Thursday, November 7, 2013
Cumberland Island National Seashore
Cumberland Island National Seashore preserves most of Cumberland Island in Camden County, Georgia, the largest of Georgia's Golden Isles.
She’s 17.5 miles long and totals 36,415 acres of which 16,850 are marsh, mud flats, and tidal creeks. She’s rich with natural resources like ancient sea turtles, wild turkeys, wild horses, armadillos, sand dunes, maritime forests, and salt marshes. Her historic significance is the subject of numerous books and archeological studies. She is Cumberland Island, the largest of Georgia’s barrier islands, and the one most filled with romance, history, and intrigue.
Cumberland Island National Seashore is an American treasure. When visitors first set foot upon the island (via the Cumberland Queen ferry from St. Marys’ waterfront), there is an immediate sense of awe: that this island, like no other, should be mere minutes from Mainland Georgia. Cumberland Island’s past is a tantalizing story of the Timucuan Indians, the French, the Spanish, pirates, wars, steel magnates, and cotton plantations. Her present is an extraordinary portrait of natural beauty, so much so that the Travel Channel named her “America’s Most Beautiful Wilderness Beach.”
Her fame spread internationally when, in 1996, JFK, Jr. wed there in the tiny First African Baptist Church. She is an island of pristine sandy beaches and ancient oak canopies. She is an island of grandeur made richer by the voices of her past that beckon. You will come to her, perhaps, in search of quiet splendor. And you will leave with a mystical sense of wonder that will live in your heart for years to come.
Us arriving at Cumberland Island
Dinghy Dock
First thing we saw!
Many beautiful wild horses doing their thing!
Brown ones!
Gray ones!
Wild Turkeys!!
Beautiful trees
Spanish Moss hanging in the trees
Beautiful!!!
Entering "Nightingale Trail"
Supports a variety of habitats: maritime forest, salt
marsh, dunes, beach, and fresh water wetlands.
Covering 60% of the island the maritime forest,
is the dominant plant of the uplands. Although somewhat
protected by and dunes, salt tolerance is the main determinant
of which plants can grow in the maritime (meaning "near the sea")
forest. Wind-swept oaks are characteristic of pruning effects by salt
spray. Live oaks draped with Spanish moss create a dense canopy.
Underneath grows a thick understory of palmetto interspersed
with staggerbush and sparkleberry.
Our guys!
Trail to the sand dunes
Sand dunes
More sand dunes
Back on trail
The beauty
is just "awesome!"
"Whew!!!!"
Our "homes"
(back where we started today)
Look at this Palm!
Half the trunk is missing!
(getting back on the trail)
American Holly with Spanish Moss
The female hollies have red berries that
are poisonous to humans; however, wildlife love the fruit.
There are at least 20 different song birds that eat the berries
from the trees. The turkeys and small mammals eat the
berries that drop on the ground.
Male hollies bear no fruit.
Water trough for horseee's
They are found throughout the area
Greene Cemetery
Revolutionary War hero General Nathanael Greene
purchased land on Cumberland Island in 1783. His widow,
Catherine Greene, constructed a four-story tabby home
that she named Dungeness, in the 1890's.
Dungeness Foundation
Us visiting the ruins of "Dungeness"
Backside of mansion
Thomas Carnegie, brother and partner of the steel magnate
Andrew Carnegie, began building, with his wife Lucy, on Dungeness's
foundations in 1884.
Plum Orchard Mansion
This is one of the homes built by the Carnegies for their
son George and his wife Margaret Thaw
This place was actually built for their son's to bring friends
home for the weekend when they came home from college for visits.
The girls of the family did not go to college and this was a
way for them to meet guys.
Ivy cover walk through
OK back to reality!
This is a sub being escorted out to the
ocean by the two large ships we took pictures
of yesterday and posted on our blog!
You talk about a wake!!!
The cloud that came with the sub!
Jayne & Gary enjoying Happy Hour with us
Uh oh - sun is setting!
Today was quite a day. We were up early and ready to do some exploring! What a beautiful day it turned out to be. We walked for hours and enjoyed the temperature as it made it's way to 80 degrees. After all our exploring, and seeing so much beauty, we came back to the boat. About an hour later all of a sudden out of no where there is a submarine being escorted out to the Atlantic Ocean....I'm telling you....it's amazing all the surprises in life you get for free! I know that subs go out on a regular basis, I've even pictured it in my mind as to what it would look like, but to actually witness it is a totally different thing!
That's so cool! What an amazing place. I never knew about it. I'm imagining visiting there now- it's so cold here in Bel Air now.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty cool. I can't wait to go back again on the way home. We may spend a couple of days there! We've been hearing about the cold weather, now that sucks!
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