Cumberland Island

yo homies!! Its graham for once! ok so we were at Cumberland Island and we went like everywhere homies! (Cumberland Island is on the Florida/Georgia border, close to St. Mary's, and was owned by the Cargagie family in the 1800's where they built a "retirement" home for their family. It has now been turned over to the Federal parks and is managed as a wildlife santuary. There is an amazing amount of wildlife and vegetation. It is a little like taking a step back in time, it is so wild-looking) At the start of our hike around the island we talked to the park ranger, paid our money and started our hike. We asked the ranger if it was ok to bring the doggy and he said sure just keep him on a leash and he warned us that alligators love to eat dogs! We said ok and left cautiously. (Janet interjects: Graham was expecting an alligator to jump out from behind every bush! But in the end, we didn't see any) So when we started it was like walking down a beautiful tunnel of trees. All the huge trees were Live Oaks or something and there were lots of small palm trees. The first awesome thing that we saw was an old teepee (a hut really) made out of palm leaves and woven sticks. There was a spit to roast fish and stuff. So after we passed that we headed in the direction we were going. Next we saw wild horses. (There is a whole herd there, a few hundred apparently, left entirely to themselves. They aren't scared of humans, but they are cautious, and won't let you get too close.) Beau freaked out, barking at them like he wanted them to come play. Does he think they are a big dog? He and a young foal came very close to one another, to check each other out! I nearly got close enough to pat one! We saw armadillos (they really are the funniest looking things!) and a white horse (one of the stallions) called Snowball. There were a few huge pilliated woodpeckers up in a tree. That was by the ruins of the Carnagie mansion. After that we went to the beach on Cumberland Island, and I almost went in. This was my first time on an Atlantic Ocean beach. Beau had a wonderful time racing around on the beach and mom found a sand dollar. woo hoo! Then we went back to the Ranger Station and watched a presentation about the island and its wonderous lightning storms. Florida is famous for insane lightning shows. The next day it was incredibly foggy and humid and we had to wait until it lifted to get under way to St. Augustine.