DAYS IN ST. AUGUSTINE

The story of St. Augustine begins more than 450 years ago.  St. Augustine is touted as the oldest city in the United States having been founded in 1565.  While her history is youthful compared to ancient Greece and Rome, or China and the Middle East, the city is indeed very old if you consider the long history of European conquest and colonization of the Americas.  However, before a discussion of history can be meaningful, you have to consider geography.

Florida is a penninsula that sticks out from the mainland like a big thumb.  It virtually blocks all access to the Gulf of Mexico from the Atlantic, and stands right in the path of sailing vessels bound for what is now South America.  When Columbus discovered the "New World", what he really discovered was an island south of Florida which is one of a long chain of islands separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea bathed by the eastern trade winds.  Who knows what history would be like today if he had landed a little further north or a little further south?  The fact is that Columbus sailed on boats that relied on down wind ability.  His vessels could not point into the wind.  Thus, he had to sail with the eastern (westbound) trade winds in order to make any progress.  A little too far to the south, and he'd be stuck in the doldrums.  A little to far to the north, and his little boats would have never made it because the prevailing winds in the northern lattitudes would have likely pushed him right back to Spain.  So, one could argue that the history of European discovery, conquest and colonization in this country is ultimately dependent on the history of the development of sailing technology.  As you probably know, Columbus's track was not a straight line from east to west.  His course took him south to the trade winds which blow from the east to the west.  While he tried to maintain a westerly heading, ultimately, I think he got lazy and found easier sailing conditions further south.  The water is also a lot warmer, too, and he would have been able to catch more fish.  From his notes, and from the notes of other west bound explorers, it is clear that their south westerly course was then bent slightly to the north as they approached the "new world" undoubtedly due to the influence of the Gulf Stream current.  Basically, I think he landed where he could, and not necessarily where he wanted.  That's just the nature of old school sailing vessels of the time.  Back to a little history.

It is very difficult to summarize over 450 years of interesting history in a blog, but suffice it to say the following:  St. Augustine was founded in the 16th century, gradually strengthened its settlement in the 17th century, survived several international wars in the 18th century, entered the United States when the Florida Peninsula was acquired in the 19th century, and commenced modern development in the 20th century; and now, St. Augustine exists and thrives in the 21st century.  Few other cities in the US can claim the same, and in spite of a seemingly endless string of colonial calamities, fires, floods, destructive storms and wars, and even starvation in only its first 200 years. 

Ponce De Leon claimed Florida for Spain in 1513.  Spanish explorers later discovered gold and silver in Mexico and Peru.  Because the treasure was being sailed back to Spain in the Gulf Stream which runs right up the coast of Florida, Spanish settlements were built to help protect these treasure fleets.  King Philip of Spain sent Pedro Menendez to settle Florida.  In September 1565, Menendez, along with several hundred soldiers and sailors, landed at St. Augustine and founded the city.  They certainly had it hard in those days.  They were quite isolated and often nearly starved. 

The history of this town is a long and detailed account of conquest and colonization.  St. Augustine was Spanish, French, British, Spanish again, and finally fell into American hands once and for all.  The guides in the area like to remind visitors that we were all once inhabitants of the State of Florida, since, historically, "La Florida" stretched all the way from what is now Key West, all the way north to and including Canada, and everything they knew of to the west.

St. Augustine, today, is a vibrant place full of color and "spice".  The city takes on the flavor of an amusement park.  What we saw of it, anyways.  We did a lot of walking and exploring.  It was like spending 4 days at Universal Studios.  The downtown area is all historic buildings.  It is impressive to notice that the city fathers were smart enough at the time to note the historic significance of the area and to preserve it for future generations.  Speaking of the city fathers, if you have ever done any travelling in Florida, then the name Henry Flagler should ring a bell.

