The Ancient City     01/11/19

Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area, Flagler Beach, Florida

Yes, and from ancient days I AM He.  No one can deliver out of My hand.  When I act, who can reverse it?  ~ Isaiah 43:13

(addendum for yesterday:  I neglected to mention (because there wasn’t a picture and we were suffering from amnesia) that we saw quite a few dolphins!  Most were in a pod that looked like they might be feeding.  But they were too far away to even attempt taking a picture.  ☹)

 

Did you ever have one of those days when you stare at all the clothes in your closet and proclaim, “I have absolutely nothing to wear!”?  That was me today.  We’re sightseeing in St. Augustine.  Fine.  The problem is the weather.  When we started out, it was 47 and sunny with a pretty stiff breeze.  But by noon, it was supposed to be in the low 60’s.  Plus, we’d be going in and out of buildings/museums all day.  Plus, we’d be riding our bikes around.  Plus, I’m still recuperating so I’m not my normal self.  And of course, there’s those darn hot flashes to consider.

What’s a girl supposed to wear???

I changed my shirt four times.  My pants twice.  My coat twice.  And my shoes once.  We won’t even get into my hair.  And Blaine doesn’t help matters when he laughs and makes comments like, “You should be one of those quick-change artists!”, all the while, humming the “Shark Attack” song.  Do-do-do-do-do-do . . .

We’ll just have to see if I ended up making the right decision.

 

Let’s begin our day with some facts about St. Augustine I garnered from Paul Goodman at wanderwisdom.com, just so you have an idea of where we’re going today.

1. St Augustine was founded by the Spanish explorer and admiral, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in 1565.
2. The city is the oldest continuously occupied city and port established by Europeans in the continental United States.
3. The narrowest street in the United States is in St Augustine. It is called Treasury Street and it is just 7 feet wide. The street connects the Royal Spanish Treasury to the area where the ships dock on the bay and it was deliberately made to be narrow, so that thieves would find it difficult to remove and escape with chests of gold from the treasury.
4. The city’s modern renaissance began in the 1880’s when the railroad tycoon, Henry Flagler built a number of decadent hotels and promoted St Augustine as a winter resort for the northern elite.
5. St Augustine has only suffered one direct hit by a hurricane in modern times, that was by Hurricane Dora in 1964.
6. St. Augustine is home to the Castillo de San Marcos, which is the oldest masonry fort in North America. The fort is also the only one from the 17th century in the continental US that is still standing. Visiting the fort is one of the most interesting things to do in St Augustine, Florida, if you ever visit the city.
7. The city’s fort was originally named the Castillo de San Marcos, by the Spanish who built it. It was then renamed Fort St. Mark, by the British when they took over. In 1821, when Florida became a U.S. territory, the fort was renamed again, this time being called Fort Marion. The fort’s original name was restored by Congress in 1942.
8. St Augustine is home to the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse, which is claimed to be the oldest wooden school building in the USA. It is not known exactly when it was built, but the building appears on tax records in 1716.
9. The Cathedral Basilica of St Augustine was constructed over a 5 year period between 1793 and 1797. The cathedral was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1970.
10. The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park is a popular tourist destination. It has been claimed that the site occupies the vicinity where Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon, first arrived in Florida in 1513, although most modern historians now believe that he probably landed in the Cape Canaveral area.

This is only half his list.  The others didn’t really pertain to us, but then again, neither does the Fountain of Youth.  We didn’t know it was here, otherwise, we certainly would’ve searched for it!  We could certainly use it!

It was just short of an hour drive to St. Augustine, most of it on the very scenic A1A which stretches along the coastline.  I only took one picture because they just wouldn’t have turned out nearly as well as being there.

Probably the most noteworthy thing we passed was the Beverly Beach RV Resort.  I say this because I looked them up after we had driven past.  There was a row of tightly packed rvs that faced the ocean, and then there was another row that faced the rear-end of the front row.  Similar to the ocean-side part of Gamble Rogers where we’re staying.  In Gamble Rogers, all the sites cost the same, they’re just first come, first served.  $30 per night.

It seemed the only difference between us and this RV Resort, (besides the fact that they’re closer together) was that they had full hook-ups and we don’t have sewer.

Their cost?  A mere $160/weekdays, $180/weekends.  Per night!

 

To get into St. Augustine, you have to cross a bridge.  The bridge and the sight of the buildings you can see gives the sense of entering into Spanish history.  It’s very unique from other places we’ve visited.

 

Because we weren’t exactly certain what we were planning on doing, we popped into the Visitor Center.

There were hoards of kids, presumably on field trips, but once they were all on their way, the place was virtually empty.  A woman circled some places on a map, and off we went.  Oh.  And she also advised us to stay off our bikes and just walk.  So that’s what we did.

Up first was the Castillo de San Marcos.  Sort of unfortunately, this is a National Park and since the government is still shut down, we were unable to go inside.  But they have information boards all around the outside and it was a beautiful sunny day and we saved $30.  😊  More than likely, it looks very similar in the inside to all the other forts we’ve visited.

 

The fort was begun in 1672 and completed in 1695.  Seven years later, it saw it’s first of many battles.  Although I’ll note some examples of restoration, the fort is mostly intact as it was originally built.  Amazing!  Maybe everything should be built out of this Coquina stuff!

 

This marker for the Old Spanish Trail was sort of ‘behind the scenes’ at the Visitor Center.

There was nothing to tell us what is was, so I had to look it up.  We initially thought it was some sort of actual trail that headed West, but it turns out, it’s a road.  The idea was conceived in 1915 as the shortest route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  It took nearly fifteen years to construct and cost more than $80 million, a good portion of it through formerly impassable swamplands in the Southeast, including five major outlets into the Gulf of Mexico.  Once it was finally completed in 1929, it was 2,743 miles of brick, asphalt, concrete and wooden plank.

