Cumberland Island

Stan and I like to try new things when we're on vacation, this year it was Cumberland Island. It is the largest barrier island off the coast of Georgia and bears the brunt of most of the tropical storms that head our way. We took a 45 minute ferry ride over from St. Mary's, Florida.
     Cumberland Island was made famous by the Carnegie family before the Great Depression. In its Victorian hey-day they threw elaborate parties and all the famous and influential people of the time hung out there.
     But many of the great houses eventually burned or fell into ruin. Now, most of the island is a National Park and home to wild horses.
     In all I'd heard about Cumberland, I thought the horses were a rare thing to see. Well, no longer.
     We were on our rented bicycles for all of two minutes when three of them came ambling down the trail towards us.

     And as we rode around to the ruins, we saw tons more. They're not quite tame - you can't pet them - but they certainly didn't care that we were there if we didn't get too close. (Do you see them all in the background too?)

     Apparently, although scrawny, they have been quite prolific and we saw several babies.


     We saw turkeys too - also with babies.

     But the best part of Cumberland Island was the beach. I have never in my life looked up a beach and seen absolutely NO sign of humans. No houses, no umbrellas - nothing. Just sea grass, sea weed, and sand. *sigh*
     Makes us happy.