We had two days in this area, first day was sunny and fantastic, second day was rainy and cold. We picked the right day to take the ferry to
Cumberland Island. This boat was reserved all the way into May, but we went down early in the am, got on the waitlist and got very lucky! Travel Channel named this "America's Most Beautiful Wilderness Beach" - it is absolutely gorgeous.
The island has a rich history. The Dungeness ruins served as summer home for many famous families in American history, including Henry Lee (father of Robert E. Lee), and the Carnegie family. John Kennedy Jr. was married in a tiny historic church on the island.
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| The Visitor Center is on the mainland in St Mary's |
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| Lovely waterfront park |
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| These walls with seashells were beautiful |
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| Leaving the ferry dock at St Mary's |
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| Our first stop - the Dungeness ruins |
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| A nice stop for lunch on the water just behind Dungeness |
We encountered several groups of "wild" horses (feral) in the Dungeness area. These are larger (up to 15 hands) with longer backs and longer legs than the smaller horses / ponies at Chincoteague and other areas north of here. Popular myth is that these descended from horses shipwrecked or abandoned by Spanish explorers in the 1500's; more likely, these are descended from horses brought by English settlers in the 1700's with some mixing of other horses brought over in the 1900's. There are about 150 on the island today; some visitors never see them, so we were very lucky to have seen so many of these beautiful animals in this pristine environment.
After hiking around Dungeness, we headed across the island to the beach / Atlantic side. Great for beach combing and shell collecting, but we have limited space, so can only collect pictures!
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| Gary's catch of the day! |
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