JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<div id='datepicker'>
</div>

JavaScript

$datepicker = $('#datepicker');
$datepicker.datepicker({
	// Set a default date so the calendar initializes on that month
	defaultDate: new Date(2018, 7, 5) // a few months in the future
});
// Remove styling of default initially selected date, it's NOT selected
$datepicker.find('.ui-datepicker-current-day')
  .removeClass('ui-datepicker-current-day')
  .find('.ui-state-active').removeClass('ui-state-active');
// 'deselect' default date so it doesn't appear selected on navigation
$datepicker.datepicker('setDate', null); 
// ^^^ broken - comment this out and the calendar shows Aug as expected

// ^^^
// All we want here is two things:
// - The calendar initializes on a particular month;
// - No date appears visibly selected until chosen.