Spring Break

Molly Climbing in Huge Live Oak Trees

Cumberland Island was incredible. The gnarled branches of the ancient live oaks juxtaposed with the dense understory of saw palmettos, the brightly colored tents of Sea Camp, and the isolated beach just over the hill from the deserted sand dunes painted a scene you might have expected to see hundreds of years ago, before civilization took hold. Next time we return, we hope to rent bikes for the day, allowing us to travel all the way to the north side of the island, and stay at the incredible Sea Camp. What a beautiful escape!

The Okefenokee was also incredible. What comes to mind when you think of visiting a swamp? Probably nothing too appealing. But when you actually visit a swamp, it’s an entirely different story, especially if you visit in early spring without the bugs. Canoeing in the half million acre Okefenokee Swamp was probably one of the coolest activities we’ve done in a while. We saw a ton of amazing birds: throngs of vultures, a wood stork, and lots of herons, egrets, and other water birds. More exciting than this were the multiple alligators we saw no more than five feet from our canoe. One even hissed at us, a sign that she had a baby nearby. The plants were just as interesting as the animals: cypress trees with their knees sticking out of the water for stability and oxygen, pitcher plants, lily pads, wild blueberries, and many other trees and bushes that had somehow adapted to the oxygen-depleted conditions of the peaty bog. In addition to the wildlife, the actual semi-solid peaty soil was equally as interesting. Pushed to the surface by methane escaping from the decomposing organic matter, chunks of peat eventually combine with other peat clumps providing growing space for plants. Eventually, plants blanket the clumps, which solidify somewhat, earning them the name “land of the trembling earth,” or as the Native Americans called it, Okefenokee. Sometime we’ll have to go back and camp on one of the canoe shelters in the middle of the swamp.

-- Molly & Brian Lawrence

Melinda & Molly Navigating Canoe Trail in Swamp