Home Is Where We Park It:  Stagecoach RV Park

Date:  April 21, 2019

Saint Augustine Part Five

Easter Sunday – Off To Switzerland!

219 Steps To The Top Of The Lighthouse

If anyone is really keeping track, you’re right there was no blog yesterday.  I took a shower, shaved, laid down at 9 pm for just a minute and the next thing I knew it was 6 am!  Now how about that.

Happy Easter to one and all this Easter Sunday.  We really, really wanted to go to church this Easter Sunday but were so reluctant after the absolutely terrible experience we had last year.  Barbara, though, did some research and found a Presbyterian Church in Switzerland – Switzerland, Florida that is – that looked promising. We both said a silent prayer and out the door we went this morning.  This time we were not disappointed.

This is the Geneva Presbyterian Church where we attended worship this Easter Sunday.

What a beautiful church and what wonderful, open and inviting people.  This Easter Sunday was a complete 180 from last year.  Are we ever glad we went.

This is a picture of the worship center looking at the wall behind the pulpit.  There is still about 15 minutes before service so it seems empty, but by the time service started there wasn’t an empty pew.

A closer look.

The window above the cross.

One of the sanctuary windows off to the right.

What a choir they had, they ended the service with The Halleluiah Chorus and they did not disappoint.  They were absolutely magnificent!

Pastor Joe did not disappoint either.  He delivered a powerful message of rebirth, new life, and hope no matter the circumstances one may be going through.  We would definitely return here again when in the area.

That was this morning.  Now, let’s go back a day and discover what made me so down-right tired.  Yup, we were supposed to stay home and just recover from all the walking we had already done.  You know us, however, the day was so beautiful there was no way  we were going to stay home.  Off we went and this was were we ended up.

Tain’t she grand, the St. Augustine Lighthouse.  Today the Lighthouse is a private-aid to navigation and an active, working lighthouse.  The current lighthouse stands at the north end of Antastasia Island and was built between 1871 and 1874. The tower is the second lighthouse tower in St. Augustine, the first being lit officially by the American territorial government in May 1824 as Florida’s first lighthouse. However, both the Spanish and the British governments operated a major aid to navigation here including a series of wooden watch towers and beacons dating from 1565.

Let’s investigate a bit more.  We begin at the

In the Visitor’s Center we discovered that taking care of the Lighthouse was a family affair.

Each member of the family tended to the lighthouse and shared family chores.  The lightkeeper maintained the lenses, made necessary repairs to the lighthouse as needed, and kept watch over the harbor.  The keepers wife prepared meals, tended to the garden, and mended clothes.  She also had to be ready at a moments notice to step in and assume the role of the lightkeeper if anything happened to her husband.   Children were also looked upon as important members of the station.  They had chores assigned to them by their parents and sometimes stood watch with their father.

Moving to the lighthouse itself  here we are in front of it at ground level.

Moving inside the first room we came upon was the Lightkeeper’s office and workroom.  Here in the workroom the oil for the original light was kept.

Before the light was electrified in 1936 the keeper carried a twenty pound pail of oil to the top every two and a half hours.  Trust me I picked up that pail and I know I couldn’t even get it to the top just once!

About that climb to the top.  Well, I was definitely over 44 inches tall, and those 219 steps, I was up to the challenge.  Unfortunately Barbara was not so I was left to solo.

Time to start the climb up.  I’m getting there.

The final set of stairs to the top.

Made it!  And here is the view from the top.  In the distance is the Route 312 bridge.

That’s the Atlantic Ocean way out there.

Looking straight down from whence I came.

Of course what goes up has to eventually go back down.

New knees do make a big difference in my life.  Six months ago I could not have done this.  Imagine that!

Down on the ground again we moved over to the Keepers House.

The original house had been destroyed by arson.  Over $1.2 million was raised by 16 individuals over fifteen years to restore it to what you see above.  It is a brick triplex that housed two families and a single gentleman who served as the assistant lightkeeper.

This was and is the current layout of the house.

