Once again the morning sky looked gray (grey? – I’m never 100% sure which to use) and menacing. That color in combination with the bright pink of my belly (no sunscreen yesterday – ouch!) convinced us to delay our scheduled departure to Cumberland Island. Cumberland Island is less than a mile north of Amelia Island and yet we had to drive more than an hour to get there. Thanks to Magellan we went via Kings Bay Naval Base. It was out of the way but that submarine static display at the gate is impressive. We then worked our way down into St. Mary’s to catch the ferry. I’ve been trying to find something positive to say about the ferry experience… I’m still working on it. We didn’t sink – that’s about the best I can come up with at this moment. The crew was friendly – I’ll give them that too. Actually it was our fault. We went to go to the beach taking the 9:45a ferry out and the 2:45p ferry back. So for investment of ten hours (7:00a – 5:00p) we got one hour on the beach. Bad investment. On top of that the beach was a letdown. The beach at Fort Clinch is better, cheaper, and easier to get to. Perhaps Cumberland Island is a better trip if you are going to go exploring, but I certainly won’t go back for the beach. It made for a long, hot day but, I have to say that everyone, exhausted as we were, kept in good spirits throughout. Obviously, this ate up most of our day. The only thing left was dinner. Tonight we had a YOYO dinner (You’re on your own). Lisa and I went back to Barbara Jeans for blackened catfish. Both the food and the service were good this time. All in all, my first trip to Amelia Island has been very enjoyable. I won’t hesitate to come back. Tomorrow we head north for Bluefield, West Virginia. Here’s to a safe journey for everyone.
