Cumberland Island: Part 2

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Our second day on Cumberland Island was a hiking day.  We arrived, by ferry, on the island a few minutes before 10:00am and set out for our day hike of the south end of the island.  From Sea Camp Dock (where we got off the ferry) to our first stop was about a mile. 

(Photo Credit: My Mister)

Our first stop was the ruins of Dungeness.  This place is a dream!  Beautiful ruins surrounded by a massive green space and of course wild horses!





 These 2 got into it a couple of times while we were there.  Please note that we were not as close to this scuffle as it may seem...we zoomed our cameras for the photo but the sounds these 2 were making was enough that I stood completely still until it was all over.

On this site there were two previous Dungeness, one built by James Oglethorpe (1700s) and one built by Nathanael Greene, but the one (well the ruins) that you see today was built by the Carnegie family in the 1880s.  Interesting fact:  Robert E. Lee's father, Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee died (1818) at Dungeness and was buried in the small cemetery on the property.  The Carnegie's Dungeness had 50+ rooms and required 100 servants.  The Carnegie family lived in Dungeness until the late 1920s at which time they moved into other mansion they had built on the island, one being Plum Orchard
 Remember this starter home?

The other two mansion built on Cumberland Island for the Carnegie family were/are Greyfield and Strafford Mansion.  Greyfield (aka Greyfield Inn) is currently an Inn and we were informed that rooms run about $600 per night...ummm no thank you, I'll take the ferry back to my hotel with a room above the karaoke bar anyday!  Strafford Mansion was built on the land of Strafford Planation.  Strafford Plantation grew Sea Island Cotton .  However, the plantation house was destroyed and all that remains are the brick chimneys.  The Carnegie's purchased the property and built Strafford Mansion.  Greyfield Inn and Strafford Mansion are located on private property.

Dungeness ruins has a current tenant, a family of Osprey.  They currently have a huge nest in one of the chimneys and we watched them for almost an hour.  We got to see the male Osprey bring a snake to the nest for lunch for the family, which was pretty cool!  These birds are fascinating to watch!

The tabby house is the oldest structure on the property dating back to Nathanael Greene's time on the island (mid-to-late 1700s). 
 Pergola. (Photo Credit: My Mister)
 

Recreation House Ruins


Cemetery (Photos Credit: My Mister)

Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee was buried in this cemetery with full military honors by Louisa Greene, Nathanael Greene's daughter.  Robert E. Lee visited the island twice after his father's death, once to lay flowers and once to repair his father's headstone.  In 1913, Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee was removed from this burial site and reinterred at Lee's Chapel in Lexington, Virginia with his family.  However, the family decided to leave the headstone as a remembrance of him.
Palmetto Tree growing in a Live Oak tree...cool, right?!?!
Wildlife along the way.

Before heading to the beach, we stopped by the Ice House Museum.  On our way to the museum (which had restrooms and a treated water source), we encounter a couple of dung beetles.  I had never seen dung beetles and was just fascinated to watch them in action.  So for those of you like me that didn't know about dung beetles, they take dung, roll it into a ball, then begin their journey with the rolled dung back to where they live.  They may decide to use the dung for a couple of different things but one use would be as a food source.  It was incredible to watch these tiny beetles in action!

It's time to go to the beach!
 While we were there,  Cumberland Island had 22 active nesting areas.  It was so exciting to check the chart each day to see if it had increased.  Our first day there the active nesting areas were 16.  It gave me kid giggles to know that while we were sleeping more turtles made that trek onto the beach, found their nesting spot and laid their eggs.

 I am not a beach person (mountain girl here) but this beach I loved!  Since there is a limit on how many people can be on Cumberland Island at one time (300) the beach had very few people to the point where most of the time it felt like we were the only ones there, well other than the cutest birds (you'll see them below).  We walked in the water (ankle high is as far as I'll go), flew our alien kite, and bird watched.  There were no large ships coming through, no high rise buildings within view, no planes with banners flying over, no people laying out, no plastic/trash left on the beach...it was awesome!

 Jellyfish.
I fell in love with these cute birds!
Our Alien kite (also photo credit: my mister)

After hanging out on the beach for a while, it was getting close for us to be back to catch the last ferry of the day.  Our day of exploring the island on foot was amazing!  We hiked about 5 miles and had one of the best days together exploring, leaving the island that afternoon was definitely a little sad for us.

Happy Travels,
Amber

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