Cumberland Island and back home

Our last stop before returning back to Hilton Head was Cumberland Island, one of the many barrier islands at the east coast. It is located right north of the Georgia-Florida state line and is protected as a "National Seashore" by the National Park System.

Except for a few private properties - including a large upscale hotel - the whole island is an undeveloped wilderness, consisting of a 17 miles long sand beach and a large Live Oak forest that covers most of the area off the beach. Cumberland Island is also famous for its wild horses.

The only way to the island is by a ferry boat that travels twice a day between St. Marys and a landing at the southwestern side of the island. The are no commercial activities (except the aforementioned hotel), so all visitors have to bring their own drinks and food. It is possible to rent bicycles, and this is what we did to be able to see a bit more than what would be feasible by just walking. We saw lots of horses which, apparently, live in families, at various places on our bike tour.

 

 

The ruins of a huge, four-story tabby mansion are located at the south end of the island. It was built by Catherine and Phineas Miller at the end of the 18. century with money made by harvesting live oaks to be used for ship building.

 

On the ferry back to the mainland

Our campground in a state park close to St. Marys



Back in "our" RV Park at the north end of Hilton Head

This concludes the blog about our RV road trip across the United States of America. We travelled about 24,000 miles (38.000 km) in 6 months to 20 states and 2 Canadian provinces, and visited 12 national parks and monuments, plus countless state parks. It was an incredible experience for all of us, full of challenges brought upon us by the uncharted territory of three individualists being confined to live on 400 sf with no place to hide. But at the end, we all are saying: IT WAS WORTH IT!!

And that's what counts.

 

Hilton Head Island - what a nice place to live