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| Cumberland Queen traveling to Cumberland Island, GA |
12/1/11
CUMBERLAND ISLAND, GA
We had toured around the area a bit and found ourselves in St. Mary’s. They’re struggling, like most small towns, trying to keep their seafood niche on the coast. We took a tour of the Orange Mansion, as they call it, with a very lovely group of southern belles – one of them, a short little fireplug of great beauty also wore, metaphorically, devil horns. She had a funny and ascerbic remark for everything, while maintaining her lovely southern grace and charm. I could have eaten her up!
The poor old mansion needs many repairs but is still a lovely sight to experience. Lots of polished hardwood, creaky floors, flowing staircases. Supposed to be haunted by the little girl who lived their – apparently perfectly sane locals have seen her little face at her bedroom window. Yellow fever took both mother and daughter, but preacher dad married again and moved almost immediately. I felt an awkward moment while in the basement – where the kitchen was – as the docent spoke of that Yankee aggression and the affect it had on not only the mansion household, but the town. I have felt that uncomfortable shame several times in the south, especially when a group knows you’re not southern and on “their side.”
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| Tiffany chandelier at Orange Mansion, St. Mary's, GA |
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| Orange Hall Stairs, a thing of beauty |
Confederates still exist as is evident by the “stars and bars” flag many proudly fly, alongside the United States flag. In Charleston, our carriage driver Jeremy – he of the BS in Architectural Archeology -
said his grandmother always referred to the Civil War as “the Yankee aggression” or “the last unpleasantness.” Wow. I would say 80% of southern folks still hold that opinion.
So it’s with an uncomfortable silence that I hold my back stiff and strong, and try to look both unapologetic AND sorry for the casualties of war. It is always mentioned in any tour, as is slavery. Depending on the tour guide and the audience: I think they ask where you’re from to modify – soften, or hammer – their informational speal. They always include the pillaging of homes – furniture, lead fixtures – as part of the spoils of war. Many of the old homes were used as Union headquarters, and although I hate to think it, the beautiful furnishings were either destroyed or taken north. If it had been the other way around, I believe the same would have happened with the Confederates destroying/stealing and hauling it all south. It is a sad, evil part of war.
That being said, I suffer during these instances of uncomfortable history, look straight at the docent and murmur nothing of consequence. The southern belles remarked repeatedly their distaste at such Yankee aggression and bad manners. OK, I agree. War is bad. I’ve always said that the south did cecede metaphorically and on a personal basis – the rest of the states just never acknowledged it. These folks live a different mental life than where I come from, and literally fight the “aggression” every day – whether it’s Yankees or liberals. I love the south, and I fiercely love southerners, for their gracious yet ingenuous manners, their hush puppies and their beautiful country of heat, bugs, beaches, oaks and je ne sais quoi. They have a sweetness, like their tea, and are a deep fried goodness.
Sometimes I can’t understand their speech, as they struggle to understand our fast talking and bland northern style. But we wait, giving ourselves a chance to catch up and catch on, generally getting the point in the end. The south has become quite a melting pot in the larger cities, but they always hold dearly to their roots of what the south means to them, and theirs. Dawn got a kick out of this billboard, but it is exactly what it is:
We hit a few small shops after the tour, one of which was called Orca and where a woman urged us rather maniacally to take the boat to Cumberland Island. She said her whole bathroom is decorated in “Cumberland Blue” and everything else Cumberland. She also instructed us to go to the second stop – not the first! OK. We set it up for the 4th, extended our stay at Walkabout. As it turned out, thank god we met her, and that she wouldn’t shut up about Cumberland!
After buying our tickets and listening to a brief overview of Cumberland environs, we boarded the little passenger only vessel with three other erstwhile tourists. One woman was heading over for her 20th visit or somesuch, meeting her husband for a picnic at “the ruins”. We were talking pleasantly until the snack shop opened when she abruptly got up and headed for a Snickers or something.
The boat takes 45 minutes to get to Cumberland, and it’s a pleasant ride. We saw the shrimp boats out, egrets, seagulls – of course – and just enjoyed being on the water. TC talked with one of the deckhands about his job - $70 a day for a ten hour day – plus they perform the maintenance. But, he said, the skipper makes $120 a day! Whoo hoo! Reality check folks!
