This week, we explored several parks near our Kingston, GA campground, including the Okeefenokee Swamp Park and the Cumberland Island National Seashore.
Okeefenokee Swamp Park is part of the Okeefenokee National Wildlife Refuge which encompasses nearly a half-million acres and provides the headwaters for the Suwanee and St. Mary’s Rivers. The Park offers wildlife shows and exhibits, a boat tour, train ride, boardwalk nature trail to a look out tower, and pioneer island homestead. The park also decorates for the holidays, offering special “light show” train rides nightly during the season.
The boat tour offered an entertaining mix of natural beauty and swamp life history. Our guide was an area native and shared many stories about the region. He was also very familiar with the resident alligators and their characteristics. The current undisputed king of the swamp is a large male known as “Crazy” (pictured). He patrols the swamp diligently to defend his territory against any males and safeguard his harem. The train tour makes a stop at a “pioneer island homestead” which displays restored buildings, live farm animals, and exhibits depicting pioneer life.
Entrance to the Park is located 8 miles south of Waycross, GA on Highway 1. Entrance fees are $17 without the boat tour and $27 including the boat tour. The park offers a thoroughly entertaining half-day of fun. If you go, wear comfortable shoes and take sunscreen and insect repellant. Although we were there on a cool December day, summers would undoubtedly be very buggy!
Another highlight of our time here was an all-day excursion to the Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia’s largest and southernmost barrier island. The island includes miles of pristine undeveloped maritime forest, marshland, and beaches. The only access to the island is by boat; a 45-minute ferry ride services the island. There are no paved roads and the only way around the island is on foot, by bicycle (rent one or bring your own) or by pre-booked van tour. We chose to take our own bicycles, although riding on the sandy main road was sometimes a challenge. We only went halfway up the island and still clocked a tiring 18+ miles in our day. It would be very difficult to see the entire island (14 miles end to end) on a bicycle, so if you want to see everything you should book the all day van tour.
Natives, missionaries, enslaved African Americans and Wealthy Industrialists occupied the island over the centuries, including members of the Carnegie family that built several estate homes here. One of their former homes, Plum Orchard, is available for tours. Built in 1898, the 20,000 square foot mansion boasts impressive modern features including electrical lighting and numerous indoor bathrooms in an era where indoor plumbing was quite rare. The basement structure was designed to capture inrushing flood waters and channel it out through piping to a nearby river. The home is fully equipped with period furnishings and the free tour was absolutely fascinating. That was my favorite part of the day.
Other sights include the ice house museum and ruins of one of the large mansions that burned down in 1959. As we toured on our bicycles, we encountered several of the feral horses that roam the island. I was aware of wild horses out west, but didn’t know there were wild horses this far east! The island also provides primitive beach front campgrounds, for tent camping. There were quite a few hardy campers, braving the cool weather and the challenges of manually hauling gear from the dock to campsite!
It’s definitely an all-day trip. Ferries depart at 9 am and 11:45 am, return ferries at 10:15 am and 4:45 pm. There’s also a 2:45 pm return during the summer. The ferry cost is $28 round trip per person plus tax, and it is an extra $10 to take your own bicycle on the ferry. Bicycle rentals on the island are $16 per day, but supply is limited. Entrance fee to the park is an additional $7 per person, but we used our annual National Park pass.
There are no concessions on the island. You have to pack in your own food and beverages, although drinking water and restrooms are available in limited locations. You will need sunscreen, comfortable layers, and bug spray! Even on a chilly December day, the gnats were bothersome at times.
After a long and tiring day of touring the island, we had an excellent seafood dinner at St. Mary’s Seafood and More restaurant. Located just a couple of miles from the dock, the delicious dinner and adult beverage certainly hit the spot!
Next up: Wrightsmanpalooza family holiday celebration takes it “on the road” to Charleston!
What do you do when you’re in Orlando? Why, go to the theme parks, of course!
If you come to Orlando and want to play in the theme parks, definitely check out the pass options online before you arrive. There are always a variety of options and often special deals, especially if you are a Florida resident. Universal Studios passes are discounted if you purchase online and you can pick up your tickets easily at the will-call kiosks located outside the entrance to each park, however if you purchase a Florida resident ticket, you will have to show your ID at guest services.