This was the dining room, school work would probably have been done in this room as well.  Other tasks not suitable for the parlor, such as mending socks would have taken place here also.

This is the parlor.

No pictures of the bedrooms as they were just large empty rooms.

This is the basement, uncommon in Florida were water from the gutters flowed into large cisterns.

Leaving the Keepers House we wandered the grounds and discovered other exhibits.

That was our day at the St. Augustine Lighthouse.  There is so much more there but again I just can’t put it all in one blog.  I hope, however, through the pictures and short history I’ve shared that it will whet your appetite to someday visit it for yourself.

Our last two days on The Road of Retirement have been interesting and exciting ones.  We’ve enjoyed every minute of our sightseeing trips.  It was wonderful to be part of an Easter Sunday service that uplifted and inspired.  My reason for being so tired last night, I do believe those 219 steps just wore me out.  I, however, am so grateful to the good Lord that I now am able to complete things like that.  Stay tuned, we have so much more to share with you in the coming days.

Thanks again for coming along with us through our blog.  We hope you enjoyed your time with us.  Time now to call it a night.  But just wait until tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road

Home Is Where We Park It:  Stagecoach RV Park

Date:  April 19, 2019

Saint Augustine Part Four

The 10th and Final Fort 

What a difference a day can make.  In terms of weather that is.  The last three days as I stated have been absolutely beautiful.  Today, well today we had Tornado Watches posted all day.  The winds blew 20 to 30 mph with higher gusts.  The rain  came down at times by the bucket full.  This was the view out of the solarium window most of the day.

Marti wanted no part of it so he just curled up in a ball and went to sleep.

They say tomorrow and following will be absolutely beautiful again.

Let’s go sightseeing again.  There is so much more we have to cover when it comes to St. Augustine.  I spent three days touring the city on the trolley and truthfully I could go again another three times and not be bored.  Each time around I learned even more about this delightful city and its history.  Today we’ve going to look at

Prior to the construction of this fort St. Augustine was guarded by a series of nine wooden forts.  Each in turn was ultimately destroyed.  The Spanish queen finally gave the order for the building of a stone fort.  Leave it to a woman to get it done.  It is the oldest masonry fort in the United States.

Let’s learn some more about this Spanish stronghold that was built to keep the British at bay and to keep their enemies away from the Gulf Stream shipping lanes.

In the beginning

The fort was made of coquina.  Coquina is a rock that is found in marine coastal areas where high tides and strong ocean waves work together to abrade, smooth, and pack the shells of tiny marine creatures over the course of millions of years.  The coquina used in the fort was quarried from Anastasia island, ferried to the mainland, shaped while it was still soft, then left to harden for a year.  After a year it was hard enough to use in the fort’s construction.  To the dismay of those who attacked the fort, coquina merely absorbed the impact of a cannonball and left nothing more than a minor dent in the wall.

The walls of the fort are said to be thirty-three feet high and seventeen feet thick.  I know I don’t have a long enough drill to get through this.

What’s the old saying there is a method to their madness?  That was definitely the case

with the design of the fort.  Rising slopes around the fort,

the dry multi purpose moat that circled the fort

the ravelin or wedge shaped structure, that stood in front of and protected the entrance way to the fort.  On the top was an observation deck and a protected place for soldiers of the fort to fire upon an advancing enemy.

 Then there was the entrance to the fort itself which was the most vulnerable part of the fort.  To protect it there was a heavy grated gate, two drawbridges, and heavy wooden doors.

 

 

 

Once inside the fort you see a large central grass square with numerous rooms around the perimeter.

These individual rooms were called casements.  Each had a designated purpose.  One for the storage of rice, another wheat, vegetables, ammunition, etc.  The reason for instance that all the food stuff was never kept together in one room was simple,

 sailors back then could not read.  Thus they were simply directed to go to this room and take three barrels, then go to the next room and take two barrels, and so on and so forth.  No worry about having to read what barrel contained what, each room had barrels with different goods in each of them

As for the soldiers who were quarted in the fort, life was not easy.

This is a typical soldiers quarters.  And I thought the mattress in our rig was hard, I can’t imagine sleeping on a thin mattress on top of a wooden shelf.

