A fun and inexpensive way for single people to travel is through a group. This past July 2-6, I hosted a trip to visit Cumberland Island and other points of interest for the Positive Christian Singles, which is sponsored by the First Centenary Methodist Church.

Including myself we had a group of eight traveling in a 15-passenger van. This was just the right size group to be comfortable and to have room for our luggage. The cost of $200 per person included a 4-night stay at the Best Western in Kingsland, Ga., gasoline for the
van and a ticket to ride the Cumberland Queen Ferry over to Cumberland Island on July 4.

Kingsland was a central location for St. Marys where we boarded the ferry. At Amelia Island we rode horses on the beach and at Fernandina Beach we visited Fort Clinch State Park.

I took cold cuts, bread, chips, cookies and cold drinks which provided three picnic lunches. Each person had to buy one lunch and four dinners. Every restaurant we chose had great food and good prices.

Leaving Chattanooga at 7 a.m. on Wednesday we arrived in Tifton, GA to have our first picnic lunch at the Agrirama 1800’s living museum of a farm community. We took a train ride around town, fed the pigs, watched wood working, ate sinful ice cream at the drugstore and had a wonderful visit with Mrs. Tift while touring her home. Her husband’s great grandfather had built the house and was the founder of Tifton, Ga. She and her husband raised four children in the home. Agrirama is right next to I-75 near 82 east where we turned to be on our way to Waycross to stop for dinner.

Hiway 17 took us on into Kingsland passing by the entrance to the Okefenokee Swamp State Park. We would have enjoyed seeing this area, but the sun was going down and that will have to be another trip.

Thursday morning after our complimentary breakfast at the Best Western we were off to Amelia Island to locate the riding stables. We got a reservation for 2 p.m. with the Kelly Seahorse Ranch for a horseback ride on the beach. Then we stopped at the Plantation for some shopping. It did start to rain about lunch time and I thought we might not get our horseback ride at 2 p.m. I had checked out the Marina Restaurant at Fernandina Beach on their website and knew they had a good rating. Each year since the early 90’s they always get voted Best Restaurant and it’s a local favorite. After eating lunch I understood why they have all the award plaques hanging on the wall.

The rain had stopped and we made it back to the stables on time. They have great horses; mine was a quarter horse named Sugar. It was easy to remember her name, my great aunt I loved dearly had the nickname of Sugar. The horse Sugar was spirited and would trot once in awhile which made it fun for me. It was great riding along listening to the gentle sound of the ocean waves.

Someone wanted to visit St. Augustine so we drove over for dinner. I had to fill up with gas once we got there and I asked a fellow at the gas station if he knew of a good place to eat dinner. We got lucky as Salt Water Cowboy’s turned out to be a AAA Diamond Restaurant. It began as an Oyster House in the 1930’s. The structure has been enlarged over the salt marsh and recaptures the charm of Old Florida.

July 4th at 9 a.m. we got on board the Cumberland Queen headed for Cumberland Island. There are three different stops you can get off. The first stop is for The Dungeness Trail which our group took to see the ruins and wild horses. Also we walked over the boardwalk to the sand dunes to cross over for the beach. It was worth the walk.

Coming back close to the ruined mansion is a collection of vintage cars that are roped off and exposed to the elements. Too bad these wonderful old cars were not protected. We would see wild horses grazing near the mansion and out on the sand dunes.

It was raining again as the ferry took us back to St. Marys. We got cleaned up and decided to try Sonny’s Bar-B-Que. For Jim this was the highlight for eating dinner. He’s a real bar-b-que man. It did stop raining and, after watching a movie, we drove back down to St. Marys to view the 4th of July fireworks.

Saturday was sort of up in the air as to the place to go for our last day of vacation. St. Augustine was an hour and half drive away so we decided to take a 20-minute drive back to Fernandina Beach to visit Fort Clinch State Park and the beach. Fort Clinch was a real bargain for a $2 tour. Union soldiers greet you and tell how they took the fort way from the South. I missed it because I got out at the beach to enjoy the ocean. The rest of the group went on tour and came back to the beach for a picnic. I knew they would come back for me because I had all the food and drinks.

We drove back to St. Marys for dinner at St. Marys Seafood House. We got there in time to order from the lunch menu which saved us a few bucks. My friend Sandy told me she had never had a 26 fried shrimp dinner before, for the price of $10. This included tea and the tip. I had half shrimp and scallops which were wonderful. This was a seafood delite.

Sunday morning we had a devotional and headed home. We drove up I-95 to Savannah for lunch on the way. We got lucky again for a great lunch at The Cotton Gin Restaurant on the waterfront.

To visit Cumberland Island from St. Marys you must have reservations in advance to make sure you will get on the ferry. They take only a certain number of people each day. Call 1-888-817-3421 for Cumberland Island National Seashore.

Salt Water Cowboy’s address is 299 Dondanville Road, St. Augustine phone # 904-471-2332 and website is www.saltwatercowboys.com

The Kelly Seahorse Ranch on Amelia Island phone # is 904-491-5166