Cumberland Island is one of Georgia’s famous “Sea Islands” located just off the coast near St Marys, Georgia. This large island has been home to native peoples, to Spanish Missions, military forts under Oglethorpe and a place of escape and renewal for families like Nathaniel Green who settled here in his home, Dungeness, after the American Revolution. In the later part of the 19th Century the Carnegies built homes here, including the huge manor on the foundations of the original that Greene built. The new Dungeness, a 59 room, 40,000 square foot mansion, would be the home of Lucy Carnegie until her death in 1916. It was destroyed in a fire in 1959. Carnegie held 90% of the island at one time but it is now owned largely by the National Park Service.
We stayed near St Marys at Crooked River State Park about 6 miles from town, just beyond the submarine base. The park was nice, private sites and good walking trails. The covid rules were still in effect so many of the services were not available.
Cumberland Island is only available by boat and as we don’t own one, we booked on the Cumberland Queen. The ferry is $30 round trip and there were two departures per day when we were there. As at the state park, there were closures at CINS, so we were unable to see a few of the things we had originally planned. And it rained. A lot. We had about 30 minutes on island before the rain began but we were as prepared as we could be so it was not too bad. We walked a trail to the original dock, then the tree lined way to the ruins of Dungeness. Even the remaining portion of the house was impressive. The grounds around it were extensive. We then headed up the Main Street through the middle of the island to a connector to the ocean. That was a disappointment as the wind was cold and the rain much harder on the beach so we did not stay. Instead we retraced some steps and took a woodland trail and then a second, both were neat. Then to the dock to get back on the ferry. We were on the island about 4 hours. Not enough if it were all open and/or nice weather.
We did not eat in St Marys but did get an ice cream at a little shop across the street between the dock and the visitor center. The staff there were very nice and the ice cream was good.
Cadillac’s Viewpoint: Nice Moosey marshes and rain. Too far to swim, even for a champion swimmer such as myself and too many minor antler animals. Cadillac’s Elevation 3 Antlers
Road from the original dock to Dungeness
Rain any moment
Watched a flock of Cedar Waxwings feeding, how many do you see? Most of the wildlife was hunkered down somewhere on the island.