Flagler was a visionary man who had a lot of money.  During the winter of 1883-1884, Flagler, who, along with J.D. Rockefeller, founded Standard Oil Company, visited the city and was impressed with its charm and saw many possibilities.  He became mostly interested in building a resort community for the well to do.  His first effort was to construct a major hotel.  The only thing standing in his way at the time was the Church.  He bought the land from the church and then made a significant impact on the archetecture and economy of the city by building the Hotel Ponce De Leon, the Hotel Alcazar, the memorial Church, and several other sites.  The buildings and structures that comprised the Hotel Ponce De Leon are now Flagler College.  The famous bridge crossing the River between St. Augustine and Anastasia Island was once called Flagler Bridge.  However, there are two marble lions at the western gate to the bridge, and folks often referred to this bridge as the Bridge of Lions.  Well, the name stuck and what was once Flagler Bridge is now the Bridge of Lions.

Today, more than 3,000,000 visitors a year come to St. Augustine to enjoy its first class restaurants, but mostly to enjoy its history.  It's history is rich and diverse.  This city is well worth the stop.  While here, we enjoyed several of the more popular attractions, and some of the less well known ones.

The first day, we got off the boat and toured on foot the south western side of the town.  We visited the Oldest House in America, and saw many of the other very old buildings in the historic downtown part of the city.

It was wonderful to walk around and see the interesting archetecture.  As I said, earlier, the city was Spanish, then British, then Spanish again, before it became American.  There is even some French influence.  However, it is also important to understand that the city was sacked several times and many buildings were destroyed by fire or cannon balls.  As such, you can see where the influences were.  For instance, when the Spanish were there, most of the buildings were single story.  When the British took over, they added on second stories and gabled roofs, balconies, additional windows, and additional doors.  We visited one place where these conditions were quite evident, and which the Sisters of St. Joseph, who now protect the place, claim is built on the oldest foundation in St. Augustine, The Father Miguel O'Reilly House Museum.

At this place, you can see the only authentic historic garden in St. Augustine.  More interesting, however, were the artifacts inside.  We walked in and decided to take a look around.  We were greeted by one of the Sisters of St. Josephine who was sitting in a chair and seemingly not at all thrilled with the idea of having visitors.  She ushered us into a room and turned on a video which we watched and learned of the history of this place.  These sisters have been here for a long time.  This order of nuns came to St. Augustine at the request of Augustin Verot, Florida's first bishop, in 1866.  Their initial purpose was to educate the freed slaves after the civil war.  We enjoyed a special treat.  As we were nosing around in the museum, a sister joined us, took us by the arm, and said, "You do want to see the rest of the house, don't you?"  She then led us on our own personal guided tour and told us many of the stories associated with the fine artifacts they preserve and protect.  Over the years, the sisters produced wonderful works of art in media such as tapestry, lace, and hand painted china.  They maintained the gardens, and produced school books on a printing press that is still there today and still works.

The Hurricane Lady - a Minorcan statue that came on a ship with the Minorcans when they came to St. Augustine, and resided in the homes of Minorcans in the area for the past several hundred years.  As the story goes, this statue was aboard a cargo ship bound for the Port of St. Augustine.  During the course of the voyage, the ship encountered what would be considered today, a fierce hurricane.  The Captain and crew feared the ship and all aboard would be lost.  As the crew were throwing everything overboard to keep the vessel afloat, one of the crew brought this statue to the Captain.  He found it in the hold.  The Captain was so impressed, it prompted the following prayer: "O Blessed Lady, if this storm passes and we arrive safely in port, we will give your statue to be enshrined in a St. Augustine home."  Subsequently, the storm passed and the ship made it safely to St. Augustine.  As promised, the statue was given to a Minorcan family.  Later, she became known as "The Hurricane Lady."  It is believed her sacred powers got that cargo ship through the storm.

These were some of the more significant belongings of Bishop Austin Verot.



These items belonged to the Pope at the time the sisters came here from France, Pope Pius X.  Notice the red shoes.  According to lore, only the Pope could wear red shoes.  This tradition dates back long before the Catholic Church, actually, when colors were attached to either royalty or high government office.



This is the room where several of the original sisters slept.  It is in the attick of the house.  As you know, it gets quite hot in Florida especially during the summer.  I cannot even begin to imagine what it must have been like wearing the full habit and spending any time in the attic where temperatures must have exceeded 120 degrees in the summer.

A wooden statue of the pregnant Madonna made in Belgium sometime in the 16th Century.

The Sisters preserve and protect some beautiful tapestries as well, such as this one in which Christ is said to be showing his Sacred Heart.

