Cumberland Island & Brunswick

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Today is a travel day, and so I finally have a chance to sit down, gather my thoughts (which seem a little scattered today, so I apologize ahead of time!), and reflect over the past week or so.

After leaving the Vero Beach area, we spent a number of days pushing ahead to cover some ground. Not that we are honestly in much of a hurry to leave the sunny south. But time is slipping by, and we do want to get back to Dover at least a few weeks before school starts. And the coastline is a whole lot longer than I anticipated, when broken into 30-50 miles/day chunks! And, there are still many things to see in Georgia, South and North Carolina and beyond.

My dear “fellow boater” friend, Nancy, and I were chatting the other day about how it is just not possible to see and do everything along this “great loop” adventure. Instead of trying to rush through a check list of popular places on the trail, it is better to appreciate the places you happen to discover along the way.

Our first few stops in the days after leaving Vero Beach included Titusville, Daytona, St. Augustine, and Fernandina Beach. While we did not actually end up getting off the boat in any of these areas, we still had lots to see and experience from the water.

For one, I was so excited to finally have my first real encounter with manatees. These giant, gentle creatures of the water are often called “sea cows” because of their docile nature and their affinity for grazing on vegetation. They are supposedly very curious and are known to get themselves into trouble with propellers as they meander into the boat channels to check out the action. The channels in Florida and southern Georgia are littered with signs promoting slow travel and attentiveness to avoid harming these nosy beings.

As we passed through a picturesque, mangrove infested channel in the Titusville area, we heard another boater on the radio alerting us boats behind him that he just passed 13 manatees were in the channel. I hopped out on the deck to see at least a dozen of them, gracefully swirling through the water; sporadically lifting their adorable “stuffed animal” faces out of the water for a breath, before diving under once again.

All along the river that day, we spotted the tell-tale signs of manatee; a circular flat spot on the water’s surface, or a little wave of a flipper or tail popping out of the shallows. It is amazing how graceful they glide through the water when you consider their immense size; grown manatees can reach up to 1300 lbs!!

Being on the boat also provided us a beautiful vantage point of St. Augustine, where we anchored on Thursday night. While I have heard good reviews of the town from friends, we elected not to actually dinghy in, as they charge $10 to use the dinghy dock (not that we are so cheap, but more so on principal that so many of these touristy towns seem to charge for boaters just to get on land). Besides, we were able to soak in the ambience of the refined architecture just fine from the water.

After passing under the Bridge of Lions, the majestic, iconic bridge connecting Anastasia Island to St. Augustine, we dropped our hook close to the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. This fort is the oldest masonry fort in the United States with a stylized, diamond shape that reminds me of a shuriken (Japanese ninja throwing star). There is something about certain lines and geometric shapes that appeals to me, and the fort provided an appreciative backdrop to our anchorage that evening.

From our position, we also had a superb view of the Great Cross of St. Augustine. The 208 foot cross is touted as the tallest cross in the United States. Weighing in at more than 70 tones, it is constructed from 200+ stainless steel panels in various sizes and at it’s base lays engraved granite slabs. The cross was erected in 1965, and marks the approximate spot where the first cross to be permanently planted in what is now the U.S. was placed in 1565. When illuminated at night, it is an impressive sight.

With 5 days solid on the boat, by the time we reached the Florida/Georgia border, we were ready to get some “land time”. And it was at this same time, we discovered one of my favorite places on this trip (ok, I admit, my list of “favorite places” is getting pretty long!). Our good friends on Living Life, Nancy and James, had strongly suggested stopping at Cumberland Island, a national park in Georgia, for at least a day. Am I ever glad we listened to them…although I had no doubts that Nancy knows me well enough to make an appropriate suggestion.

Cumberland Island is a utopia of natural marvels. Majestic, opulent forests, meandering marshes, wild sand bluffs, silver beaches and a jumble of animal life. From the moment I stepped foot on the island, the perfume of undergrowth, woods and honeysuckle combined with the symphony of bird song pledged me smitten.

