Cumberland Island

Today we enjoyed a relaxing day at Cumberland Island. The southern-most island just over the Georgia border is a national park, a preserve for lots of wild horses as well as the ruins of the mansions of the Carnegies, some early Indians and early settlers/farmers. It is a beautiful island, riddled with horseflies and no-seeums. But, despite the local pests, we really enjoyed our day here. We walked around miles of wooded trails - surrounded by old live oaks draped with beautiful Spanish Moss. And enjoyed lots of up close encounters with the wild horses there. They, much like the wild mustangs in Corolla that we are used to, are used to people being around them all the time so do not shy away from those of us following them around with cameras.

This guy was getting a good butt scratching from this low-lying branch:

The ruins were great - the mansion there was huge (40 bedrooms!!) and although it was mostly destroyed in a fire in the early 1900s, you can just see the grandeur and the beauty that once stood. We could practically hear the music on the lawn from all the fabulous parties and retreats that were held there.

The beaches here are gorgeous as there are only campers on the southern part of the island. And the only way to get to the island is by boat. So those that visit either come on their own boats, as we did, or come over on the ferry, lugging all their camping equipment along with them.

We took Koa to wander around the park later in the evening and he loved it! He was so intrigued by all the horse smells and he couldn't seem to get his nose to work fast enough. Lots of ticks here though (as we were forewarned by other boater friends of ours!) and we did our best to keep him out of the underbrush.

Tomorrow we head out for St Simons Island, about 35 miles North, and get to sail past Kings Bay, the base for six of the military's Triton submarines. Although we haven't seen any sign of them, maybe we will get lucky!