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Published: December 18th 2010
Cumberland Island
This is one of the Barrier Islands of Georgia and because of the wilderness status it has through the national Parks the beach is undeveloped and pristine.This may come as a shock to many of you but due to circumstances beyond my control (Janice has tendonitis in her right wrist) I have been dragged kicking and screaming out of the engine room and in front of the computer. Were it not for the Dr. I would suspect a set up by my lovely wife. So anyway here we go.
Last report you had was from our outstanding Thanksgiving dinner in St. Mary's. The Saturday after Thanksgiving we sailed on the tide and traveled a whopping two hours to anchor in the lee of Cumberland Island. This is one of the barrier islands of Georgia and in this case it has a very interesting history. 90% of the island is presently controlled by the National Parks as a result of a gift from the Carnegie family which once owned most of the island and spent their winters here.
The first inhabitants of the island were American Indians who would regularly visit the island harvesting seafood (you might ask how we know this - well as with most tourists they left their trash behind, piles of oyster shells and fish bones). Two forts were built on
Sand dunes on the ocean side of the island
The barrier islands off the East Coast are not just income generators for the local community. They serve an incredibly important function in stabilizing the coastline during storms and hurricanes. Cumberland Island is one of the few that has been protected from excessive development. the island to protect British interests however nothing remains of them. After the Revolutionary War Gen. Nathaniel Greene purchased land on the island in 1783. His widow (a common theme, he buys the land, builds the house and then dies) constructs a four-story home she names Dungeness. In 1814 Katherine Greene died and her daughter took over the estate. At some point the house burnt down leaving only the foundation. The ruins that you see in the photos are those of Thomas and Lucy Carnegie (Thomas is the younger brother and partner of Andrew Carnegie, the banker). In 1880 Lucy Carnegie read about the island in a magazine and decided it was the perfect place to get away from the unpleasant winters in Philadelphia. She talked him into buying most of the island and building an estate on the old foundation of the Greene’s original home. Now back to that common theme I talked about earlier- guess what, that's right soon after the estate was built Thomas died (gentlemen pay close attention to this if your wife starts suggesting building homes on isolated islands – it is time to get nervous). After her husband's death Lucy moved her nine children
Horseshoe crab
The exoskeletons of horseshoe crabs were littered all over the shore. We saw several which were easily 12 inches wide and over 2 foot long. to the island, building an additional four mansions for her children when they married. After the 1920s the homes were rarely used and in 1959 Dungeness burned to the ground leaving only the concrete and brick structure you see in the pictures. Also please notice the horses which are all over the island and take little notice of the tourists. One of the things that has enabled the island to hold back the developers is the fact that when the Carnegie family gave their 90% of the island to the Park service it was contingent upon the fact that a bridge to the island never be built. The Park service was approached by the remaining residents in the 70s and offered to give up their land if the Park service would guarantee that no development would take place on the island. The private homeowners that live there have been able to keep their homes but have agreed that no changes to the footprint of the homes will occur and that no additional structures will be built. The result is an incredibly beautiful island that is accessible to everyone.
The island is well set up for camping and hiking and
Wilderness trails
One of the hiking trails on Cumberland Island national Park. The live oaks provide shade which keeps the palm trees from growing very tall but also protects them. while we were there we saw a number of people arriving planning on staying a week. About half of the island is designated as a wilderness area. The shoreline is spectacular as you can see from the photos. On our second day we visited Plum Orchard which was one of the mansions built by Lucy for her daughter and son-in-law. It has recently seen a great deal of renovation and is now open for visitors. They are in the process of renovating the interior and if this is the small house the big house must've been spectacular before it burned down.
Janice tells me I need to get going or it's going to be a month before I publish this thing. On November 29th we left Cumberland Island and headed towards St. Augustine. This was our entry into Florida and almost immediately we started running aground just after Ferandina Beach. In fact in this one day we probably ran aground more than the total for the whole trip so far. Down south as Janice may have told you they don’t call it shallow, instead it is” skinny” water. Luckily in each case we were able to back her off
Dungeness ruins
After the house burned down in 1959 the Carnegies decided not to rebuild. and get back into deeper water, I love this boat. We stopped over night off Pine Island to anchor, one of those incredibly beautiful quiet locations looking out at miles of marshland. On the 30th we took a short hop into St. Augustine and picked up a mooring just off the old city.
For those of you who don't remember your history very well Ponce de Leon first claimed Florida for Spain in 1513. It has been under Spanish rule, British rule then Spanish again and finally American in 1821. They've done an extremely good job of maintaining the old city and incorporating merchant shops with the history of the area. The original city was founded in 1565 and the Fort and much of the structures from that period have been carefully renovated and are part of a vibrant downtown. Traveling during the holiday season makes it a little nicer because so many of the towns and cities we have visited have been decorated and have special events planned for the holiday season. The weekend we were in St. Augustine a group of people who dress up in period costumes were in town. As a result we got a
chance to see them involved in street acting. These people are serious about what they do.
We also had the opportunity to visit Flagler College. This building was first built in 1887 as the Ponce de Leon Hotel by Henry M. Flagler (co-founder of Standard Oil Company). Flagler also built the railroad which was responsible for much of the development of the east coast of Florida. Those of you who are familiar with Key West this is the guy who built the bridge that connected all the islands down to Key West. Its interesting John D. Rockefeller once referred to Flagler as one of the great financial geniuses. As you can see from the photos this was one spectacular hotel. Tiffany did all of the chandeliers and the stained-glass and some say this is what got him started. It took the opportunity and toured the building. Well worth the time and money.
At one point in St. Augustine's history a group of British investors decided they wanted to invest in a plantation near St. Augustine. One of these gentlemen had the brainstorm of bringing people from Greece to the colony and having them work his plantation as indentured servants.
