Cumberland Island

Once I was feeling better we took off to get back on the journey.  We had been heading to Cumberland Island so that was I first stop.  Our daughter Martha and her beau, Dylan, have visited the park and told us how much they loved it so it was on our must-do list.  It was so much better than we could have expected.  The entire island is a remote wonderland.  Eventually the entire island will be managed by the National Park Service.  Their plan is to maintain the historically significant buildings and monitor the rest.  They have an active turtle, manatee, whale, horsecrab and horse counting data collection.  They also monitor the progression of sand shifting and erosion.  As one ranger told us, they count, a lot!  The island has a rich and colorful history starting with native Americans to modern times. It has been controlled by many diverse groups.  With Georgia being one of the original 13 colonies, there were plantations and towns there before the Revolutionary War.  One of the largest tracts was awarded to Nathanael Greene for his service in the war.  He and his wife built their mansion on the south end of the island and named it Dungeness.  It remained in their family for several generations.  When the island caught the eye of the Carnegie family at the end of the 19th Century they build their own mansion on the original Dungeness' foundations and kept the name.  At one point, the Carnegie family owned most of the entire island and used it for their winter playground.  They had casinos, polo fields, mansions and pools and stables and on and on.  To keep things going, they employed over 300 people whom they provided housing and meals for as well.
Besides all of that, the island has miles of hiking trails, camping and other historic sites on the north end of the island.  We took the guided tour and it lasted over 6 hours and we didn't see everything!  If you have a bucket list, put Cumberland Island on it.
Cumberland Island website:  https://www.nps.gov/cuis/planyourvisit/placestogo.htm

There are several herds of wild horses.  Some are from plantation days and some
are from the Carnegie era.  This little colt was only a few days old and we were
able to watch as he learned to kick up his heels and scamper around.

This colt is about 3 weeks old.  Most of the horses were in good shape
but as in any wild population, we also so some that we much older and in
their final stage of life.

This is not a closeup picture.  This deer must be so used to people it
let me walk right up to it and take its picture.

The island is full of wildlife of all varieties.  This raccoon was taking advantage of
low tide to hunt for clams and other seafood goodies.

The dunes on the Atlantic side of the island are unspoiled by development
with a very healthy ecosystem of plants and animals.

On the sound side of the island, erosion caused by weather is a constant.

One of the pathways .  It was cool walking in the dense shade.

\We learned that the island's occupants planted rows of trees in the
southern European fashion for both beauty and shade.  They rows are called
colonnades and grace most of the island's main road.  The main road is only
slightly wider than this lane leading to a house.

This is the only building left of the original Dungeness.  It dates back to
1797 and was used by the Greene's overseer.  The Carnegies used it
for their accounting house

This is a church established by the black community for themselves.  It was
made famous a while back as the site of John Kennedy Jr.'s wedding.  How they
managed to pull off total secrecy was a whole story itself.

This is the Captain's house on the Carnegie compound.  He was responsible
for maintaining their fleet of yachts and the island's docks.

To keep her children close by, Mama Carnegie had substantial bribes.  One of the
things was to build each of them a "house" when they married.  Her eldest son
married a railroad tycoon's daughter and when she saw this small, merely 5,000 sq ft, of house
she cried to Papa who gave her the money to make it a proper home.  She was all of 19!
This is the front facade of the home Plum Orchard.  While she was given the house,
Mama kept the land so when the son died the daughter-in-law left it all to marry
a duke and spend the rest of her days hunting game in Africa.

This is one of the original ice making machines.  considering the house was
built in the 1890s, that was amazing.  The house was also completely plumbed which
caused a lot of consternation for the local builders.  Most had never seen a toilet much
less installed one.  

Of course, friends were always expected to come visit.  This was a
lady's traveling trunk.

The house was furnished with so many lovely antiques.  This Tiffany lamp
shows the detailed glass work that made Tiffany famous.

There were a pair of these lamps in the "boys" section of the house.  The
outside glass looks like tortoise shells while the inside looks like oysters.

The ruins of the Carnegie Dungeness.  Apparently there was a disgruntled
local who didn't appreciate being kicked off the island for poaching and came
back while the family was away and set the mansion afire. Most of the support
buildings and housing for workers still exists.

This interesting structure would have been covered with vines to provide
a cool, shady spot to watch the polo matches.

Lovely statuary dot the grounds as well.

The grand staircase at Plum Orchard.  The wallpaper is actually
hand painted burlap with the Carnegie crest.  

On from St. Augustine and St. Mary's, Georgia

I was starting to feel a bit ill before we left the mooring but I tried to convince my self that I was just tired, stressed or whatever so we took off.  From St. Augustine we traveled about 40 miles to the other side of Jacksonville to a quiet anchorage at Sister's Creek.  We left the next morning early to make an anchorage behind Cumberland Island in Georgia.  By the time we were leaving Florida waters it was clear that I did have a bad infection and needed medical care.  We diverted up river to St. Mary's and it was a good thing on many levels.  I was able to find an open urgent care clinic still open Saturday afternoon and get a prescription filled. and I'm now on the mend.  In the meantime, we have been able to see some of this historic town.  It is thought to be either the third or fifth oldest town in the US depending on which historian is doing the talking.  It is where the first pecan trees in Georgia were planted, the saying "See you in the funny papers" originated and has one of the oldest continually used cemeteries in the US.  Most folks just come here to catch the ferry over to Cumberland Island and don't take the time to explore the town.  In my opinion, that is a huge mistake.  The residents couldn't be nicer or more helpful.  In fact, we have been offered rides, told all about the best places to see and thoroughly enjoyed just walking the streets and seeing the old houses and buildings.  The town was mostly burned down in the Civil War but a few places still stand that date back to the 1700s.  The town has been inhabited by Europeans since the mid-1500s and by native Americans for centuries before that.  It was a happy accident to find this charming town and we will stop back here on our way home.