If this wasn’t bad enough I discovered that most soliders had to work a second job to make ends meet.

This is the former powder magazine which is one of the oldest rooms in the fort.  It was originally designed to store gunpowder but proved to be too damp.  During the siege of 1702 it was turned into a trash dump which when full was sealed off.  Years later it was rediscovered by accident and when opened up numerous bones were found inside.  Rumors began to circulate that the commander of the fort caught his wife cheating on him and had her and her lover imprisoned and sealed in this room.  No such luck.  The bones were determined to be animal only.

Now I don’t know of a fellow RV’er who likes his black tank, but after reading about the fort’s early waste disposal system I’ll stick with what I have in our rig!

Time to go up and take a look at the upper gun deck.  Amazing, but we always seem

somehow, somewhere to discover stairs that need to be climbed.

But well worth the climb for once you are up look what you see, this is in part the upper gun deck.

 

Now how in the world do I fire this thing?

This is the breathtaking view looking out over the St. Augustine bay.

Once again there was much, much more to this fort that I simply could not put it all in one blog.  I hope, however, that I’ve given you enough to whet your appetite so that one day you’ll take the time to visit it.  Go, you will not be disappointed.

Well, we had a wet day today on The Road of Retirement and so spent the day hunkered down.  I went through the pictures I took the last three days – about 1,000 of them – and began to put them in some sort of order.  Barbara went to the Wishy Washy.   Tomorrow we’ll be sightseeing again.  The next couple of days I’ll continue to blog about our travels in St. Augustine.  Stayed tuned there are lots of good things yet to come.  Till then.

Thanks again for joining us on our journey.  Till tomorrow have a good night.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home Is Where We Park It:  Stagecoach RV Park

Date:  April 18, 2019

Saint Augustine Part Three

Lunch in the Deep End of the Pool While the Piano Played

About that pool.  And lunch.  And the piano.  All in due time.  Let me begin by saying we have had three absolutely fantastic days in Saint Augustine.  The weather has been picture perfect.  The temperature was always in the high 70’s and the low 80’s.  There was always a light breeze blowing.  Brilliant sunshine.  What more could one ask for?

Well, how about the people we met.  We’ve met and talked with people from all walks of life.  There was the couple from Canada that spoke only a bit of English.  If you spoke real slow they were alright.  Barbara jumped in and helped them out.  Went with them to the ticket office to sort of interpret.  Shared a bit about the trolley tour.  Even escorted them to one of the attractions at the trolley depot.  Then there was the woman from Wisconsin whose husband was in Saint Augustine working.  She was left to see the sights on her own.  We had a delightful conversation with her.  There were so many others from all walks of life.  Every one open and willing to take a few minutes to just strike up a conversation.  Including this young man who we bumped into today.  He is a freshman at Falgler college looking to major in Graphic Design.  We discovered him sketching the fort

and the harbor and the draw bridge across it.

We spent several minutes with him then wished him well in his studies and moved on.

Let’s not forget the employees of the Old Town Trolley Company.  Like Tony.

There were others – Bud, Bill, Linda, JP, Davey Jones, Greg and so many more. Wow, what

a wonderful bunch.  They couldn’t do enough for you.  Every one to a person spoke highly of the company and we’re quick to add how proud they were to be working for them.  Asking questions and digging a bit I discovered that a Trolley Tour Bus driver is required to know a script that covers 100 points regarding Saint Augustine. 

They are also tested on a regular basis regarding the script and must obtain a passing grade of 96 to be certified as a tour guide.  Failing to do so puts them back in training.  If they go away on vacation and come back they must be re-certified again before they can again serve in a tour capacity.  You can be sure when in Nashville we’ll take their tour.

Enough said let’s go sight-seeing.  We’ll begin with the Fountain of Youth Park.

This property was once home to the Timucuan Indians.

This is a reconstruction of a typical Timucuan hut that would have provided shelter for two to four individuals.

