July 19, 2017 Cumberland Island, GA

We drove to St Mary’s today to tour Cumberland Island.  We wanted to go there by boat, but it hasn’t worked out.  So we decided to bite the bullet and take the ferry and tour of the island.  It ran about $80 per person for the ferry, park fee and tour.  Many boaters have told us how they enjoyed touring the island.  And Dave studied Cumberland Island when he was in 7th grade in his “advanced reading skills class”.  He has always been interested in visiting it.

Ann’s car was at a marina in the same area where we had to catch the ferry.  So it was no problem dropping her off.  Now she offered to give us a ride if we need it.  That’s how the boating world works. 

Cumberland Island is along the coast line at the southern border of Georgia.  It is a National Park with only a few private homes and one upscale resort.  The rest of it is park with wild horses and other animals.  The horses are self sustained.  They have no veterinary care and are not fed.  The herd naturally stays at about 150.  The island had 18 miles of undeveloped beach-no buildings or structures.  John F. Kennedy, Jr used to come here for privacy and actually was married here in 1994 in a little Baptist church. 

The Carnegie family had their winter home here for many years.  We toured their properties.  Lots of stories about other inhabitants that I won’t go into.  The tour was in a van with about 8 people on undeveloped roads.  It was from about 9-4:00, which was about 4 hours too long.  I think a combination of tour and time at the beach would have been better.  We would have enjoyed more about the wild life and less about the people who lived there.  Or even more time on the water to see the island from the ICW.  You probably figured out that we wouldn’t recommend the tour, unless you are really into history and who’s who.  If we go back by boat, we’ll walk about a mile across the narrowest part of the island to get to the beach.