Days 304-305: Return to Cumberland Island

Brunswick, GA to Plum Orchard, Cumberland Island, GA (anchored)

November 17-18, 2022

A day in Brunswick meant that we could go to a coffee shop to get breakfast and provision Lailia for the next few days. It’s feeling like autumn with daytime temps in the 50s.

Since we’re heading to Cumberland Island (my favorite anchorage in the US) which is a short distance away, we were able to have a leisurely morning, including a pancake breakfast (electricity at the dock opens up a lot of possibilities for cooking).

When we crossed St. Andrews Sound we could see tidelines – the demarcation between two bodies of water. In this case we saw brownish water meeting a bluer water. Many birds were feeding in the browner water (while we didn’t see any in the other).

When we anchored in Plum Island in June, we were the only boat there. Today we were the third. The bird tree that in June was full of roseate spoonbills was full of ibis (and a few spoonbills). There were a bunch of buzzards who were hanging out there, too. I am not sure what makes that tree so attractive to birds but I could spend hours watching takeoffs and landings from it.

The feral horses grazing by the mansion looked sort of shaggy – probably getting ready for the cooler temperatures, hopefully. Since the horses are feral, the National Park Service does not manage these animals in any way, so if they’re on their own as far as any illnesses.

In June there were a multitude of armadillos; this time we saw two. They were a lot less active on this 55 degree day than they were back in the warm summer months. They do like to eat grubs and bugs, so maybe the cooler weather provides less opportunities to find food.

We hit this trail at the exact perfect time to catch the sunlight hitting the Spanish moss hanging from the live oaks. It’s just a beautiful place to walk.

We’re in for a cool night but we have plenty of blankets and I have downloaded a few movies. Places like these remind us of why we live on Lailia – it’s a serene world when you are around so few people and so much nature.