{"id":5167,"date":"2014-10-05T18:09:44","date_gmt":"2014-10-05T22:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tusentakk2.com\/wordpress\/?p=5167"},"modified":"2014-10-06T07:29:04","modified_gmt":"2014-10-06T11:29:04","slug":"georgia-on-my-mind-part-two-cumberland-island-september-26-28-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tusentakk2.com\/wordpress\/2014\/10\/georgia-on-my-mind-part-two-cumberland-island-september-26-28-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia on My Mind, Part Two — Cumberland Island; September 26-28, 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the afternoon of September 26, we drove down to the southeastern corner of Georgia \u00a0near St. Marys. \u00a0We were soon joined by daughter Danielle and her girls Kristen and Abby.\u00a0 We met at the headquarters of the Crooked River State Park, where we would spend two nights in a commodious cabin in order to facilitate a visit to Cumberland National Park, located on Georgia\u2019s largest and southernmost island. \u00a0Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to see the Park Service map of Cumberland.<\/p>\n

The island has three major ecosystem regions. Off the western edge of the island there are large areas of\u00a0salt marshes. On land, a dense maritime forest with gnarled\u00a0live oak trees covered with Spanish moss. \u00a0Below the oaks, \u00a0an understory of palmetto\u00a0plants. \u00a0Cumberland Island’s most famous ecosystem is its beach, which stretches over 17 miles. The island is home to many native interesting animals, as well as non-native species. There are White-tailed deer, squirrels, raccoons, armadillos, wild boars, alligators, and wild turkeys as well as many marshland inhabitants. It is also famous for its feral horses\u00a0roaming free on the island.<\/p>\n

On the morning of Sept. 27, after a breakfast in St. Mary\u2019s, we boarded the Park Service ferry to travel the tannen-stained tidal waters of St. Marys River to the lee side of Cumberland Island.\u00a0 We have been to Cumberland many times, but it has never lost its appeal.\u00a0 We got off at the dock at the Sea Camp Ranger Station and walked along the forested path to the southern dock at the Ice House Museum, and then to the ruins of the Carnegie estate known as Dungeness.<\/p>\n

In the 1880s Thomas M. Carnegie, brother of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, and his wife Lucy bought land on Cumberland for a winter retreat. In 1884, they began building a mansion on the site of Dungeness, though Carnegie never lived to see its completion. Lucy and their nine children continued to live on the island.\u00a0 Dungeness was designed as a 59-room Scottish castle. They also built pools, a golf course, and 40 smaller buildings to house the 200 servants who worked at the mansion. The last time Dungeness was used was for the 1929 wedding of a Carnegie daughter. After the Crash and the Great Depression, the family left the island and kept the mansion vacant. It burned in a 1959 fire.<\/p>\n

From Dungeness we proceeded across the island to the beach, along which we walked northward and through huge flocks of Royal Terns and seagulls to the Sea Camp Beach, where we rested and explored before crossing back to the Sea Camp Ranger Station in time to catch the 4:45 ferry back to St. Marys.\u00a0 All told, our fitbits reported that we had walked about 4 miles.<\/p>\n

Next morning, as we prepared to leave Crooked River State Park, Danielle noticed a couple of birds high up in a dead tree next to our cabin. \u00a0“Get your camera!” she said. \u00a0When I did I was surprised to see a Roseate Spoonbill and a Wood Stork patiently waiting to have their pictures taken. \u00a0Good eyes, Danielle!<\/p>\n\n\t\t