/
/
Fannin Family

Fannin Family

Fannin Family

“At our peak we had seventy-five people; usually it’s around fifty-five. We have the same campsites every year. Some tent camp; others have pop-ups, RVs, or sleep in hammocks in the trees. When we get there, we start a campfire the first night and keep it burning all week. I always bring the rope swing, which I made myself. We hang it on a giant live oak and the kids swing on it all week long.”

— Kevin Fannin

As told to Jennifer Senator
Photograph by Brian Austin Lee

The Fannin family (pictured: patriarch Robert with a young family member, Kiai James) began camping on Jekyll Island with the family of Wink and Marie Smith in 1967. This past April marked the fifty-first Fannin/Smith camping trip on Jekyll.

This article first appeared in Volume 3 Number 1 of 31•81, the Magazine of Jekyll Island.

Enjoy the read?

Subscribe to receive future issues of 31•81, the Magazine of Jekyll Island. 

Subscribe to the Magazine of Jekyll Island

Have each future issue mailed directly to you, at no cost. By subscribing to the magazine, you will also receive email updates from Jekyll Island to stay up to date on special events, programs, and offers from our partners.

Report a Wildlife Incident on Jekyll Island