Universal Studios / Islands of Adventure highlights: The Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular, Harry Potter areas (Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade) and the Hogwart Express train that connects them, the holiday projection light show against Hogwart Castle, Universal’s Holiday Parade, and all of the usual fun rides (the Hulk, the Mummy, Men In Black Alien Attack, RipIt RockIt Roller Coaster) and shows. The regular shows, such as the Blues Brothers, offered a special holiday version. It was great fun, but 4 days was more than we needed to cover everything. 2 big days or 3 mellow days would do it. We ended up spending 2 long days and 2 half days there. On our last day, we were tapped to participate in market research: we simply watched 20 minutes of video, answered questions about one of the commercials and received a $20 Universal gift card each! Cool!
There are 4 Disney parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios (formerly, MGM) and Animal Kingdom. 4 days is simply not enough time to see everything! The parks are large and you have to rely on Disney transportation to get from one park to another (as opposed to Universal Studios where you can walk from park to park). There are so many highlights it’s difficult to single out just a few, but I’ll attempt: The new Avatar area of Animal Kingdom, Holiday around the World at Epcot’s World Showcase, Jingle Bell Jingle BAM! projection/fireworks show at Hollywood Studios, Happily Ever After projection/fireworks show at Magic Kingdom, and the Candlelight Processional at Epcot. We purchased a Candlelight Processional dining package for the four of us (Sean, Marissa, Jeff and myself) which guaranteed seating at this hugely popular show. I absolutely loved it!
8 days in less than 2 weeks was probably a bit too much, even for us. I averaged around 20,000 steps each theme park day! 8 days in 
Many of the campers I’ve spoken to don’t like KOAs because of their perceived value (or lack thereof). It’s true that the cost is substantially higher than many other options for a site that is fairly tight. We chose this KOA simply because it was the closest campground to our Orlando house where our son lives. There’s just nothing else suitable that is anywhere nearby. We had stayed here on our way home from New Orleans when we originally purchased our rig and had a good experience. So back we came, for two weeks this time.
After the ginormous site we had at Alafia River State Park, the smaller site here at the KOA seemed much tighter by comparison. But the size was adequate for our rig, and typical of commercial campgrounds. Our row was never full during our stay, so we didn’t feel over-crowded. And since a cold front blew through during our stay, we didn’t sit outside in the evening anyway, it was too chilly!
This KOA offers a full calendar of activities. During just our two weeks here options included: Bingo, Zumba, yoga, Bible study, Movie night, Game night, Line dancing, water aerobics, a pot luck, Christmas Cookie exchange with Ugly Sweater Contest, and a holiday pet parade. And don’t forget the every Saturday all-you-can-eat Pancake breakfasts for only $4! Activities appear to be reasonably well-attended due to a significant percentage of repeat seasonal residents that have bonded into kind of a seasonal “family”. It made for a nice, homey atmosphere. It should be noted that this is advertised as a Christian owned and operated facility and alcoholic beverages are not to be in evidence at any time.
We did explore areas outside the park as well. One day we hopped on the motorcycle and drove to St. Petersburg beach for lunch. On the way there, we swung into 
On Sunday, the three of us traveled over to historic 
If you look up flow in a modern dictionary, Alafia River Mountain Bike Trail would come up as a synonym. Resist the temptation of applying the brakes and you will be rewarded with seemingly effortless transitions from peak to peak as you navigate the plethora of drops and climbs throughout the trail. From the campground, travel east to access the trail, and if your skills allow it, my recommendation would be to take the first left off the fire road into North Creek Trail (intermediate) toward Twisted Sister. However, be advised that you will need your game face on immediately upon entering Twisted Sister, which can be seen at the trail junction on the right. If leaving from the trail head parking lot, head east from there, then take the first trail to the right into North Creek Trail.
If you are out on a leisurely Sunday drive, then take the first right from the fire road onto the River Loop (easy), followed by Rock Garden and Sand Pine. The end of Sand Pine gets a little sandy during the dry season (generally winter in Florida), but all of it is rideable. This trail has it all, including a great balance of easy, intermediate, difficult, and double-black runs. Spending a week out here just leaves you wanting more. The mountain bike trail was a gift from the Phosphate mining industry who piled up overburden in their quest to access the deeper phosphate minerals to later sell as fertilizer, after processing. This overburden was then crafted and shaped by trail artisans, and the trail was born.
After finishing Twisted Sister, follow it up with Magic Island, and Buzzard Bay, and by the time you exit North Creek you should be fully warmed up for the remaining adventure. After that take a left off the North Creek exit and finish out your run with Gator Back (Double Black!), Bridges, Rabbit Ears, Roller Coaster, and if you are not too tired, give Moonscape a go. After completing all of these intermediate, black, and double-black trails, 14.5 miles were logged.
Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost 