Memorial Day 2015

The Memorial Day Weekend Crowd!

We attended our granddaughters graduation (from 5th to 6th grade) on the Thursday before Memorial Day.  She lives in a different town than us, but it is sort of on the way to the boat so the plan was to head to the boat for Memorial Day weekend after her graduation.  As luck would have it, her principal announced that they did not have to attend the last day of school on Friday.  What better graduation present than a cruise?  So she quickly packed and joined us on our trip.

We decided to go to Cumberland Island.  Some of you may recall that we tried to take Tori to Cumberland Island last year, but mechanical failures left us short of the goal.

Canopy Road

So off to Cumberland Island we went.  We left Friday morning and after 5 hours we dropped anchor with about a dozen other boats off Cumberland Island.

The next day we launched the dinghy and went over to the dinghy dock to explore the Island.  We walked about a mile to the old ice house, which has been turned into a museum.  It showed the history of Cumberland Island which included the era of the Carnegies who at one time owned most of the Island.

Dungeness Ruins

After checking out the Dungeness Dock which was next to the museum and discovering we could have taken our dinghy straight there and avoided the mile walk, we started off for the Dungeness ruins.  We traveled a canopy road that ran from the dock to the ruins of the mansion and as we walked we could just imagine guests arriving to visit the Carnegies and being taken down this road in a horse drawn carriage.  It must have been impressive. After a short carriage ride the visitor would round the bend and suddenly see the huge mansion.  What a sight it must have been before it burned down.  Even now as ruins is it still impressive!

A group of horses grazes on grasses exposed by low tide

A herd of horses wandered the grounds of the mansion grazing on the grass that makes up the huge lawn.  Horses have run wild on the Island for hundreds of years.  At last count there are about 150 still on the Island.  We ran into small groups of them throughout our stay at the Island and could even spot them from Elixir.

After visiting the ruins, we proceeded on towards the beach.  Along the way we visited the small graveyard which was next to what was probably once a small church.

A knarled forest

The walk to the beach was long and much of it was through sand dunes.  By the time we arrived at the beach, we were ready for a dip in the ocean!  I was very surprised that on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, there was barely a person on the 17 mile long beach!  One of the benefits of having a boat! (there is no way to reach the Island by car)  We walked another mile down the beach to a path that cut through the Island through a cool looking forest and ended up back at the dinghy dock.  After a full day, we return to Elixir for some rest and relaxation.

Main Street - Fernandina Beach

Having spent the day on Cumberland Island, Tori decided she wanted to change up the scenery and visit the nearby town of Fernandina Beach, Florida, on Amelia Island.

So Sunday morning we pulled up anchor and traveled a little over an hour to Fernandina Beach.  We pulled into the marina which is right next to the town.  We walked around checking out all the little shops.  We found a great little outdoor patio restaurant and enjoyed a great and relaxing lunch.  Then on to more shops!

A White Sun !

That evening, as we sat on the flybridge of Elixir, I suddenly spotted the moon.  It was only around 5 in the afternoon, so I was surprised to not only see the moon, but I was surprised at how bright it was.  A perfectly round disc of bright white, I called Marie over to look at it.  Just as she did, it started getting brighter until it hurt our eyes to look at it.  It was then that I realized that I was looking at the sun, not the moon!  I had never seen a white sun before so it was pretty cool!

Outside Restaurant

After a fun filled weekend, we returned to Brunswick on Monday.  Because it was a 6 hour trip returning, we stayed on board Monday night and drove Tori home on Tuesday.

After a year of trying, we successfully took Tori on a trip to Cumberland Island!

Tori gets showered by bubbles in Fernandina Beach

Both the day and our trip draw to an end with a great sunset!