Short Trip To St Augustine (MM780)... 

March 23, 2023 

                     

    Danny at the Bridge of Lions                                                 St Augustine Lighthouse

We did not have to leave early this morning because we only had to travel 24 miles. It is important for St Augustine to arrive at "slack tide"which is close to high or low tide due to the current.  The more current, the more chance of causing damage to your boat.  Once we got here and several hours past, we saw the current and they aren't kidding how fast it runs.  Winds were only 2 MPH so it was an enjoyable ride. More wildlife, boaters, and kayakers enjoying the ICW and multiple creeks around us.  I saw a group of 8 ospreys flying high in the sky among each other but no idea what they were doing. I got to see a few white pelicans which we have not seen since the Everglades. 

We saw a number of boats here that we have travelled with on our Loop trip. There had been notations recently of places where boats were hitting bottom on this leg so we made sure we were on a rising tide and going slow, we did fine. One specifically, Rusty, from Bama Breeze did the Gulf crossing with us. They are on a mooring ball just outside the Marina and get in their dinghy to come into town. He stopped by the boat so we could talk. Rusty and his wife went over to the Bahamas for 2 weeks and came back around the 10th of  March. He said they came over on the last weather window that was crossable. Some people over there have been waiting now 2 weeks to cross back over but the weather has been bad. Consistently having north winds and waves of 6-7 feet, he was happy they left when they did. But I guess if you are going to get “stuck” somewhere, the Bahamas isn’t a bad place in my opinion. Also saw a boat from Hampton and spoke to the guy on the boat. He said his wife when she retired from the city of Hampton was the person in charge of the 911 center. Truly it is a small world.

Our Marina for the next several days is the St Augustine Municipal Marina next to the Bridge of Lions. There are many things to do here and across the bridge on Anastasia Island.   This week is their race week for sailboats so all the marinas are fairly crowded.

So I have my list of things to accomplish in St Augustine, let's hope I can achieve it.  This is a city of many firsts due to its early founding by the Spanish.

Ponce de Leon named Florida in 1513 (Land of Flowers).  On this trip, he also found the "Fountain of Youth" here in St Augustine.  Another interesting point about Ponce de Leon is he receives credit "discovering" the Gulf Stream, calling it a river within an ocean.  Spain attempted multiple times to establish settlements in Florida without success.  In 1565, the King of Spain sent Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles and a group of men to establish a settlement.  On their way to Florida, they had a skirmish with a group of French Huguenots who had colonized the area around Jacksonville in 1562.  During that skirmish, a hurricane occurred pushing the French far from their land.  The Spanish explorers would kill all of the French fighters.  The river where this occurred and where we will travel is known as the Matanzas River (matanzas means massacre or slaughter in Spanish).

                  Danny and myself on the top of the fort wall.             Through this opening, you can see the St

                                                                                                       Augustine inlet coming in from the ocean.

                                                                                                        

We started with seeing Castillo de San Marcos which is the fort built in 1565 by Spain to protect the shipping lanes on the gulf stream as well as the land.  The Fort was built multiple times with wood.  After being burned repeatedly(Sir Francis Drake burned the fort down in 1586), the decision was made in 1762 to build a masonry fortification which is the oldest one in the United States.  It took 23 years to complete due to disease and finances.  The fort was built with coquina which means tiny shells.  Across the river from St Augustine is the Anastasia Island where coquina was quarried and cut into blocks.  This is different than "tabby: which is made of oyster shells, crushed oyster shells (which is limestone) and water.  We saw walls made of this material as well.  The coquina structure did well against cannon fire. Instead of making a hole in the wall it would collapse on itself and hold up. 

                               Below is the place where the Spanish soldiers came on land in 1565.

On the right is a wall made with a tabby composition and the left with coquina.