A look inside shows a rather spartan arrangement.  A sleeping loaf ran around the hut, in the center was a space for a fire, and the top in the center was open to let smoke escape.

Diorama of  village life.

 

 

Fifty two years before Saint Augustine was settled, Spanish Explorer Ponce de Leon

arrived in Florida.  Natives had told him of a fountain to the north that had the ability to grant eternal youth.

He had his turn now it was mine!  I told Barbara to stand back because after a sip I was sure I would be doing cartwheels.  No such luck.  I wondered why and that’s when I discovered that if sipping doesn’t work then you are supposed to strip and bath in its waters.  Like that was going to happen.  So I’m still the same old guy with two creaky knees.  Oh well I tried.

Moving along in time In 1565 Pedro Menendez de Aviles founded the first settlement of

Saint Augustine in this field, establishing what was to become the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the United States.  The first settlement is in the process of being recreated on this field.

There is so much more to see here, we spent over two hours roaming the grounds.  My advice, make the time to visit this fantastic piece of history.  Before we leave, though, here are some pictures of some of God’s beautiful birds that roam the grounds.

We discovered that they will lose their tail feathers by June but within a month or two they will grow back.  As to why they are lying on the ground, they dig holes in order to find a cool spot in the dirt.

Now about that pool.  Leaving here we are going to the Alcazar Hotel which was built by

Henry Flagler shortly after he built the Ponce de Leon (in a future blog).  It remained the center of social life until it’s closing in 1931.  The two hotels were directly across the street from each other.

The courtyard in front.

Flagler built this hotel to provide informal entertainment to the guests who were staying in his other hotel across the street.  He built Turkish and Russian baths, a bowling alley,

tennis courts

a bicycle riding academy

a ballroom,

and then there was this

With two floors above it, the third floor being the location of the ballroom band and the center open top to bottom, guests could go for a swim while listening to the waltz.

Today the pool is  empty and it has been converted into

which is set up in the former deep end of the pool (wave Hi to Barbara, she is to the right in the green shirt)

Yes, there is even a piano player who provides music during lunch!  How about that window to the left.

As for lunch, a delicious Cuban sandwich for each of us with unlimited drinks.

It sure wasn’t McDonald’s and probably stretched the budget a bit, but how often do you get to have lunch in a swimming pool while listening to the beautiful notes of a piano.

We’ve still got a long way to go to get caught up in terms of all that we’ve done and seen during the last three days.  However, it’s getting late and I’m dead tired after three days of walking and climbing all kinds of stairs.  Funny, we always seem to be able to find places that have lots of stairs.  I wonder why that is.

That was our day today on The Day of Retirement.  Once again it was a full day.  Funny about that, we left around 9 am saying to each other Oh we’ll be home no later than noon maybe 1 pm.  We finally got home at 4:30 pm.  No complaints.  We absolutely enjoyed every minute of the day.  Thank you good Lord for giving these two old duffers three wonderful days and the strength to see each through.

Once again thanks for joining us on our travels.  Stay tuned we have a lot more to see and show.  Time now to catch some shut-eye.  Tomorrow we’re home – I think especially since the weather is supposed to be so bad.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road

 

 

 

Home Is Where We Park It:  Stagecoach RV Park

Date:  April 17, 2019

Saint Augustine Part Two

One down, two more to go.  Days in Saint Augustine that is.  We had a full day yesterday and today promised to be just like yesterday.  The nice thing, though, there was no need to rush into the day.  Nothing in the city was likely to disappear if we didn’t get there exactly at 9 am.  Thus we took our time getting up and having breakfast.  This approach set the tone for the rest of the day, slow and steady wins the race, or in this case makes for a much more enjoyable day of sight-seeing.

In due time we went to the office and had them place a call for the shuttle bus to come and pick us up.  I’m really enjoying this.  I don’t have to worry about driving, finding my way around, not even a place to park.  As the old Greyhound ad used to say leave the driving to us and so we left the driving to the Old Trolley Shuttle bus drivers.

Let’s get going.  We’re going to back to yesterday’s travels and we’re going to share with you another place we visited.  It is The Oldest Store Museum Experience.

