Nov. 25-26, 2017 - Jacksonville, Cumberland Island (again)

We finally left Fernandina Beach for a beautiful 2-1/2 hour trip south to a free dock in Jacksonville.  We met Rob and Glenda (Monterey) there and spent the afternoon with them.  We left Sunday to head back north to Cumberland Island (again) (this time with a working dinghy). (Only crazy people head north at this time of year.)  We anchored around 11:00 and waited for Monterey to come in.  We all spent the afternoon hiking around beautiful Cumberland Island.  The evening ended with docktails aboard Monterey.

Cumberland Island is part of the National Park Service.  The island is 17.5 miles long and the only way to come ashore is by ferry or boat.  In the late 1800's, Thomas Carnegie (brother of Andrew Carnegie) bought land on the island as a winter retreat.  They built a 59 room mansion called the Dungeness, which burned in 1929.  Today only the remains are left.  We had toured another Carnegie mansion built on the north end of the island earlier this year.  The Carnegie family still owns several private houses on the island.  The island consists of many hiking trails and camping areas, plus the wild horses that roam the island.

This is a really big boat - notice the ski boat toward the rear

We must be back in Florida - our first Manatee Zone sign

Nearly Perfect and Monterey at the Jacksonville free dock

Entrance to Cumberland Island

Our first wild horse siting

More horses down by the water

One of the many beautiful paths with Spanish Moss hanging from the trees

The gates to the Dungeness Mansion

The remains Dungeness Mansion from the road

The back side overlooking the water

View from the water

With Rob and Glenda

Glenda and I walked across the island to the Atlantic

Beautiful seashore

A great tree-climbing tree (if I was about 60 years younger)

The sun setting over Monterey

A nice day with Rob and Glenda