Right off I-95, 1 mile north of Florida
We’re camped just outside St. Mary’s, Georgia, the gateway to Cumberland Island, Georgia’s largest and southernmost barrier island. Much of it is a National Park or National Wilderness. And outside of Jacksonville, Florida, only 30 miles south, are 2 more National Parks. So…what did we do while here?
4 Visits to 3 new National Park Sites:
- Cumberland Island National Seashore (#227), where we stopped at the Visitor Center and visited the Museum in St. Mary’s the first day. On the 3rd day, we took the ferry for a nice, long (7.5 hour visit to the southern end of Cumberland Island. Not that we had time, but we couldn’t visit very far north, as it was closed for a managed hunt of feral pigs, a problem on the island. We did get in one Ranger walk, to the Dungeness Mansion, built in 1884 as a winter home for Thomas Carnegie (younger brother and business partner of Andrew Carnegie), his wife Lucy, and their 9 children. Along the way, we learned, that along with lots of other history, the Cotton Gin was first demonstrated here, and that both Thomas Edison & Alexander Graham Bell were here to set up electricity and phone service on the island, ~30 years before anywhere else nearby! We also took a ~4 mile loop hike through the Dungeness support town, undeveloped beaches and salt marshes. Great Day!
- Fort Caroline National Memorial (#228), we visited day 2. Fort Caroline memorializes the short-lived French presence in sixteenth century Florida, where we visited the replica fort and heard stories of exploration, survival, religious disputes, territorial battles, and first contact between American Indians and Europeans.
- Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve (#229), Where the Waters Meet…one of the last unspoiled coastal wetlands on the Atlantic Coast, with 6,000 years of human history, salt marshes, coastal dunes, and hardwood hammocks. We spent most of our time on day 4 at Timucuan, visiting the Kingsley Plantation, where Zephaniah Kingsley sought to make his fortune by obtaining land and establishing plantations. He brought with him, enslaved Africans to work on the plantations, including his first of 4 wives, whom he later freed, along with their 4 children. We learned the difference between the Spanish and the English/American views of slavery, which we had not heard before.
Entering Fort Caroline Replica 
Inside Fort Caroline Replica 
First wild Armadillo we’ve ever seen, on Cumberland Island NS 
Dungeness Mansion Ruins from the road on Cumberland Island NS 
Dungeness Mansion Ruins from the river on Cumberland Island NS 
Dungeness Estate Kitchen on Cumberland Island NS 
Walk on the Atlantic side beach on Cumberland Island NS 
Walk on the Atlantic side beach on Cumberland Island NS 
Loggerhead Turtle Shell on Walk on the Atlantic side beach on Cumberland Island NS 
Skimmers in flight on the Atlantic side beach on Cumberland Island NS 
Planters House on Kingsley Plantation 
Slave Cabins made of Tabby on Kingsley Plantation
OH! Must not forget that we saw a submarine (for more info, see Charlie’s comment below) heading for the St. Mary’s Submarine base, while on our Cumberland Island Ranger Tour:
Well, that’s what we did other than:
- Set up our Xmas decorations
- Notarize some year-end documents
- Take 2 trips to Camping World to replace broken parts
- Track the delivery of our new refrigerator (arrived yesterday, so we can get it installed per schedule on the 27th)
- Add fresh ice to our “ice box” daily, and
- Just this morning, take The Beast to the nearby (only 4 miles, thank goodness) Chevrolet dealer, to address what looked like an oil leak, but was apparently just low oil due to insufficient oil added at our last oil change, i.e. 6 quarts instead of 10!
Off for the Titusville Area!
Holidays! with Aunt Carolyn and cousins in Cocoa!
For more pictures, eventually, see (in-work) Adventure Album: Head South for Winter
4 Comments
Gretta · December 23, 2023 at 10:50 am
O hope Santa can find the both of you! Merry Christmas
Gail · December 23, 2023 at 3:58 pm
I think so. Making apple pies at Aunt Carolyn’s tomorrow, for Christmas dinner.
Charlie · December 29, 2023 at 1:09 pm
With the ASDS (Advanced Seal Delivery System) mounted, that’s probably the USS Florida or USS Georgia, both based out of Kings Bay GA. The four oldest of the class were converted from ballistic nuke subs to guided missile subs, each can carry 154 Tomahawks. I’ve always been interested in those ships, they’re impressive tech. Never actually seen one.
I’m assuming there were some escort boats with mounted weapons escorting that in and out of the harbor. 🙂
Gail · December 30, 2023 at 5:19 am
VERY COOL!!!! We saw at least 2 Coast Guard ships. AND, Mark talked to a guy at our campground who worked on the grounds crew at the base. He said that, before subs come in, Seals sweep the river and ocean out 30 miles for mines.