Happy Birthday trip to Cumberland Island

It's our family tradition to start your birthday with a piece of your birthday dessert for breakfast. So this picture was taken only seconds before cutting that cherry cheesecake. Those that know Mark well will recognize that this blog is being published a week late. By the time you read this, the entire cherry cheesecake is history, and Mark is on the way to the next birthday.

Since we get to do fun things in beautiful new places almost every day, it really is hard to plan a special activity to celebrate a special day. We had heard from many sources that going to Cumberland Island was a "must" when in this area. But the only way to get to this national sea shore is on a private boat, and the $28 fare per person was far too steep for a normal day. But it was a special destination for a special day like a birthday!

To preserve the natural environment of the island, only 300 people are allowed onto the island per day. We were thinking that it looked like more than 300 people were on the top deck of our boat with us. We were joined by a large group of the store managers from REI stores all over the southeast today, here for a team building experience.

A 40-minute boat ride later, we were greeted to Cumberland Island by a pod of dolphins playing in the water just off the side of our vessel.

After we docked, most of the people on the boat stayed in the southern section of the island--so of course we started walking north. We crossed the one mile width of the island and found ourselves alone on one of the widest beaches we had ever seen.

For that wide expanse of beach, there were almost no shells. We were told that there used to be more shells before a big storm hit the area several years ago. Far from the water, we did find a group of white shells, still connected to their matching side. That's something we don't see often.

We discovered coquina shells on a beach on the Gulf, marveling at their ability to bury themselves quickly in the sand. Now on an Atlantic Ocean beach, we found them again on one very narrow segment of the beach. There were thousands of very tiny coquina burying themselves as quickly as the waves could uncover them.

We walked three miles on this almost shell-less beach, then suddenly came upon a section with a smattering of very interesting shells. We found our first-ever starfish! We also spotted three good-sized sand dollars. The sand dollars were dark brown on the back instead of the usual white we have seen so many times. We read later that the darker color means they are still alive.

We took a picture of our limited shell hunting for the day. We are learning more shell names, and the ones below include 3 whelks and one lettered olive.

We realized that the beautiful red color of the starfish means that he is still alive. When he began curling his arms, we knew he needed to be back in the water. So we deposited him in a salty tidal pool, and he immediately changed his shape as he waved good-bye. Because we don't have room in the motor home for all these beautiful shells, we are content to take a picture and leave them for another beach walker to find. Incidentally, the shell on the upper right is an angel wing--another of God's wonders!

We were just talking about the small number of shells on this beach, when we realized we hadn't seen any shore birds either. This single great white heron seemed unafraid when we passed him on the beach.

As we walked further up the beach, we found several other people. One woman offered to take our picture together so we gladly obliged.

Another guy told us about a sizable sea turtle that had perished high up on the beach.

Because this is a national sea shore, there are few places to enter and exit the Atlantic beach side of the island. That's why we had to walk three miles on the beach, and why we didn't see other people until we got close to another exit/entrance point. So we crossed over the tall sand dune on the designated trail and entered the natural forest area that covers the middle section of the island. The winds coming off the Atlantic cause these old live-oak trees to grow at a 45-degree angle

The sunny beach is just over the dune, but it looks like it was a world away from this cool and shaded forest.

The only way to get to Cumberland Island is via boat, and the only way to get around on the island is via foot or bicycle. The trails are sandy, and of course the beach is all sand. So we opted for foot transportation instead of trying to ride rented bicycles in the sand.

Besides the trails that meander through the forest, there is a single sandy road that runs most of length of the 17-mile island. By this time we have walked around 8 miles, and the sand makes it feel like it was further.

We'll be on Cumberland Island for just one day, but there are two overnight options. Campgrounds are available, but campers and day-hikers must bring and transport everything they need because there are no stores or vehicles for them to use. The second option is staying at Greyfield Inn. For a mere $600 per night, we could have stayed here, and they provide transportation and three meals each day. Now converted to an inn, this was once the home of one of the grown Carnegie children.

This island was once the private sanctuary of the Thomas Carnegie family--made wealthy in the steel industry in the 1800's. He bought the island and built the 59-room mansion named "Dungeness" on the southern part of the island in 1884. It was originally a vacation house for his wife Lucy and their nine children. When Thomas died before the mansion was completed, Lucy decided to raise her family here year-round. As those children grew up, she built homes for most of them to stay on the island with her. Shortly after Lucy died, the Carnegies left Cumberland Island. Dungeness sat empty for three decades before it was destroyed by fire in 1959. Denisa is standing in front of the shell that is left of the regal mansion.

Mark is sitting on the curved entry bench just outside the front door. We can only imagine how majestic this area once was.

The back of Dungeness overlooked a massive yard complete with statuary and fountains and views of the Atlantic. There was also a recreation house with indoor pool, bowling alley, weight room, etc. On the other side of the stable was a dormitory to house some of the 300 servants needed to run this household in its heyday.

When the Carnegie family left the island, they also left their horses. The offspring of those Carnegie horses have become the herd of wild horses that are found in the open field areas of the island today.

In our orientation talk about the island, we were instructed to keep our distance from the horses. With colts born this spring, the wild mares are very protective. The ranger also warned us not to try to ride the horses. It seems that happens enough to mention it.

We packed our lunch with us--including more cherry cheesecake for dessert--so we were thankful that our backpacks were getting lighter as the day wore on. We had reservations for the return ride to St. Marys on the final boat of the day at 4:45. It leaves promptly, and if you miss the boat you must charter a private boat to pick you up. That's pretty good incentive to not be late. We were so tired from our day of walking, that we even got back 15 minutes early, glad to sit and wait until the boat's arrival. We walked over 13 miles in our trek around the island, and the effects of the sand made it feel much further. We had literally sand-papered our feet all day, and we welcomed the excuse to sit down for that 40 minute boat ride back to St. Marys. Mark was too tired for a big birthday meal, so he finished his special day with pizza--and more cheesecake for dessert of course.