Bonus - Cumberland Island National Seashore, GA - June






Hilton Head Island, SC, is a favorite getaway for my daughter and her family, so we felt richly blessed when they invited us to join them there on Memorial Day.  Alas, the weather was much less than cooperative, but 'twas as lovely as paradise to spend time with my darling grandchildren.  We mini golfed, explored Fort Pulaski, and visited the massive candy store and magnificent cathedral of Savannah, GA.
I love my family!!

                                                  










Close by lies the beguiling Cumberland Island National Seashore, a southern treasure long on my bucket list.  So because I have the most willing of partners, Aaron and I set off on an overnight adventure to visit the moss-draped white oaks of this remote island off the coast of southeastern Georgia.  First we secured a seat on the daily ferry and then backpacked to our campsite deeply isolated 4 miles up the island.  Cumberland was everything I'd envisioned and then some.  Wild horses left over from the days when plantations dotted the island added intrigue, but we found the industrious and comical armadillos much more enchanting.When the sun set and magical darkness settled over our camp, the air came alive with giant and mysterious insects; climbing into out tent became a safer and more pleasurable way to experience the cacophony.






With glorious weather and that good ol' southern humidity cooled by ocean breezes, we explored the island from the picturesque ruins of Dungeness Mansion (built during the gilded age of opulence by the Carnegie family) to the sundrenched and lonely sand beaches of the warm Atlantic waters to the maze of hiking trails criss crossing the island beneath heavily dripping Spanish moss.  Cumberland is a magical place, visited by only a lucky few of which I am now happily one.  It was with a heavy heart indeed that I left this quiet enchanting island the next day by return ferry.  






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