I am sitting here in the cockpit of the boat listening to music and I was reflecting on the 3 days we spent at Cumberland Island. Cumberland Island is right on the border of Florida and Georgia. It was recommended to us to make a stop there on our way back up the ICW. It was worth the trip. Even before we got to our anchorage spot we spotted a wild horse out by the salt marshes, and directly in front of the horse in the water were dolphins. What a beautiful site that was to see them both together. They were too far for me to get a photo. After we got settled at the anchor spot we deployed the dinghy and went ashore, camera in hand. Stopped at the park office and talked to the ranger. He told us about all the walking trails that we could explore. So we set off for a 3/4 mile hike across the island. We were immediately plunged into the oldest seaside forest in the country. All around us were live oaks dripping with Spanish moss, fan palms and wild plants growing so thick you had to stay on the path. It was a peaceful and pristine place to stop. Very rare theses days to find a spot as untouched by commercialism. After 5 days on the boat we were ready for a break. I told Joe I wanted to hike till my legs fell off. Walking under the shaded canopy of the trees was relaxing. We past camping spots where you could not see the next camp site as there were so many fan palms. When we got to the other side of the island it open up to snow white sand dunes some 2 stories high. We walked on a boardwalk walkway through the dunes and it opened up to a beach deemed a national seashore park. We looked down the beach and there was a herd of wild horses. I was so excited. We hurriedly walked toward them. They have been exposed to people watching them as they let us get closer I started taking photos. Most of them were mares and there was a yearling and a foal. What a treat it was to get to see wild horses ON THE BEACH. Awesome.
Next day we toured the Carnegie Mansion on the Island. Most of the buildings were still there but the house was a brick skeleton, it had burned down many years ago. And what happen to be in the yard area more wild horses. It just could not get any better. After our tour we went on the boardwalk over the salt marsh and ended up walking through the sand dunes again then we made our way up the beach and back to the boat. My legs were pretty tired we had walked almost 5 miles. Next day we moved the boat to the north end of the island and next day we did some more hiking there. We were hoping to see alligators that were rumored to be there but no such luck. But we did see some wold spotted hogs and piglets. Cumberland Island is by far one of our favorite places we have been to. If you want to visit there you cannot get there by car you need to take a 45 minute ferry ride. It is highly likely we will be stopping there again.
We are now in Lady's Island South Carolina. Doing boat projects and hanging out in Beaufort. TTFN
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