After our visit to Cumberland Island we motored a few miles inland to visit the delightful town of St Marys, Georgia. We arrived on the afternoon of the "White Lights" event and found out Santa was scheduled to ride through town that evening and arrive at the harbor around 6pm when the big Christmas tree would be lit up for the holiday season.



Before (and after) Santa's arrival, every dance class and singing group from the local area took the stage to entertain the crowd which was considerable. We watched the whole thing from a street side seat in a warm and welcoming seafood restaurant. The best of both worlds you might say...

After touring St Marys we headed over to meet our sailing friends, Larry and Eileen Murphy on Amelia Island. We met Larry and Eileen on their boat "Wayward Wind" during the Black Sea Rally of 2004. and have seen them a few times since; our most recent hook up was in the British Virgin Islands in 2008.



Larry and Eileen bought a really pretty house in Oyster Bay (just off Amelia Island) and happened to be home during our visit so they picked us up at the harbor for a tour around town. After a walk through the new 'historic town area' and a really nice lunch, we wen for a ride and got to see other parts of the island. The beach was very nice and reminded us a little of our cozy stretch of 'old Florida' on 30A. As we drove further south we came to Amelia Island Plantation and the Ritz Carlton and it felt a lot like our own Sandestin.

We dropped by the Ritz to check out their Gingerbread ship - it really is a gingerbread ship, complete with gingerbread crew. Very cool indeed....



We really enjoyed out stay at Cumberland Island, St Marys, and Amelia Island but we had to move on to Jacksonville so we can park the boat and come home for Christmas. More about that passage later...