Georgia Golf: Marsh Madness

) is a longtime fixture on St. Simons. And after a recent major renovation, it ranks as one of the most attractive small resorts on the Georgia coast. High-season summer rates begin at $190 a night and go to $269 for oceanfront cabana rooms. After Aug. 8, prices drop to $175 to $245. Two- and three-bedroom villas are available from $349 in the summer. The King and Prince owns the Hampton Club and offers summer golf packages for two -- including room, a southern buffet breakfast and a round of golf with cart -- starting at $320 a night, or $280 after Aug. 8.

For tighter budgets, the

Sea Palms Golf and Tennis Resort (800-841-6268,

www.seapalms.com

), a few miles up the island, offers rooms, suites and villas starting at $159 in the summer and fall. Closer to the lighthouse and beach district -- but with no golf course -- is the

Village Inn and Suites (500 Mallory St., 888-635-6111), a converted and expanded cottage nestled in the live oaks. Rooms start at $150, or $130 after Labor Day.

WHERE TO EAT: Georgia's coastal cuisine is all about seafood and barbecue, oysters and grits, fried chicken and collards. St. Simons is crowded with restaurants, but two reliable outlets for this heavenly board are the

Blue Water Bistro (115 Mallory St.), a fun, pubby restaurant housed in an old bank near the public pier, and the

Blackwater Grill (260 Redfern Village), which gathers low-country influences from the Georgia coast to the Louisiana Bayou.

INFO:

Brunswick and the Golden Isles Convention and Visitors Bureau, 800-809-1790,

www.bgicvb.com.

-- Steve Hendrix