 hour. For dinner in the Grand Dining Room, jackets or collared shirts and slacks requested for gentlemen. Sunday attire for the ladies.
Breakfast:
Hotel buffet.
Morning:
We’ll start our day at the hotel with our instructor’s second musical history class, beginning with an introduction to blues music and its history and structure. We’ll move on through the origins of Tin Pan Alley, touching on its composers and lyricists, including works by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Hoagy Carmichael, James P Johnson, and others. The birth of the blues is intertwined with the musical expression of slaves, former slaves, and their descendants. Once it moved out of the rural South, cities such as New Orleans, St. Louis, and Chicago began developing their distinctive blues variations. Tin Pan Alley was the name given to an specific area in New York City where many music publishers were located in the late 1800s. In those days before records and radio, publishers hired piano players to perform music by their songwriters, music they wanted to sell. “Tin pan” was slang for an upright piano. As the years went on, ragtime melded into the blues, jazz, and other popular music. Tin Pan Alley produced some of the most popular music in American history.
Lunch:
At the hotel, we’ll have a special high tea in grand holiday decor.
Afternoon:
Following lunch, we’ll be joined by a local expert who will tell us about the fascinating ecology of this barrier island. One of its inhabitants, the knobbed whelk, is the state shell of Georgia. We’ll also discuss the sea turtles that come back year after year to use the beaches of Jekyll Island as a nesting ground. We’ll then take a passenger van to the beach for our ecology beach walk.
Dinner:
3-course plated meal in the Grand Dining Room.
Evening:
At leisure. Our jazz instructor along with a few friends will provide entertainment.
Activity Note
Morning class; minimal standing or walking.
Breakfast:
Hotel buffet.
Morning:
Our music instructor will join us at the hotel to continue our journey through the evolution of jazz and blues. We will look at the rise and spread of jazz from New Orleans throughout the country and the move from Dixieland to swing.
Lunch:
This meal has been excluded from the program cost and is on your own to enjoy what you like. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions and give directions.
Afternoon:
Free time. Take this opportunity for personal independent exploration to see and do what interests you most. Please refer to the list of Free Time Opportunities. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions.
Dinner:
This meal has been excluded from the program cost and is on your own to enjoy what you like. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions and give directions.
Evening:
At leisure. Our jazz instructor along with a few friends will provide entertainment.
Activity Note
Hotel check-out by 12:00 Noon.
Breakfast:
Enjoy breakfast together in the historic Jekyll Island Club Grand Dining Room.
Morning:
If you are returning home, safe travels. If you are staying on independently, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on another rewarding program in the future. Don’t forget to join our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. Best wishes for all your journeys!
Please select a day to update the map
Map details are not available for this location.
MEALS
12 Meals
5 Breakfasts
3 Lunches
4 Dinners
The following choices may be available when requested in advance: Vegetarian, Low Salt
LODGING
Lodgings may differ by date. Select a date to see the lodgings specific to that date.
Showing Lodging For:
Dec 29, 2024 - Jan 03, 2025
  • Dec 29, 2024 - Jan 03, 2025
  • Dec 29, 2024 - Jan 03, 2025
  • Dec 28, 2025 - Jan 02, 2026
5 nights
Location: Jekyll Island
The Jekyll Island Club Hotel is Jekyll Island's only 4-star resort and National Historic Landmark. Nestled amid live oak trees draped in Spanish moss, this Victorian landmark enjoys a setting of unspoiled natural beauty on Jekyll Island. The island is protected from extensive development by the state of Georgia and has miles of beaches and forest waiting to be explored. Here, millionaires wintered in scenic seclusion for decades, enjoying many amenities and privileges. The club was returned to its original elegance, highlighted by leaded art glass windows, ornate woodwork, and Rumford fireplaces. From its lofty tower to encircling verandas, Victorian charm still permeates the public areas and rooms once occupied by America’s wealthiest families. The Club's guest rooms and suites have been custom-decorated in a style befitting the elegance presumed by the original socialite owners. This historic hotel serves not only as lodging for the program’s participants; it is itself part of the course of study.
5 nights
Location: Jekyll Island
The Jekyll Island Club Hotel is Jekyll Island's only 4-star resort and National Historic Landmark. Nestled amid live oak trees draped in Spanish moss, this Victorian landmark enjoys a setting of unspoiled natural beauty on Jekyll Island. The island is protected from extensive development by the state of Georgia and has miles of beaches and forest waiting to be explored. Here, millionaires wintered in scenic seclusion for decades, enjoying many amenities and privileges. The club was returned to its original elegance, highlighted by leaded art glass windows, ornate woodwork, and Rumford fireplaces. From its lofty tower to encircling verandas, Victorian charm still permeates the public areas and rooms once occupied by America’s wealthiest families. The Club's guest rooms and suites have been custom-decorated in a style befitting the elegance presumed by the original socialite owners. This historic hotel serves not only as lodging for the program’s participants; it is itself part of the course of study.
Participant Reviews
5
Based on 8 Reviews
Sort By:
Patrick Keith – Class of 2022 | Saint Louis, MO
Great program for first time exposure to jazz and broadens understanding and appreciation for those who are already exposed to jazz.
— Review left January 2, 2023
Vivien – Class of 2020 | Reading, PA
If you enjoy, or think you enjoy, or might like to enjoy jazz and the blues, this is a great program to increase your knowledge and enjoyment.
— Review left January 12, 2020
Mary – Class of 2019 | Streamwood, IL
What an entertaining combination for a vacation: the history of jazz, the seashore and its turtles, live music, and Southern cuisine.
— Review left January 11, 2020
Robert – Class of 2017 | Groveland, FL
Program has given me a new understanding and appreciation for Jazz!
— Review left January 4, 2020
Margaret – Class of 2018 | Atlantic Beach, FL
The Jazz Program took me from knowing very little about Jazz to someone now interested in learning much more. Instructor Cliff Towner's knowledge, enthusiasm and great teaching ability are key to program's success. Attendees who enjoy wintertime biking...can.t help but be excited to ride Jekyll Island trails.
— Review left January 2, 2020
Alan – Class of 2013 | Alexandria, VA
Jekyll Island and the Jekyll Island Club is a unique and spectacular venue for this program. Being there during the Christmas season with the extensive seasonal decorations was an additional bonus.
— Review left January 4, 2019
Suzanne – Class of 2018 | Frederick, MD
Wonderful in so many aspects..the location is charming and filled with history, the opportunity to learn about jazz from an excellent teacher, the local environment, past history can't be beat. The food was quite good and the pace was just right! Our trip leader was gracious and fun. Plus fellow learners were interesting. What's not to like? My first Road Scholar trip and I'll be back for more learning.
— Review left January 3, 2019
Daniel – Class of 2018 | Frederick, MD
The Jazz program on Jekyll Island, GA is very engaging, educational, historical and interesting. I had no idea about the history of Jekyll Island and I learned a ton about jazz in America and all its variations and ever-changing face. Slides, recorded music, and live music made the program excellent.
— Review left January 2, 2019





Recommended For You