Sailing Kiawah: Cumberland Island, Georgia

Cumberland Island is right up there on my list of favorite places we've traveled. The island has the most amazing blend of cultural and natural history. We spent two days exploring this gorgeous barrier island. We wanted to stay longer, but a good weather window was about to open that would allow us to sail outside to South Carolina.

Here's the quick back-story:
Cumberland island was gifted to the National Park Service by the Carnegie family after a fire destroyed the historic "Dungeness" estate in 1959. Things were left "as is," including a herd of horses which were left to roam free. Their population is now estimated to be 148 (see Wren's blog to read about our wild horse hunt!). There is a museum (which begins the island's story with the Timucuan Indians and carries it through various hands to the Carnegie family), ruins, and extensive live oak forests, wetlands, and miles of dunes and shoreline. Most of the island is a nationally designated wilderness area. We all absolutely fell in love with the live oak trees. I've never met a more climbable tree. They were amazing in every way. Especially when dripping with Spanish moss, which, at the marvel of horse specialists, the wild horses have learned to survive on.