The back of the house
This is the back of the residents and it looks over the day at the south end of the island. Standing here we could hear the waves breaking on the shore line on the east side of the island. In 1768 he did just this and thus began a very interesting period of St. Augustine history. While walking along the streets in St. Augustine we came across the Greek orthodox national shrine. The shrine is dedicated to these first Greek colonists. Apparently their British masters were not very good and of the over 1000 that originally came to the colonies only about 400 survived and escaped to St. Augustine and Spanish protection. The shrine was very small and could have been missed but was well worth the short visit.
On our last night in St. Augustine, Friday night they had an art walk organized and it was amazing the number of people who were out visiting art galleries eating in the restaurant's and just generally enjoying the Christmas decorations. We must've come across five or six street musicians all of them extremely good. My favorite however was a gentleman who was somewhat older than I am playing a banjo, a harmonica, cimbles on his knees, a bass drum on his back and assorted other percussion instruments strategically hanging all over his body. The music was great but watching him perform it was absolutely hysterical. A block later we
Dungeness in the 1920s
This is a photo of the front entrance way of the home during its heyday in the 1920s. came across the modern version of the same thing only in this case the guy was playing the sax sitting on a stool with an iPod providing background music for him. It was a wonderful night the weather was beautiful, high 50s and the Christmas decorations really got us in the spirit. Many of these events reminded us of Ithaca and Tburg -the irony was that this was the same weekend as the traditional winter fest and craft show in TBurg.
We stayed in St. Augustine for four nights and on Saturday the fourth we moved on to Daytona Beach. For this part of the trip things have changed dramatically on the ICW. Instead of narrow swampy channels we are in wide open shallow bodies of water. The ICW is a 10 or 11 foot deep trench in the middle of a wide open 3 to 5 foot deep shallow river. I now understand why there are so many more fishing boats then sail boats down here. Unfortunately this also means that the number of good anchorages has also come to a quick halt and we have been forced to tie up in marinas the last few nights. The
Efforts to stabilize the building
The Park Service has done a minimal amount of work to stabilize the ruins. upside is it also happens to coincide with some very cold weather (in the high 30s at night 60s during the day) so we have a small electric heater we have been able to use that keeps the boat nice and comfortable all night long.
We spent three nights in Titusville more as a result of me getting over a cold. Titusville is right next to the Kennedy Space Center and on December 8th we had an opportunity to see a rocket launch Even though it was a small rocket it was very impressive. I can't imagine what the space shuttle must look like when it takes off. A short walk through Titusville clearly indicates what's going on in the economy right now. Lots of closed shops and a downtown that is struggling to survive. One person we met said that with the space center constantly laying off people if you are looking to buy property in Florida you could pick up a very nice three bedroom home for around $50,000.
Our plans at this point are to continue heading South ending up in Stuart Florida where we need to have some work done on our sails and will
Plum Orchard mansion
This is one of the four mansions built by Lucy Carnegie for her children on Cumberland Island. This one has received major renovations and a Park service has given tours one Sunday each month. As a result of increase funding (thank you Obama) the residents will be opened more frequently. be installing a new autopilot (the old one is 13 going on 14 and is beginning to act like it is suffering from Alzheimer's, remember that skinny water I was talking about, this is not a good thing). Apparently it's a very good location for these things as services are readily accessible and our sailmaker is here.
Janice has just handed me a list of things I am supposed to include in the blog
I bought a fishing pole, I was at a flea market and found a good solid pole and reel for $32. Now all I have to do is figure out how to use it. Everybody tells me that fishing off the back of your boat in the Bahamas is easy and a good way to keep fresh food coming aboard. Never having been a fisherman I have a suspicion this is going to be a little bit more challenging than they are telling me. Those of you who know Janice can imagine her thinking on this matter, slimy scaly fish coming aboard and we have to kill it. I have learned one thing though and this could make fishing more fun than expected. Apparently
Entranceway
This fireplace is in the entranceway of Plum Orchard. It reminded us of the fireplace notes we saw in Germany when visiting our friends Achim and Angelika. All the woodwork in the house was beautiful quarter saw an oak. The detailed carving and joinery was beautiful. the best way (according to the dockside experts) to kill the fish is to fill your mouth with vodka , gin or even rum and spray it into the fish's gills when you pull it on board. I suspect the process of doing this could end with me on the deck falling down drunk because I'm inhaling when I'm supposed to be exhaling. However from the fish's perspective it may not be a bad way to go. I'll keep you informed how the progress goes.
We stayed overnight at an anchorage at Ft. Pierce last night and saw a great show put on by the local dolphin which was great. It is now Saturday, Dec 11th and we just got to Stuart FL - we will stay here a several days to get work done and visit with friends.
Janice and I have started to experiment with video and have put a few on Facebook (they are on Janice’s page). Nothing spectacular but we're hoping this would be another way of sharing our experience with you as we haven’t been able to convert into a form to put on the blog yet.
Now I need you all
Swimming Pool
Swimming Pool as well as an indoor squash court were added to the home after the turn-of-the-century. The home was occupied regularly through the 1970s. At that point it was donated to the Park service. to do me a favor- please send Janice lots of e-mail telling her how terrible this blog was. I like the engine room, I am comfortable there and I want to go back and I hate this program!!!!!
Janice and I hope this blog finds you all healthy and happy and enjoying the holiday season. Take care of yourselves and please remember take time for yourselves. We miss you all.
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Lynn
non-member comment
We always enjoy your blog entries and sorry Bob, but you did a great job. Hopefully Janice will be able to take over soon. Would love to see the video on Janice's facebook page.Take care, keep in touch and Happy Holidays and be safe.