We spent a large chunk of Saturday just exploring the island; well, part of the island. We received a map when we first stepped off the dock, and looking at it, I figured we could walk most of the island. Deceiving map…or perhaps (ok, likely, well ok…. for sure) I didn’t pay attention to the map scale. We walked for over 3 hours and barely made it around the southern tip of the 17.5 mile long island. The island was once inhabited by the Carnegie’s (and before them, indigenous natives, then Spanish missionaries, and later, plantation owners). So, along with the natural wilderness, there are ruins of a grandiose estate, a few private homes, and a scattering of buildings no longer used.

But the trails were soul-lifting, inspiring; walking along crunchy pathways through maritime forests of great live oak, draped in Spanish moss, sprouting from blankets of palmettos. Then breaking out of the muffled softness of the forest onto lumbering sand dunes that then merged into beaches made smooth by the rolling surf.

We were fortunate to spot many of the natural habitants of the island as we hiked. The most exciting were the armadillos. Obviously self-assured and confident, shielded by their leathery armour shell, these little creatures pay little attention to us giant intruders. They simply meander along at their leisure, digging their noses into the undergrowth, snuffing and snorting.

There were also “wild” horses, although in my imagination, wild horses would have little exposure to human contact and gallop away when you approach. Not these guys. They don’t even look up. They just graze along the overgrown fields, minding their own business. Pretty sure they see a lot of gawkers; we were definitely not as interesting to them as they were to us.

Along the beach, we found the empty shells of horseshoe crab (funniest looking things!), like a helmet with legs, as well as fiddler and ghost crabs. Our anchorage was apparently a playground for dolphins, because all day long we were treated to pods of dolphins jumping and flipping around. All in all, a well worth it stop in my books.

On Sunday, we headed into a marina in Brunswick, Georgia in anticipation of a visit from Lukus’ brother, Dennis, and his childhood friend, Jim. They were heading back to Ontario from Florida, and elected to take a little detour so they could join us on the boat for a visit.

We had heard of the Brunswick Landing Marina from friends of ours that we had met in Bimini. They keep their boat here in the summer while they go home to Ontario. They had boasted about how much they loved the marina; the major attraction? Free stuff. Free wifi, free pump-outs, free laundry (laundry is always a highlight for me…but free is awesome!), free wine on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and free beer 24/7!! As Lukus said, “how can you go wrong with that?” We definitely like “free” (although, I guess technically, it is not free, since we had to pay to stay at the marina?? But we decided to wallow in delusion for the moment).

The people at the marina are another charming aspect of Brunswick Landing. Not only are the staff super friendly and helpful; the boaters are extremely welcoming, social and very interesting. We were docked beside a nuclear physicist, Bob and beside him was Jeff, a “conspiracy theorist” (in Bob’s words), so you can just imagine Lukus with these two! The conversation was highly stimulating and fascinating, and more than a little entertaining!

The town of Brunswick is quaint and charming. The Historic Downtown, which was only a couple blocks from the marina, is lined with shops, art galleries and eclectic restaurants. Mixed between the antique buildings, on each block, there are little courtyard gardens featuring palm trees, oaks, flowering shrubs, fountains and wrought iron benches.

On Tuesday, Dennis and Jim arrived and we enjoyed the day just catching up. They shared the happenings of their lives, and of course, they had questions about our trip. There were some drinks and good food shared, and a lot of laughs (ok, mostly me – a friend on another dock said she could hear me laughing across the water!). Dennis was kind enough to drive me to Walmart later in the afternoon to stock a few items. Later in the evening, we enjoyed dinner together at Basil Thai & Sushi (we finally got to fill our hankering for sushi!!) It is always great to catch up with friends and family; it is the only thing I really miss about home.

After the boys left on Wednesday morning to continue their trek home, we did the last of our routine “marina” stuff, running (me), showers, filling with water, fueling up and pumping out. All set once again, we headed back out onto the ICW to continue our northbound trip.



Today, we are about halfway up the Georgia coast. Within the next few days, we should be hitting South Carolina, but as typical of us, we have no set plan. Just going with the flow…

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Photos

Ruins at Cumberland
The Carnegie Home, built in 1884, burnt down in 1959

The Pergola
On the Carnegie Estate grounds