This store is arranged to look and feel like it did in the late 1800’s when C.F. Hamblen first opened this popular business.  Exploring the extensive collection of authentic products within these four walls is like stepping into a Sears and Roebuck catalog from the early 20th century.

Live actors acting as clerks and Snake Oil Salesman will try to sell you just about everything and anything.  For instance, this fine clerk began our tour by trying to sell us the elixir of life, this small bottle was guaranteed to fix all that bothers you for a small price of just $20!

Let’s go inside and have a look around.  This is the sales counter with products behind.  How about that talking machine.

Here’s a better picture of it.  Trying putting this into the dash of your RV!

Down below the counter where containers of all kinds of beans.

I never could get a straight answer as to what Turtle Beans, or Zipper Cream Southern Peas, or Kentucky Wonder Beans were or what they would be used in.

Here’s another display case with all kinds of wonder-working elixirs.  Take a look at that cute little baby’s face on the Chill Tonic.  That face alone sent chills down my spine! This tonic was for the relief of malaria and resulting chills and fever.  One individual said of this elixir:  Somehow I got to remembering patented medicines my siblings and I had to take as children. Chill Tonic was one and we had to take it for about a week in the spring. It had little gray flecks of something floating around in a thin gray liquid. I could tolerate it but my poor brother would almost faint when it was his turn to down the big spoonful

Then in the upper right corner is Milk of Magnesia Tooth Paste.  In the lower left is Wamp Root whatever that is.  Finally,  in the middle check out the Worm Syrup.

Look closely and you’ll note that you have to buy all three bottles of the Worm Syrup just to get a full set of instructions on how to use it.  Now what exactly is Worm Syrup?  Worm syrup was a patent medicine sold in glass bottles. The concoctions were intended to get rid of parasitic worms. Kids used to get a dose of it before the beginning of each school year.

Want a cup of coffee?  First, you’ll have to grind your own beans.  Here’s just the ticket, guaranteed to give you enough ground coffee for more than one cup.

Having trouble eating corn on the cob?  Maybe you want to can some corn.  This is just what you want to buy.

Moving on through the rest of the store can anyone remember when meat went for these prices?  I sure can’t.

An early vacuum machine.  One problem, it only picked up dirt when pushed forward but not when you pulled it back.  Guess it needs a bit of refinement.

Here’s an early Maytag washing machine.  No electric where you live?  Not an issue it was powered by a one cylinder gas engine.  Didn’t last long because the fumes tended to make the woman using it sick.  Oh well, seemed like a good idea at first.

Trust me this place was full of just about everything from tonics and elixirs to vintage early sewing machines, 

farm equipment

and a horse powered grain thresher.

Then there was this, a bike that I have no idea how anyone could ride.  Yes, the small wheel is in the front.  Yes, more people broke bones riding this contraption.  No, this is definitely not the kind of bike that I am looking for.

When we first considered going through this museum it looked like a silly tourist trap, but we were impressed by the antiques of old and how they worked to improved lives- and the fun, dramatic explanations of the docents who were dressed in costumes of the day made it that much better.  There’s so much more in this museum but I just don’t have room to include all the pictures I took.  Trust me it was a fascinating place to visit and we’re glad we had the chance to do so.

We visited a number of other attractions yesterday but after two days of sightseeing I’m bushed and just not up to typing anymore.  Trust me, I’ll get caught up in the next couple of days and let you see all that we saw.  We’ll visit the Fountain of Youth, the Pirate Museum, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, The Distillery, and The Castillo. 

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  Another full day, another day we did it our way, traveling along, hand in hand, singing our song.  Oh, and climbing once again up and down all kinds of stairs.  We’re tired, but it’s a good tired.   Most of all we are so thankful to the good Lord that we are able to do all that we do.  A year ago neither of us could have walked this much.  Does it hurt?  Yup, but so what as they say a few aches and pains  let you know that you are alive.  Tonight, we can attest to the fact that we are very much alive!

Thanks for coming along again.  Join us again tomorrow as we go at it again.  Till then have a good night.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road