We decided to get off at the first landing, walk the beach and board walk back to the second landing – Sea Camp. It’s about a 3 mile hike but you get to see the ruins, an old ice house, beachcomb, check out the primitive camping and the other landing. We’re met by Rene, the Park Ranger, who has a second sense when it comes to finding shark’s teeth. Note: the east coast has shark’s teeth on every beach, and everyone looks for them constantly. In talking with Rene, who is friendly and quite happy with her lot in life – she said she’s worked as a Ranger for 30 years, 28 living on Cumberland! Now, Cumberland Island does have electricity, water and some cars – but it’s basically uninhabited, the water is only treated in a small area, and the cars are there specifically for tours and work. It is quietly alive, no condos, no industry – nothing but beaches, the main road, an Inn, wild horses, wild boars, deer, and sea turtles. When you step off the Cumberland Queen, the sense of intense quiet wraps around you like a comfortable sweater, and you are hooked. You have no choice but to walk or bike. You have no choice but to immerse your loud self into the naturely-ness of it all. We have not fucked this place up and that is truly a rarity in this greedy world. According to the Rangers, we aren’t allowed to fuck it up either, which I hold to me proudly – finally, a piece of land we’ll leave alone. I can’t think of a better legacy for Cumberland.
As we walk through the quiet marine forest, along a sandy, macerated shell road, you can hear birds tweeting, and see the horse’s hoof prints – that’s about it. I dearly hoped to see some wild horses, and was pretty sure I would. I also kept a sharp eye for shark’s teeth, although Rene had spotted a teeny tiny black fossilized one and given it to me already. About a half mile on the road and you come to the magnificent gated entrance to Dungeness, or, “the ruins.” Through the gates and up rises the brick shell of a giant, ruined mansion – it is truly astonishing, and I was not prepared for either it history or the grandeur of its grounds.
It was built in the 19th century for Thomas Carnegie, of course. Just another mansion to live in for a few weeks of the year. Their presence of course brought servants and outbuildings galore, and eventually another mansion built – Plum Orchard – for their son. It still stands and is being slowly renovated and is available for tours. Dungeness was burned once, rebuilt, then left to ruin. Can you imagine having a mansion, then just abandoning it? I’ll say the rest with pictures.
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| Cumberland Queen Ready to Leave St. Mary's for Cumberland Island |
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| Cumbeland Q ready to leave Sea Camp, Cumberland island, GA |
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| St Mary's, GA |
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Marine Forest path to Dungeness ruins, Cumberland Is, GA |
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| Entrance to Dungeness Ruins, Cumberland Island, GA |
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| Entrance to the Dungeness Ruins, Cumberland Is, GA |
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| Chimney, Dungeness Ruins |
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| Ivy on Dungeness Ruins |
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| Grounds of Dungeness Ruins |
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| Outbuilding at Dungeness Ruins, near salt marsh |
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| Dungeness Ruins, Cumberland Is, GA |
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| Front, Dungeness Ruins |
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| Salt Marsh from Dungeness Ruins |
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| Bachelor's Quarters and Recreation House, Dungeness Ruins |
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| Batch Quarters and Rec House, Dungeness Ruins |
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| Grand Stairs to Dungeness Ruins |
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| Dungeness Ruins |
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| Dungeness Ruins Stairs to Salt Marsh and Outbuildings |
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| Tabby House at Ruins |
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| TC and lunch at Ruins |
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| Entrance to Ruins |
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| Stove in Old Wash House at Ruins |
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| Water Barrel at Old Wash House, Ruins |
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| Old Wash House Windows at Ruins |
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| Wood Sink in Wash House, Ruins |
After a little picnic lunch on the Dungeness grounds, we hiked over large sand dunes to the beach. Oh god, the beach! Miles and miles of white sand - not a soul around – no one, nothing. Once we reached wet sand beachcombing was a dream. Tony took the upland, I the shore and I filled my pockets with shells until my capris were falling down! Conchs lying on the beach for the taking, as well as angel wings, puffer fish stranded (!), weird blue sacks full of air and standing straight up! We walked and walked and walked, never seeing another person until near the end, when we spotted the black and white striped poll that signals the boardwalk to Sea Camp. Again, pictures will speak the story:
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| Coming into Cumberland Island Beaches |
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| TC and Cool Tree on Cumberland Sea Camp Boardwalk |
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| Cumberland Island Beach |
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| Sea Camp Boardwalk from Beach, Cumberland Is |
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| Cumberland Island Beach |
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| Cumberland Is Beach and Birds |
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| Cumberland Is Beach Blue Bladder.....not a clue! |
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| Cumberland Is Wash Up |
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| Cumberland Is Puffer Fish Washed Up |
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| Cumberland Is Sunset ... back to St. Mary's, GA |
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| JB on Cumberland Queen headed back, as happy as can be! |
We walked through Sea Camp and ended up at the Ranger Station with a zillion others waiting for the Cumberland Queen to fire up and take off. Here’s are the descriptions of camping on Cumberland island from their brochure:
Observe and practice LEAVE NO TRACE principles.