All along the river, the sweetgrass lines the banks.  You can see miles
of the marsh in all directions.  Thankfully the wind has blown in the evening
keeping the bug population mostly away.  The river is actually several hundred
yards wide where we're anchored but the width is hidden from shore by the tall grass.

The town's waterfront was heavily damaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017.
They have put their FEMA dollars to good use restoring their park along the river,
installing new ramps and docks.  It's not all finished yet but should be great when finished.

Massive old live oaks are all over town.  Most are dripping with
tons of Spanish Moss.  We are definitely in the Ol' South now!

The main street running off of the waterfront.  It was a pleasant mix
of houses, shops, restaurants and churches.  We went to Mass in a newer
building but the parish still maintains their 150 year old chapel for daily Mass
and special events.

We didn't have time to find the old headstones but we  heard a lot
about the well cared for cemetery.

One of the entrances to the riverfront park.  If you click on the picture,
you can see David's beard.  This is a first for him and he's hoping to
protect his skin from the constant bombardment from the sun.  He hates
to wear sunscreen so he's giving hair a shot.

Another surprise benefit of stopping was this gorgeous rose I was given
while we waited to have my prescription filled.  Thank you Wal-Mart.

A view of the vast sea of marsh grass from the shore.

While I was Away

While I love David and the life we have cruising, I also love plants.  I have made our yard in Fort Walton Beach a place of refuge for critters of all kinds and the sun areas are for pollinators in particular.  I love making things grow and fit into an overall plan.  None of the pictures of the finished yard were saved but it was great.  All the spring flowering bushes were through flowering so it was a good time to make sure they were all fed.  I also have a large tropical area with ferns, philodendrons, fatsia, forsythia, impatiens and lots of caladiums.  They are all now fed too.  The hydrangeas are getting ready to bloom as well as several types of euphorbia, native honeysuckle, golden dewdrop, firespike, milkweed, shrimp plant, pentas and other things.  Whew, and that is just the back yard!  In all, every inch along the fence line is a bed of some sort, about 1/2 of the back yard is in plantings.  About 1/4 of the front is so that means lots of cleaning out, feeding, shaping, planting and mulching.  I was tired but thrilled!  My friends have promised to send me pictures as the season progresses of all the plants getting ready to bloom. 

One sad part of landscape maintenance is having to say good-bye to plants you love,
Our river birch gives us such great shade in the summer and a nice addition to our winter
view with it's bare branches in a mostly evergreen yard.  It was a 2-trunk type and 1/2 of it
died.  The arborist who took it down could see no sign of disease or infestation so hopefully
we won't lose the other leg.

They did a great job and now we won't have to worry about a huge branch falling
on the house or the shed.

I had to severely prune a very old gardenia.  I am hopeful that
it will rejuvenate the bush but if not, it will have to go next Spring.
This is what my first day of efforts looked like. Before I went back
to St. Augustine, I took out over 50 bags of debris and branches.

More St. Augustine

We stopped in St. Augustine to be able to let David stay with the boat in a secure location and receive our mail.  It was also a good spot for Pat to rent a car and head back to Fort Walton Beach for yard work, friend time and work some shifts with West Marine.  It was whirlwind time for both of us but we managed to get all our major goals accomplished.  We have friends in St. Augustine from previous military assignments and cruising so it was an added bonus to be here.  Unfortunately, I bought a new camera and took quite a few pictures before I had a correct memory card and they were all lost.  Happily, some pictures were from the phone so all is not lost.  We'll have the memories anyway.  David worked super hard on the boat's maintenance list.  All varnish now has it's Spring coatings and looks grand.  He took on a truly horrible task of changing out the sanitary hoses and cleaning out our holding tank.  Our friend Eric showed up just in time to help.  I'm not sure he thought it was a good idea to visit after all!  He also worked on a long list of more minor projects and he feels the boat is much safer and seaworthy.  When I came back we ran errands, spent with day with his Aunt Alexis visiting her son and friend in the area, another great dinner with friends Regina and George then off we went.

We are learning a whole new skill set with river travel.  The river currents are
frequently much stronger than the wind and even on secure mooring balls,
the eddies and currents play havoc on boat orientation.  If you click on this picture,
you can see that all the boats are in all points of the compass depending on where they were
located in the current and wind.

Being lighter and having no real keel, catamarans tend to move around in the current
much more than a monohull.  These were the closest boats to us and frequently looked
like they were charging straight at us only to be yanked back by their tethers.

The fort in St. Augustine is definitely a tourist attraction.  These pictures
were from Easter weekend when the entire city was heavily populated with tourists.
The fort has been under the control of Spain, England, France, US, The Confederacy then
back in US hands.  Each put their own stamp on the place.  The views are stunning
from any direction.  The Spanish had a very effective design so that the ocean entrance,
the town and river in both directions could be protected.  It was besieged several times
but never fell to invading forces, only the stroke of a pen on a treaty brought about
regime change. 

Part of the National Park Service mission is  to preserve the fort and educate
visitors about life in the fort.  Part of that is accomplished with daily shows of
how the Spanish soldiers dressed, drilled and fired their rifles.

The watchtowers in all 5 corners of the fort would have
given the lookouts excellent views of any approaching danger.
The fort was large enough for all the townspeople to come inside
in times of siege.  One of the principal tasks of the commander
was to ensure enough food and water was always on hand in case of attack.