Cumberland Island

<- Gulls on the dock as we left

Cumberland Island is a National Park National Seashore. It was created in the 1970's, as a result of the majority of the owners wanting to preserve the quality and character of the Island. The owners were primarily descendants of the Thomas Carnegie family, Andrew's brother. Cumberland is the southernmost and largest Georgia barrier island. It lies off the city of Saint Marys, and it is the next island south of Jekyll. It has no causeway, so all access is by boat. The waterway between Cumberland and Saint Marys is part of the Intra coastal waterway. There is anchorage and public dock space for private boats. But most people get to the island by ferry provided by the National Park Service, as we did. It's a $17 ferry ride and $4 access fee, per person.

<- Ruins of "Dungeness", the 55 room mansion built by the Carnegie Family

Dungeness is the name given to two beautiful mansions on the same site. The first was built by Nathanial Green, the revolutionary war hero. The second by Lucy Carnegie, after her husband, Thomas died. Lucy also built 4 other mansions on the island for her children. At one point, she owned 90% of Cumberland. Her will stated that her holdings could not be divided until the last child died, which occurred in 1969. Threats of rapid commercial development prompted the remaining heirs and other property holders to donate their land, usually with retained rights which will expire, to create the National Park.

<- Interpretive material on the marshes posted near the dunes

NPS has created a museum, interpretive trails, and boardwalks to help protect the dunes from foot traffic. We took a guided tour of the ruins and history of the island, which we found interesting. NPS has also established 5 campgrounds, one equipped with showers, the others "primitive". Given the limited access, the ruins and property and interpretive exhibits will get relatively small wear and visibility.


<- Great egret fishing in the marsh

In my mind, the real value to the public is the wild and relatively untouched ecosystem present on the island. Yes, the island was cleared at one point to raise cotton, but it has since returned to a mostly natural state. The marshes, once a source of oysters to the Carnegies, are mostly wild. The maritime forest, criscrossed by roads and some clearings for buildings, is nonetheless mostly natural. The dunes and beaches see little traffic, compared to other beaches I know. The island supports many species of birds, such as the egret shown here.


<- Wild horses on Cumberland

Aside from the remaining heirs, whose retained rights will expire eventually, and the paying park visitors, the only other threat to the wild and natural nature of the island is the livestock that was brought to the island at various times. This includes horses brought by the Spaniards and English and the other owners of the island up to the 1900s. These now wilds horses have interbred to produce mixed breeds of several roots. Generally, they are healthy. NPS is doing nothing to support them. They graze where they can, and their traffic in the forest creates some clearings. They also eat the sea oats which help preserve the dunes. Their presence is controversial, some saying they should be removed, others saying they are part of the history. They do modify the natural environment. Other livestock survive on the island, as well. Hogs, allowed to run free, are now wild. The NPS supports a hog hunting season a couple times per year to control the numbers. Their presence is also not natural to the island.

<- The vast, mostly uninhabited beach

We walked for 2 miles along the beach. Of the 17 miles of the Atlantic side of the island, my guess is that on the day we were there, there were less that 100 people on the beach. A private tour of kids and parents made up about 1/2 of my estimate. Most of the rest came on the ferry with us. The tide was out when we arrived, and like Jekyll, it goes out a long way from the high water mark.

After our walk thought the historic district, through the marshes, along the beach (stopping for lunch that we brought along), we crossed back to the western side where we caught the ferry back to Saint Marys. The walk was about 5 miles. We had a really great time. We recommend this visit to anyone who enjoys a little history mixed in with a wonderful natural seashore.

The Marshes of Glynn

<- Sunset over the marshes of Glynn and the Sidney Lanier bridge








Affable live-oak, leaning low,--
Thus--with your favor--soft, with a reverent hand,
(Not lightly touching your person, Lord of the land!)
Bending your beauty aside, with a step I stand
On the firm-packed sand

Free

By a world of marsh that borders a world of sea.

From "The Marshes of Glynn" by Sidney Lanier (1842-1881)

Sidney Lanier traveled to many places in the US and to Europe. He was a schoolteacher, poet , musician, and he fought in the civil war. For all his work, and the places he saw, his most famous poem is "The Marshes of Glynn", a poem describing the beautiful spot where we are now camped on Jekyll Island. A marker commemorates his poem and life near the edge of the Marsh in Brunswick. The beautiful bridge crossing the Brunswick river, the longest bridge in Georgia, is named for him. Streets on Jekyll and in Brunswick are named for him. Yet he spent little of his life here. What he did spend was apparently inspiring.

We've now decided to try for a 3 month reservation here on Jekyll in the winter of 2009, quite a departure from our travels so far. Making plans for a long stay allows Consuelo to sign up for craft classes that take several weeks. It may be chilly at times, but not unbearable. And we can drive to Naples in a day if we want, spending time with Consuelo's family down there.

We like Jekyll because there is a pleasant mix of convenience and history here. Since it is a Georgia state park, some effort is spent to keep it clean. We find ourselves walking and biking more here than anywhere. The park, though relatively large, is well run and the winter residents are friendly. We've even thought about buying a house here.

Right now here, spring breakers are flowing in and out like the tide. The weekends fill the campground with kids and boy scouts. Once and a while the teens get noisy. It doesn't trouble us. In fact, I kind of like having the younger generation around some. Many places we go are filled with old folks, like us.

We spend one more week here, then head for the hills. A month has gone by pretty fast. Sign of a good time.

Are we happy?.... Yeah!