NO FIRES, TREAT WATER, PACK OUT TRASH.
Camping is limited to seven days. Backcountry and Wilderness sites are $2.00 per person per night. There are no facilities at the Wilderness sites and water must be treated. Campfires are not permitted in the Wilderness and portable stoves are suggested for food preparation. The three Wilderness sites range from 5.5 to 10.5 miles from the Sea Camp ferry dock. Sites are assigned upon arrival at Sea Camp Ranger Station.
Hickory Hill: 5.5 miles from Sea Camp, in the heart of the island, offers a fascinating close encounter with an intriguing interior freshwater wetland and its wildlife. Due to being located in a wetland area, bugs are often prevalent.
Yankee Paradise: 7.5 miles from Sea Camp, also in the center of the island and a half days walk to and from the Plum Orchard Mansion.
Sea Camp
Sea Camp Campground is $4.00 per person per night. The campground at Sea Camp has restroom facilities with cold water showers, a small amphitheater for ranger programs, and boardwalk access to the beach. This campground consists of 16 individual camp sites and two group sites. Group sites can accommodate 10-20 people. Each campsite has a grill, fire ring, food cage, and picnic table. Sites are assigned upon arrival at the Sea Camp Ranger Station.
Stafford Campground
Stafford camp sites are $2.00 per person per night and are located 3.5 miles from the Sea Camp Ranger Station. Restrooms, showers, and fire rings are available at the site. Fire rings are on a first come first serve basis. Sites are assigned at the Sea Camp Ranger Station.
Needless to say, the camping is primitive and beautiful. What we saw of Sea Camp are posts with site numbers, and little trails leading into the forest. You can’t see tents or people. The Ranger said that often campers pitch their tent on an animal trail, particularly the horses, are woken in the middle of the night with hooves passing very near their little heads. How damn cool is that?!
We arrived home that night with Cumberland Island singing in our being. I told TC that I felt seven years old, meaning: happy, washed clean by the ocean winds, sticky from the salty breeze and shore, completely unencumbered by life. I never did have the priviledge of seeing a horse, although the Rangers assured me they had just been through Sea Camp. Dang. We also listened to the fascinating efforts of Rangers and volunteers who monitor the sea turtle program – Cumberland is a very important site in the propagation of sea turtles. I’d like to return and watch THAT action by the light of the moon.
12/8/11
FAVER-DYKES SP
We picked this state park for several reasons, 1) My birthday is the 9th and we wanted to be near St. Augustine, one of our favorite cities; 2) The other state parks were full and this one sounded intriguing. Should have read RV Park Reviews a little more carefully I guess, but it was OK. This is a tiny little park in the marshes, near a river, sandy sites, showers, etc. There is nothing to do and I can’t access the phone or internet. There, I’ve said it. I want my internet at all times!!! Other than that, it was dismal, creepy, dark and dank. Not our cup of tea. We spent our two nights there, my bday in St. Augustine and got the lay of the land. On to the next place that we randomly picked, after multiple checks with reviews, phone calls, visits, and with some trepidation, we are now happily ensconced at St John RV Park and Storage and Flea Market and U Pick Farm. It has it all, including a ten minute drive to St Augustine, where we have several tours planned.
Oddly, Roku refuses to go outside for several reasons: it’s rained like a son of a bitch here for about four days solid – day AND night – hello! Seattle weather! No no!!! The other reason is we’re parked in a field and the woods are about a block away. As an animal, he doesn’t like to be in the open, so I think it’s stressful for him to have to run across this field. Ton-Ton is very cute, goes down Blue’s steps calling Roku to “Come on, come outside Kitty-Boy!” Roku wags his stump but won’t move. If he does move outside, Tony walks and calls him to the edge of the woods, and Roku pads along with him, then sprints to the end!
I have taken the rain as a sign to get this blog updated, iron our mound of clothes, answer some emails and blissfully listen to my This American Life and Adam Corolla podcasts I’ve been sitting on for a year. I am loving it. Don’t have any kind of music maker except our 12 slot cd cartridge that’s hooked in with our shitty radio, so I miss music and sound!
Next stop, manatee city!