And this one in which the "Marys", including Christ's mother, were bringing oils and spices to Christ's crypt only to discover, according to the unidentified angel depicted, that he had "risen".

We spent the rest of this day just walking around the city.  The next day, we did a little something special.  We visited and drank from the Fountain of Youth, at the Fountain of Youth Archeological Park.  This park is about much more than the spring water Ponce De Leon believed had extraordinary restorative qualities.  The park is loaded with artifacts from the point on which the Spanish are believed to have first landed and began commuting with the local Timuncuan indians.  Archeological studies in the park reveal this to have been the site of a very early Spanish settlement - the first settlement of Pedro Menendez and several hundred Spanish colonists from 1565-1566.

This is the site of the early Spanish settlement.

Here's Brenda pouring water from the Fountain of Youth.  We drank this.  Unfortunately, we are not feeling a whole lot younger.  The water had a distinct sulfur taste to it, typical of untreated, unfiltered spring water bubbling up from deep within the earth's crust.

This was the cistern built to collect the water as it dribbles to the surface.

This is a monument to Ponce De Leon.  It is life sized.  He was a small man, standing only 4'10" tall.

Later this day, as we were walking back towards the harbor, we visited the Castillo De San Marcos, which Spain's Queen Regent Mariana ordered built, realizing that St. Augustine was the keystone in the defense of the Florida coast.  Construction began in 1672 and continued for 23 years.  The fort was built of coquina and was plastered white.  The corner towers were plastered red.  Coquina is a mixture of broken shell, sand and mud that stood up very well to canon fire.  This fort purportedly never suffered a defeat. 

Our last day in St. Augustine was spent visiting the old lighthouse and an Alligator Farm, both of which were a long walk across the Bridge of Lions over to Anastasia Island. 

The St. Augustine Lighthouse is the 10th tallest lighthouse in the US at 165 feet tall.  Building started in 1871 and took more than 3 years to complete.  To get to the top, you have to climb 219 steps.  Several of the photographs above and below were taken from the top of the lighthouse.  They used more than a million bricks to build this lighthouse.  Originally, the light was fueled with pig fat which they kept in large metal containers at the base.  The fat had to be hot, so there were heaters.  In the early days, keepers had to climb the stairs carrying 60 lb. vats of hot pig fat every 2 1/2 hours from dusk until dawn.  Later, however, starting in 1885, kerosene was used.  It was not until around 1936 that the lighthouse got electricity and, since then, the light has been powered courtesy of Mr. Edison. 

The St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoological Park contains a very diverse collection of birds and reptiles.  This is the only place in the world that has all 23 species of crockodilians.  They have alligators and crocks from all over the world.  They have Maximo, which, at over 15 feet long and over 1200 lbs, is one of the largest reptiles in captivity.  He is in a special enclosure which affords visitors an opportunity to see him under water as well as on top.  He is huge and is apparently not rather well disposed.  Rumor has it, the park keepers have to put a female in with him every so often to keep him happy.  The park has been in existance for over 100 years and many of the animals there were born there.  It is not really a farm.  Rather it is a tourist attraction.  But, if you cannot get out and see alligators in the wild as we have, this is a great place to come visit.  We watched the feeding show in which a young woman entered an enclosure with probably 100 gators and fed them by hand - well, she threw the rats by hand.  It seems these creatures are quite intelligent and adaptable.  They learn not to bite the hand that feeds them, but, by the same token, these creatures have not evolved that much.  They are pretty much unchanged from 200 million years ago.  We had no idea there were so many varieties of crockodilian.  They vary in shape, size and color.  This was a great and fun thing to do.

This is an albino alligator.  They are not believed to exist in the wild because the would get picked off so easily given their lack of camoflage.

Maximo is in the back.  His "girlfriend" is in the foreground.  Aussie Crocks.

Basicallly, the bottom line is this.  St. Augustine was a lot of fun and definitely a place cruisers don't want to miss.

We are now up in Jacksonville on the St. Johns River.  Brenda's sister and brother in law, Erin and Steve, will be joining us in a few days for a week long voyage on the St. Johns River.  More later.

Bye