The Carnegie Family's Gift....

At last....perfect weather and Georgia's Cumberland Island National Seashore. Seeing the island on a day trip is possible, but it certainly deserves more. For the first pic I just stopped along the highway on the way to St. Mary's to catch the ferry. The rest of today's pics are from the national park.

The basics: Make reservations for the ferry, tour and lodging/camping. If you choose not to camp, then expect to pay big bucks to stay at The Greyfield Inn! (as an aside: to have a small wedding at the inn, it'll cost you a minimum of $32,000 - for fewer than 25 people.) If you only have one day and want an overview of the island take the tour. Like any guided tour it occasionally drags and makes the beach nearly impossible, but it's the only way to see the "whole" island. The tour focuses on the north end, but the guides seem to find ways to get visitors to the south end briefly.

1-3 An important church made famous by a Kennedy wedding. The 1st African Baptist Church (1890s) at the north end.

4-8 Plum Orchard Mansion (1898): This Carnegie family property is considered a "modest seaside home" and started the ball rolling for the creation of the national park. When you see the pic of Dungeness ruins, you'll be tempted to believe it is, indeed, modest! In fact, this house is quite advanced for its time: plumbing, a kind of central heat and air, an ice house, an elevator. Pics in order: the front yard, one of many wild horses, the original house not showing the additions, one of the two "Loggerhead Lamps" in the world made for this Carnegie house by Mr. Tiffany. Guides like to say that these lamps are in the first man cave. Finally, the heated indoor pool (approx. 9ft deep) - dontcha love the stairs!

9-10 Dungeness ruins (1884) with more wild horses, including a very cute 1 month old! When you're standing on the grounds you can almost see the horse carriages arriving with well-heeled guests. As for the horses, they really are wild. The only thing park employees do to manage these horses is move a deceased horse if it's in an area of heavy tourist traffic. Other parks on my visit list seem to control nearly every aspect of the horses' lives. Makes me glad I saw them here...

11 As I said in the beginning, one of the negatives to the tour is that it makes the beach nearly impossible, but it can be done if you hustle! I didn't touch water, but I did walk the dunes boardwalk. I'm told the beach would have added another 8-10min, so I would have missed the ferry. You do not want to miss the ferry: a private charter boat is at least $200 or for $700 or so you can stay at The Greyfield Inn.

So, I highly recommend this stop on one of your future journeys. I would love to return and spend a couple nights in the campground by the dunes boardwalk. While i couldnt get pics, there were cute armidillos, hilarious turkeys running down the main road, and dolphins & manta rays in the river. The place seems almost magical. A man said to me, "Lord of the Rings" could be filmed here.

I'm headed to Savannah tomorrow and could be in South Carolina by bedtime. I have no idea at the moment, but will let you know soon... Thanks for stopping by!