Cumberland Island, GA

We left Golden Isles Marina Thanksgiving morning and headed down to Cumberland Island. Cumberland is a national park (a National Seashore, in fact) and has miles of hiking trails, wildlife, and ruins to explore. The last two times we anchored here it was too rainy to go ashore so this time we were determined to check things out. When we got to the trail we discovered that the armadillos were out in full force. Or is it "armadilloes"? Either way, the little guys would ramble across the trail right in front of you, completely oblivious as they foraged through the leaves for food. I don't think they are native, the brochure just says that they were first seen on the island in 1974. How did they get here? The only way to and from the island is via boat so maybe some guy from Texas smuggled them over in his backpack. We'll never know.

Farther down the trail are the ruins of Dungeness, a sprawling mansion built by Thomas Carnegie (not to be confused with his wealthier brother Andrew, or the very popular and influential writer, Dale) for his family. The building was consumed by fire in the 1950's but the stone ruins are still very impressive. You aren't allowed to wander inside the buildings since they've been taken over by diamondback rattlesnakes. But there is a herd (posse? troop? gaggle?) of wild horses that roam the island and we saw plenty of them munching grass near the Dungeness ruins. They were so intent on eating they barely even noticed the tourists creeping up close to take photos. There are a bunch of private residences on the island and I guess the horses keep everyone's front lawns in pretty good shape.

Anyway it's been a quiet week - hope everyone had a nice turkey day!

Where we are:
Location=Cumberland Island, GA
Lat=30 46.008 N
Lon=81 28.288 W