<- Jekyll Island When we talk with people who are not part of the RV community and tell them about our being full time RVers, they invariably ask if we're enjoying the experience. And we invariably answer, "Yes, we are!"

We're currently staying at Jekyll Island, Georgia, again. I think it's become one of our favorite places. There's enough to do here (great biking, the beach, fishing, golf, history, jazz festival, RV show, plus lots of friendly campers) that I haven't been writing this blog lately. Last night we had a great dinner prepared by the Hickey's from New Hampshire, of corn beef and cabbage. Even our dog is having fun walking and playing with other puppies.

I recently heard on a CNN news report that the happiest segment of the population is men between the ages of 60 and 70. I'm just at the leading edge of that. It seems that generally we have adequate health to enjoy life, and typically more free time to do it in. I'm in the middle of that. How could I not be happy? Consuelo remarks that she knows that she's happy because she smiles a lot, we kiss a lot, we sleep well. she feels good.

We still have upsets and frustrations, but they tend to pale compared to the problems that some folks have. Yesterday we had a small kitchen flood from broken kitchen sink parts, and I drove 40 miles to get parts at a Home Depot who didn't have them (Wal-mart to the rescue!). But there's news every day about folks who have huge problems, in far away places like Iraq, and right here in Brunswick, GA (missing child found dead).

We still have important and possibly worrisome decisions to make. We're considering replacing our motorhome, which will involve spending a bunch of money. We need to make decisions on our travels plans. We'd like to find a replacement property in Maine to replace our cabin. And we re-evaluate our position in real estate investment to select a good property to spend time in when we stop traveling. In the process, we may argue and scrap, Consuelo being aggressive, me being conservative, but they are decisions we are happy to make.

We're still enjoying the traveling, there's lots of place we have not been yet, and we do have fun discovering them. We enjoy mixing the "vacation" experience of exploring new places with the re visitation of familiar places, like Naples and Jekyll, Massachusetts and Minnesota. And while we don't get to enjoy the day to day fun of watching our family grow and become the next us, we see them more than we did while we were working.

Yeah, we're happy. Life is good.

Florida's Last Frontier: Horseshoe Beach

(If some of you wonder what happened to us over the last month, I dropped my computer and broke it. Those Toughbooks aren't as tough as I thought. It's repaired and back now, and I'm starting to write again.)

Consuelo flew to Phoenix to sew with her girlfriends from Minnesota, leaving on Feb 20 from Tampa, and returning on March 1. I stayed home, attended to some RVmaintenance, walked the dog, and visited my cousin Fred in New Smyrna Beach.

When Consuelo returned, I met her at the airport with a yellow rose. I really missed her while she was gone.

<- Horseshoe Beach Waterfront

The next day, we ventured forth in the rain to a tiny Florida town on the Big Bend on the Gulf, Horsheshoe Beach. This is a little fish camp, almost no businesses, and 20 miles from the nearest town. It's the next town up the Gulf from the Suwanee River, of Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home" fame. From what we saw, the Suwanee river mouth is a much more popular destination, with numerous campgrounds and activities like waterparks.

The reports we had were that you could camp on the beach for free. What we found was a county park, wherein the edges of the boat ramp parking lot had enough space to park on, but just barely, for us with our 38' motorhome. There were about 6 picnic table shelters, and 7 or 8 RV sites. Electricity and water were provided (30 amp, even) but no dump station. There were toilets in the middle. The going rate for RV sites was $12/night for foreigners, $8 for locals. Five or six other families were camping over the weekend while we were there.

The "beach" was not. A retaining wall surrounded the park. The bottom of the wall was in the water. As this is the gulf side, the average depth at high tide was probably a foot. At low tide, it was a negative foot. Good place to look for clams. But not to swim.

<- The dirt roads of Horseshoe Beach

There were a large number of what appeared to be seasonal houses in the community. And canals had been dug between most of the streets, and just about ever house (trailer, cabin, mobile home) had a dock and a boat on the canal. Some building sites were for RVs, and some had old, immobile RVs still in place. The place got hammered by the "Storm of the Century" in the early 90s, and the newer houses that had been rebuilt were up 10-12 feet off the ground, to avoid any future storm surges.

There was one convenience store, one restaurant, where we had dinner one night. Food was OK, not remarkable. There was a marina that also had a campground. $25/night, no view. At least in the county park we could watch the sun go down over the mud. There was a deep channel out to the open Gulf, enough to support a small fleet (we saw 2, one for sale) of shrimp boats. The local famous delicacy is scallops, though, and not in the season we were there.

There were lots of birds, and starting about 7:00 on Saturday and Sunday morning the fisherpeople began to arrive with their boats, filling up the remaining space in the park with pickup trucks and boat trailers. They put in, an motored out about 7 miles to where the fishing started, navigating the channel.

<- Air boat going out to fish

A few folks had air boats, the kind that the Everglades are known for. When the tide was in, they just zipped straight out of the harbor. I had never been around them before. Given that the are driven by propellers, they sound just like airplanes. I kept looking out our windows for an airplane buzzing us, but finally realized it was the air boats. And, they are loud. Really loud. I don't think you could sneak up on any fish with them.

The park was posted in several places with signs that said "No Pets". We talked to several of the other campers, who said that the intent was to keep the place from being overrun with barking dogs, and Thumper would not contribute to such behaviour. But we were careful to keep her out of sight when the lady came to collect our rent.

We spent 2 nights there, and found it interesting, but not what we expected.