Above are two photos of the small coastal town of St. Marys, Georgia. In the first photo you can see yachts and boats parked along the marina, while the second shows a small restaurant near the waterfront. St. Marys is also one of the main gateways for visitors heading to Cumberland Island.
Above are pictures from Georgia’s Cumberland Island, located off the southeastern coast of the state. Cumberland Island is an amazing place and was definitely one of my favorite outdoor experiences in America. The island is surprisingly large, yet only a limited number of visitors are allowed on it at any one time. Above is one of the main roads passing through the island’s subtropical forest, along with some of the thick ferns growing beneath the trees.
These trees are covered in Spanish moss, which is common throughout Georgia’s coastal areas and gives parts of the forest an almost swampy, jungle-like appearance. The second photo gives a closer look at the Spanish moss hanging from the branches.
On the left are two feral horses roaming freely on Cumberland Island. The horses can be found in different parts of the island, including near the beaches and dunes. Alligators, turkeys, deer, and many other animals also live here. The photo on the right shows the transition from the sandy coastal dunes into the forest.
Here are two pictures of nine-banded armadillos on Cumberland Island. This species originally came from farther south but has expanded its range throughout much of the southern United States. Armadillos are famous for the bony armor covering their bodies, which is where their name comes from. These guys weren’t shy at all, but they were constantly moving around, so I couldn’t get a perfectly clear shot.
The beaches of Cumberland Island are one of the biggest reasons to visit. Their remoteness and lack of heavy development give them a completely different feel from most beaches along the southeastern United States. Above are two groups of gulls I came across along the shoreline.
While walking along the beaches of Cumberland Island, I came across this horseshoe crab shell and a large cannonball jellyfish that had washed ashore. Horseshoe crabs are strange-looking animals that have existed in some form for hundreds of millions of years. As for the jellyfish, I’ve come across these guys plenty of times while visiting beaches throughout the Southeast and have probably even been stung by a few of them!
On the left is another animal I found washed up along the shore. I actually found the fish inside a horseshoe crab shell, and after taking its picture I threw it back into the ocean. On the right is a dolphin that was swimming alongside our boat on the way to Cumberland Island. During the roughly 45-minute ride, I must have seen about half a dozen dolphins.
