Travel log. Cumberland Island

DAY 1, ST. AUGUSTINE

First stop: The Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida. It's the oldest masonry structure in North America. It was built by the Spanish in the middle of the 17th century. The walls are made of coquina--a special limestone that's made from large chunks of sea shells--and as a result, the fort was especially resilient to attacks. The fort experienced many seiges between the 1650s and the 1860s but it was never captured. Laura liked the little baby cannons the best.

We went to the top of the fort, and watched a guy cleaning a canon, but then it started to storm, and this park ranger made us go down stairs.

But, we had a nice time anyway.

This dog was bored.

St. Augustine isn't a very big place. It's got some pretty old buildings--it is the longest continuiously inhabited settlement in North America, after all, but they don't take long to look at. So we continued on to Anastasia Island State park in the afternoon, and set up camp.


We thought that we were going to go swimming, but after driving 5 hours, touring the Castillo and the old town of St. Augustine we were pretty tired. Also: it was COLD! The water isn't nearly bathtub warm like it is in Miami.


That's okay though, because we had an early morning ahead. Getting up, packing our bags and getting ourselves onto the Cumberland ferry.

DAY 2, CUMBERLAND ISLAND

CUMBERLAND ISLAND RULES: Don't have any fun! No no, not really. But remember, Ponies look pretty but they will CHASE you and bite you! Furthermore: everyone wants to climb in the ruins...but there are diamondback rattlers gaurding them..you choose...

Riding the ferry is FUN!

Ruins, CHECK!
Ponies, CHECK!

DAY 3, CUMBERLAND ISLAND

They told us that the mosquitoes were THIS BIG. But we didn't believe them. They weren't joking. They also weren't joking about the abundance of ticks on the island. On our second day on the island, we went on a hike. Only, it was more like a jog, or a powerwalk. Everytime we stopped, even briefly, a swarm of mosquitoes descended from above and a stampede of ticks came from below. Here's a large beetle having a bad day--see the ticks?Maybe some trail maintenance is necessary?

Armadillos--or Possums on a half shell as our neighbor called them--abound
They're fun to pet.
The trail lead us to a Georgian revival mansion built in the 1890s by one of the Carnegies, Plum Orchard.
It was a nice place to take a break.
And a nap.
But then we had to go back to our campsite, and eat gruel.
No no, we got wise and moved our cooking operation out onto the beach--which had no mosquiotes and only a moderate number of biting ants, and whatever ticks we brought with us.
I wonder if the National Weather Service is missing its buoy yet? The barnacles on it were still alive and making pathetic attempts to gather food from the air. They were not long for this world....
The next morning, we hiked out. We found lots of shark teeth--the main road on the island is filled with the dredgings from the intercoastal waterway. Laura found a megalodon tooth--which made the whole trip worth it.


We'll go back in the winter next time--when the insects and blood sucking arachnids aren't out in force.