There was a great deal of movement of land between countries in the 1700 and 1800's .  Britain and Spain were at war in the mid 1700's.  Spain permitted escaped slaves to come to Florida as free people as long as they acknowledged their loyalty to Spain by being part of the military, take a Christian name, and follow the beliefs of the Catholic faith.  Spain lost to Britain and gave up Florida but was allowed to keep Cuba.  Many of those escaped slaves moved west, went to Cuba or the Caribbean to avoid being returned to slavery.  During the American revolution, Spain supported the colonists and fought the British in the Pensacola area winning their battle.  This led the British to give Florida back to the Spanish.  After a number of wars internationally and repeated attempts of movement of Americans into their territory, Spain wanted to maintain their power in South America and made the decision to sell Florida to the United States in 1821.  The Castillo name was then changed to Fort Marion.  St Augustine was named the capital of the territory until 1824 and Andrew Jackson was named the first territorial governor.  The majority of the Civil War, the fort stood in Union hands.  During the Spanish-American War, soldiers were also here.

There was a display on toilets within the forts.  With 2 high and 2 low tides, you can figure when the tide went out, waste went out into the ocean and during high tide, maybe fresh water came, given that high tide water could not go that far.  Records exist showing 500 Indians were imprisoned here in 1886.  The majority were women and children.  Of interest were 3 of Geronimo's wives were here and one actually gave birth at the fort.  Also in 1878, the Indians here were released to the Indian bureau. Many of them moved west but 22 wanted to stay and continue their education. Captain Pratt in charge of the fort made arrangements with a school in Hampton, Va that started as a school for freed slaves to transfer 15 of these Indians to continue their education. The other 7 went to the northeast. 

The Florida National Guard's headquarters are located just down from marina.  The building was originally part of the Franciscan missions and when the US took over became an Army post and ultimately taken over by the National Guard.

I also got to go to the Witty Whiskers Cat Cafe and made some new friends.  Of course, Danny was not interested in going with me.  A woman runs the cafe and gets the cats there from a rescue group.  Let me introduce you to some of them.

Jean, Eddie Van Halen showing me his exercising routine, and North Carolina having a drink.

 Diane wanting the treat I had in my hand, Pearl Jam looking up for a treat, and Molly being inquisitive.

Danny was happy I left with only a T-shirt....

Danny and I walked over to Anastasia Island to the Farmer's Market by way of the Bridge of Lions.  When a bridge was built over to the island, a resident paid for 2 Lions to be carved of Italian marble to grace the western side of the bridge when it opened in 1927.  The lions are named Firm and Faithful. 

This young man sells strawberries he grows from the farm his grandfather farmed for years.  Danny was also introduced to Datil peppers which are grown here.  It is similar in heat to habanero but is sweet and fruit flavored.  Immigrants from the Mediterranean islands are thought to have brought this to America.  Danny bought the salsa and the mustard having taste tested it at the market.  

The St Augustine Lighthouse which has been standing since 1874 is absolutely beautiful.  Earlier there was a watchtower (1586) and a US Lighthouse made of coquina (1824).  To reach the top, it is 219 stairs with a height of 165 feet.  Like many places I have mentioned on the east coast of Florida, the top of the tower was used in 1941 to monitor ship movement.  Five soldiers would take turns making note of every ship and sending it to their superiors.

The oldest Catholic parish in the United States is located in St Augustine.  We were able to see the Cathedral inside with it bright red color.

Henry Flagler built a great hotel by the name of Ponce de Leon Hotel in 1885.  It currently is part of Flagler College.  The buildings are beautiful.  Flagler was an interesting man in many ways.  Married 3 times, his 2nd wife was committed to a mental health facility in New York.  Legally he could not divorce her due to the mental health issue.  He "moved" to Florida, had the Florida legislature pass a law to allow divorce in his situation because he was a "resident", divorced the 2nd wife and when final, the legislature ended the law.  It was called the Flagler divorce law and never used for anyone else.  The hotel was built to be enjoyed by wealthy people.  When you came, you stayed for the season which was January-March costing $4,000 per season.  The hotel was one of the first structures to have electricity which Thomas Edison oversaw the work.  There were people in town hired as "switchers" whose only job was to turn the electricity on in the morning and off at night in the person's room.  These switchers had jobs because people were essentially scared of electricity and did not want to turn it on or off.  With the depression, the occupancy rates went down and the hotel really was not used until World War II when it was used as a Coast Guard Training Center.  In 1968, Flagler's great nephew worked with a group in town to develop Flagler College.  The school is noted for having the largest collection of Tiffany glass in use in the world.  The largest collection is at the Morse Museum in Winter Park, Florida which Danny and I have seen.

