The sun sets over the marshlands of Sapelo Island, Ga., one of the Sea Islands off the Atlantic Coast. Access to the island, reached in 30 minutes by ferry, is tightly controlled. (GINA FERAZZI / LAT)
Yvonne Grovner of the Hog Hammock community on Sapelo Island, stores her sweetgrass in a backyard shed. Basket-making has been a family tradition for more than 200 years. (GINA FERAZZI / LAT)
An egret watches over unhatched young in a marshland nesting area. Most of the island is set aside by the state of Georgia as a wildlife refuge. (GINA FERAZZI / LAT)
Nestled among giant oak trees dripping with moss is the Reynolds Mansion, now rented out to groups. It has hosted presidents Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter. (GINA FERAZZI / LAT)
At 7 a.m. Sapelo Island children cross the dock to board a ferry that takes them to the mainland for school. (GINA FERAZZI / LAT)
Cornelia Bailey is owner of the Wallow Lodge in Hog Hammock. The tiny town is one of the last enclaves of the Gullah-Geechee people. (GINA FERAZZI / LAT)
