Kingsland, GA Day 3

May 18, 2023 We are definitely in the vacation mode now–sleeping until 8 AM or later (Wow!) and having a leisurely morning. About 11:30, we packed a cooler and made the short 15-minute drive to St. Marys, a historic town on the St. Marys’ River.

Driving through town on Osborne St., we passed Orange Hall, built in 1830 and named for the large sour orange trees which used to encircle the property.

There were many other beautiful homes with architecture from that time period. It appears porches were the thing!

We saw a cannon from a Spanish vessel displayed there.

We turned onto St. Marys St. which parallels the river. Along the waterfront was the Submarine Museum. Bob stepped inside the door hoping to see a submarine, but no such luck. There was some submarine memorabilia, but we decided to pass on going inside.

Some nice restaurants, cafes, and shops lined the street. We parked along the waterfront which is considered part of the Cumberland Island National Seashore and took a walk to check out the area along the river.

The ferry dock was located at the waterfront to take people to Cumberland Island. You can only get to the island by water which has a beautiful beach the length of the island, some historical buildings, 4 primitive walk-in campgrounds, hiking trails, and fishing on the island. A group of high school kids were waiting to take the ferry to the island.

These sago palms were all seeding out and were very distinctive-looking throughout the gardens there.

We stood on the pier watching the boats at anchor on this perfectly calm day.

Looking back at the shore, we could see people enjoying themselves in Howard Gilman Memorial Park. As you can see, most of the walls around the park were made of shell.

At the entrance to the park, was a tide clock showing two hours before low tide.

We decided it was time to stop at Captain Seagle’s Seafood Restaurant for a cool beverage and a snack.

It was a cool place inside with a lounge area separate from the bar. To get into the bar, we had to walk through this old telephone booth.

We shared some mozzarella sticks and calamari. We enjoyed our snacks as we looked out the window to see the ferry leave with the kids aboard around 12:30.

After leaving there, we drove some of the back streets to see more of the beautiful homes and came across this gorgeous B and B and these historic churches.

It was a short drive back to the campground to sit outside with Auggie and watch the campers begin to arrive about 2:00. Every morning a stream of campers leave and every afternoon a stream of campers arrive. It’s fun to see what different camping rigs everyone has. We have been watching a TV show called Extreme RVs and we happened to run across two of them in town today. One had a Florida license plate and the white and black one had a European license plate. Those were two extreme RVs!

Storms were expected this afternoon and the thunder came on cue around 3:00. Light rain started shortly after. We sat outside for awhile longer under the awning watching the new campers scurry around to get hooked up and set up before the rains really came. It rained steadily for about 2 hours and then moved on. Everything sure “greens-up” with the rain. We weren’t very hungry after our snacks in town, so dinner was a little later than usual. We had soup and a sandwich, then took our evening walk with Auggie to check out the new campers. We enjoyed our visit to St. Marys today. We both enjoy history and historical sites, nature, and anything related to boating and the water. It’s always fun to explore new places and learn about the area.