 Outside of the Ponce de Leon Hotel, currently Flagler College.  This building is used as the dining hall.

In the courtyard of the entrance is a sundial.  The frog in front of me is 6 o'clock, the shadow shows you the time which was about 10:30, pretty accurate.  

Above is the entrance foyer with beautiful gold gilded artwork.

Below is the dining hall with beautiful Tiffany glass.

We went to the Spanish Military hospital which has been standing since 1784.  Of course I thought it was great, Danny said it was good.  The hospital was for soldiers, VIPs, and people coming into port.  There would be one hospital for those contagious and one for those not contagious.  People when they died, were not embalmed unless their bodies were shipped which were usually only rich people.  When the US finalized the purchase of Florida, 5 US ships transported the remaining soldiers to Cuba.  When the ships returned there was a yellow fever outbreak which killed an eighth of the population and many people left the area due to fear.  The docent told us about the "22 Angels".  A doctor in Spain who read about Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine, took 22 children from an orphanage and traveled to Florida.  He took scraping from someone who had smallpox before they left Spain and vaccinated these children so they were immune.  The doctor then would immunize the population of St Augustine.  Very cool!

There was a bell system on display sounded to making rounds.  The docent mentioned that all doctors had to round twice a day unlike other countries during the time.

Late afternoon on our last day, I walked over to the National Cemetery which was not very big.  Two other private cemeteries in the historic section were locked.  I went around reading the unusual size and shape tombstones.  One here was especially interesting stating this soldier was killed by Seminole Indian chief.

The layout of the downtown has a beautiful wide open area which was directed by the Spanish government when a Constitution was accepted in 1812.  The park was called the Plaza de la Constitution.  The obelisk in the center was built as part of that celebration.  When the Spanish government was overturned and the monarchy reinstituted, all areas were told to destroy any monuments related to the Constitution.  St Augustine refused to do this so it is thought to be the only remaining obelisk related to the 1812 Spanish Constitution.

 

For all my dog loving friends...

Enjoyed good meals here as well at Catch 27, The Blue Hen Cafe, Casa Rena(with great views) and The Floridian.  Danny did well in finding some new beers and breweries. 

 We got 5pm dinner reservations so we could watch basketball.  While checking in at one place, a little boy about 7 or 8, came up and said, "Are you eating here?"  We said yes.  He then asked, "Are they open?"  I said they just opened.  He said, "Oh good, we eat at places when they first open because we get our food quicker."  I told him I thought that was smart.  The parents and the other 2 siblings were a bit behind him.  

Another set of fun discussions, while at the farmer's market, the amphitheater was having a concert.  A security person was sitting at a table near the restroom with T-shirts for sale for  the band- Widespread Panic.  I told the security guy I had never heard of them.  He looked at me, dead serious- "Have you ever heard of the Grateful Dead?  The people are dope smoking, hippies, and crazy people and they are here for 3 nights."  I just said oh, interesting.  Then at brunch at the Blue Hen Cafe on Sunday, we were waiting outside to be seated and Danny struck up a conversation with a young couple.  They were from Denver, Colorado and had come for all 3 nights because they said no concert was the same and this was their 105th concert.  They didn't look like hippies although I can not attest to the other 2 qualities that the security person mentioned...LOL

We really enjoyed St Augustine!  Next stop Jacksonville Beach...

TOTAL MILES TRAVELLED   1767.2 miles

TOTAL DAYS 132