1. The Sunrise. Flying to Georgia at 5am on Sunday morning was not that exciting. We had gotten up at 3:30 and were stoked to finally be on the plane where we could sleep. But we didn’t sleep because out the windows, to the east, was the sun. It was rising above a the clouds and it was incredible because with out any mountains or buildings to block the horizon the sky was orangey pink as far as we could see. And the clouds had absorbed the color just as they always do however we were on top of them so instead of colored cotton balls in the sky they were a carpet stretching endlessly under us. It was amazing to watch.
2. Emma Mabel Carlson. She was the other trip leader (in addition to Jenn and Willard) and she was awesome. None of us knew her at all before the trip but when she arrived at the airport in the Chewonki bus wearing a green head band with faux pigtails, we all knew that the trip would be awesome. And it was. Plus we (the 5 girls on the trip) are all a little (a lot) bit obsessed with her and plan to visit her in her office all the time.
3. Pileated Woodpecker. Cumberland has awesome wildlife. Although some were animals that we were used to and not psyched about (gnats, for example) the birds were great. We’ve been learning new species in Birds class (Mondays at 5 with Don Hudson) all semester and it was sweet to see things like the Pileated Woodpecker, an enormous bird that slightly resembles a pterodactyl (because it is so awkward and has a pointy head).
4. Armadillos. Other awesome wildlife were the armadillos. Like little old men they wandered slowly on their hairy little legs through the Palmettos, frequently stumbling into the middle of our campsite. I know that armadillos are rarely thought of as hairy. That’s because they’re not, they’re scaly, but their legs have long whit hairs that surround their tops (kind of like the hairs in the ears of an old man, hence my analogy).
5. Wild Horses. The horses on Cumberland Island are now an entirely wild herd. Although their ancestors were once domesticated by former residents, the horses roam freely on the beaches, in the dunes, through the swamps and amongst the widely scattered private homes. One morning we all woke up to see the sunrise and were excited to see horses grazing all throughout the dunes on our walk to the beach.
6. Swimming. With 55 degree water and 70 degree days we found it necessary (as the Mainers that we currently are) to talk advantage of the balmy weather. We went swimming while Willard lifeguarded and locals stared. Apparently swimming in March is not a typical thing in Georgia. We thought it was fun though.
7. South of the Border. Anyone who’s driven the east coast before has probably seen the South of the Boarder billboards dotting the highway. They have also probably peered of the guardrails as they finally drive by and wondered who would ever stop there. The answer is us. We stopped for a bathroom break and also managed to take pictures with every ridiculous, oversized animal statue there in less than ten minutes. People stared but we had an awesome time.
8. Lydie’s House. Lydie was on the trip with us and we stayed at her house on Friday night. It was a twelve-ish hour drive from Jacksonville, FL to Charlotte, VA and we arrived at 2:18 am. Exhausted we went straight to sleep with no idea of our surroundings. What was amazing was waking up an realizing we were pretty close to paradise. Rolling hills with green grass and red soil surrounded their old farmhouse. We had signed up for the trip in hopes of an amazing new perspective of Georgia (one of many reasons) but we also got an incredible introduction to the piedmont.
9. Tie-Dye Shop. Thirty minutes north of Lydie’s house we stopped for gas and discovered the most amazing little Tie-Dye store. We begged Willard to let us go in and of course he agreed. The woman there was awesome. She told us all about her life and the history of her tie-dye passion and the fact that she tie-dyed the Spice Girls outfits for the CMAs one year. We all bought something and learned that whenever we’re next in Opal, VA we had better stop there.
10. Ice Cream for Dinner. At the DC rest stop (just north of the capital) we had a quick bathroom break and for some reason an incredible craving for ice cream. So we begged Willard to let us have ice cream for dinner. It was probably one of the most exciting moments of my life. I don’t really know why. Partly because of our ridiculous energy, partly because we’d been joking about it the whole trip and then it finally happened, and partly because when you’ve been in a bus for eight hours, everything is exciting.

-Morgan LaPointe, Deerfield, MA