CUMBERLAND ISLAND, Ga. — No sooner had the Greyfield Inn ferryboat chugged out of the Fernandina Beach, Fla., marina when somebody popped the question.
"All right, let's get this over with," said Jerry, a brash, 40-ish businessman on vacation from Atlanta. With a cold Busch beer in one hand and a bag of boiled peanuts in the other, he looked at the young woman in the Greyfield Inn uniform, offered a charming, crooked smile and asked, "Did you see any of them from the wedding?"
Everybody on board the boat to Cumberland Island, all seven of us, knew exactly which wedding he was referring to. The one that starred John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette--and, of course, Cumberland. The ceremony managed to remain surprisingly private, partly because it took place on this remote and little-known barrier island off the Georgia coast.
But Cumberland was special long before the Kennedys put it on the map. The wedding was simply the latest chapter in a colorful history that dates back 4,000 years, to when the Timucuan Indians roasted oysters over an open fire on the beach. Over the last 400 years, the island has been home to Jesuit missionaries, French, Spanish and English explorers, Revolutionary War heroes and another famous American family. Having made their fortune up north in steel, the Carnegies came down and made Cumberland their private homestead.
What distinguishes this historical island from others nearby, though, is the fact that it is isolated and undeveloped today. Stretching 18 miles long and three miles wide, Cumberland is larger than Manhattan. Yet it has just 35 or so full-time residents, one inn and miles of pristine beaches, live oak forests and marshland. On Cumberland, you see feral horses, white-tailed deer, dolphins, armadillos and, in winter, 200 species of birds that migrate here. It is a true treasure island.
But there are no tourist shops, telephone lines or TVs. No vehicles other than those belonging to park rangers and residents. And no way to reach the island other than a ferry ride.
Although Congress designated part of the island a national seashore back in 1972, it has enjoyed a low profile, overshadowed by the fancier resorts on neighboring Sea Island, Ga., and Amelia Island, Fla. Until the recent attention, Cumberland was certainly a secret place known only to Georgians; vacationers learned about the island and the Greyfield Inn mainly through word of mouth, which was how residents and longtime visitors, so protective of this paradise, preferred it.
