April 8-11, 2017 - Jacksonville, Cumberland Island, Fernandina Beach

We left our beautiful anchorage in Black Creek around 7:50 Saturday and headed back to Jacksonville.  The girls were joining us for their week of spring break.  We were also going to be traveling with Tricia and Rob (Linda Jean) and their great niece Maggie (age 12).  The girls arrived around 3:30 and Maggie arrived shortly thereafter.  We all walked up to Osaka Japanese Restaurant for dinner (Maggie had never been to a cook-at-your-table restaurant and had a great time).  The girls really hit it off and had a great time together.  We left Jacksonville Sunday morning at 7:50 and headed north to Cumberland Island National Park. We dropped our anchors around 3:00.  We rafted together so the girls could jump from one boat to another to avoid the adults. Monday morning we packed a lunch and headed to the island.  Our first stop was an old mansion built by the Carnegie family in the late 1800's.  The house is now part of the national park.  The house still contained a lot of the furnishings, including an old piano.  A young girl was encouraged to play and entertained our tour group with a great song (the docent told her she could boast that she had played Carnegie Hall!).  The island is also noted for the wild horses that roam free and we were able to spot two of them.  We then took a very long walk (about a mile and a half - but seemed like much more) across the island to the Atlanta Ocean. Once there, the girls quickly got into their bathing suits and played in the water.  We all ate our lunch, relaxed a little, and then took the walk back to the dinghy dock.  It was a great day and we were all exhausted.  On Tuesday was left our anchorage around 9:30 for a quick hour and a half trip back south to Fernandina Beach.  We grabbed a mooring ball (first time ever on a mooring ball) and settled in.  We took the dinghys into the marina and spent the afternoon walking around the town.  It was a fun town with a lot of shops and restaurants.  We treated ourselves to some margaritas at a Mexican restaurant and then headed back to the boat for dinner.

Leaving our anchorage on Black Creek

The pool at Ortega Landing Marina - the girls are on the far end

Waiting for our table at the restaurant

Our group enjoyed a great dinner

I think someone lost some eyebrows!

Rob and Tricia's friends, Maddie and Roger, joined us at our anchorage

at Cumberland Island

One our way to Cumberland Island - watching dolphins swimming under

the bow of the boat

Linda Jean

Katie at the helm

The dolphins were swimming with us

Nice full moon over Cumberland Island

Plus a beautiful sunrise

The dock leading to the island

On Cumberland Island - lots of big trees to climb on

The old Carnegie mansion

The front of the Carnegie Mansion

One of the many wild horses

Beginning our long trek to the Atlantic Ocean

We made it!

The girls wasted no time getting into the water

Nice relaxing lunch by the water

A live sand dollar

The three girls having a great time together

At the end of the day we're still smiling

The beautiful sunset at the end of our day

Anchored and rafted together

Linda Jean on her mooring ball at Fernandina Beach

It must be meal time

Maggie (partially hidden), Kayla, Rob, Tricia, Jennifer, Katie

The girls at Fernandina Beach

The adults

What else do you do in these towns - get ice cream!

After the ice cream, you get margaritas!

Nearly Perfect on her mooring ball

Heading back to the boats after a day in town