To celebrate the completion, St. Augustine hosted a three-day gala, that included the dedication of this six-foot diameter coquina stone monument that marked the beginning of the trail.  A representative of the King of Spain dedicated the trail.

There were different Old Spanish Trail associations who continued to promote the highway well into the 1960’s,  (Never heard of a road association before . . .) but despite publishing thousands of brochures, maps and releasing a feature-length promotional film, the completion of Interstates 8 and 10 in the late 1960’s doomed the OST to extinction.

 

Continuing to wander around town in the general direction of Flagler College, we came across the Oldest Wood Schoolhouse in America.

 

And shortly after that, we stumbled into St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine.

 

This place wasn’t even on our radar, but being as I have a good friend who’s Greek Orthodox, we (actually Blaine said it first) decided to go in and check it out.

And we learned some interesting things thanks to the woman manning the gift shop.  She never told us her name, and we were so intent on listening to her explain the icons, we didn’t think to ask.

So Melanie (and her mom, Evelyn), this section’s for you!  Please forgive us if we don’t quite capture it properly.  😊

If we understand it correctly, these icons are believed to be holy inspired drawings/paintings in much the same way as the Christian Bible, only in art rather than words.

So first, let’s define icons. They are painted images (and reproductions of these images) typically of biblical scenes, the life of Jesus Christ, historical events of the Church, and portraits of saints. Icon comes from Greek meaning image.

Though our Christian brethren, and others of why we have icons and kiss them question us, we have answers. One of the greatest defenders of icons during the period of Iconoclasm was St. John of Damascus, and he provides us our answer, “I do not worship creation over the Creator.” We do not worship icons, but rather we venerate them, a way to show great respect and love for the holy.  ~ greekboston.com

 

A riza (Ru: риза) is a metal covering for the surface of an icon, usually made from a precious metal. The English word “revetment” is sometimes used, though riza is the most common word used in iconography: even being used to refer to the metal coverings of icons from the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire, where the practice originated. Why are icons covered?

The two Russian words used for these metal coverings – riza (риза) and oklad (оклад) – give the answer:

• Riza means “robe”, and so it can be said that the covering is decorative, and used as a way to honour the icon. No one could look at a riza-covered icon and imagine it not to be an item precious to the person that possesses it.

• Oklad means “covered”, and this word reveals the fundamentally practical reason for covering icons. They are used to help protect the painted surface of the icons from blackening caused by the soot and smoke from vigil lamps, candles, and incense used during church services.

And so a riza is used both for venerating an icon, and protecting the icon from damage caused by veneration.  ~ iconreader.wordpress.com

 

 

There were quite a few of these protected in the shrine, all of them beautiful.

And of course, there were other things here too.  I took pictures of part of the story.  It was just too long to do them all.

 

 

We continued our walk to the college through the historic district, where there were a few more surprise finds!

 

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, America’s first parish, founded September 8, 1565.

 

Some really scary window-washers!

 

Another small (and free!) museum housed in the Government House.

 

 

A house made with slices of white bread!

 

The Father Miguel O’Reilly House Museum (also free).

They had a brochure here, so we have some history to share:  This is the oldest house on the oldest street in the oldest town in the United States.  (but it’s not the oldest house in the city.  We’ll see that later.)  They have the only authentic historic garden in St. Augustine (whatever that means), was built with tabby and coquina and dated to the late 17^th century (that’s the late 1600’s to most of us! 😊).  In 1725, the house was in the name of Don Lorenzo de Leon.  Father Miguel O’Reilly came to St. Augustine as the parish priest and purchased the house in 1785.  About 80 years later, in 1866, The Sisters of St. Joseph arrived in town at the request of Florida’s first Bishop.  Their ministry was to educate the liberated slaves after the Civil War.  The last class conducted in the house was in 1956.  It opened as a museum after being placed on the list of National Historic Places in the 1970’s.

There was a lot more to see and learn at this place, but we had time constraints, so we moved on, much to the Sisters’ dismay.

 

The Oldest House in St. Augustine.  They offered tours here (not free, and we didn’t go), but we thought other houses in the area looked much older.  Hmmmmm . . . .

 

This old, really pretty church and hospital.

 

 

And then, we were at Flagler College.

 

This was originally Hotel Ponce de Leon, built in 1888 by railroad magnate Henry Flagler. (He was also the co-founder of Standard Oil along with John D. Rockefeller.  I don’t know why the college brochure doesn’t mention that.  Curious . . . )  It was a resort hotel like none other and an architectural wonder where the elite stayed – for the entire winter season.  It was closed the rest of the year.

In 1968, Flagler College was founded and they’ve invested more then $54 million in restoration and preservation and on February 21, 2006 it became a National Historic Landmark.

Twice a day, at ten & two, the college offers guided tours by trained students to certain areas.

 

We had a little over an hour to kill, and knew that the College tour would take at least 45 minutes, and it was already past our lunchtime, so we walked across the street to another ‘must see’ destination – The Lightner Museum.

This was originally the Alcazar Hotel and was also a project of Henry Flagler’s and was built at the same time as the Ponce Hotel (1887-1889).  This hotel was also a winter retreat and more than 25,000 guests visited during the early winter seasons.  Countless more used the recreational facilities.  They housed the world’s largest indoor swimming pool at the time, a grand ballroom, sulfur baths, a steam room, a massage parlor, a gymnasium, a bowling alley, archery ranges, tennis courts and a bicycle academy.

Those who stayed at the Ponce de Leon could use/take part in any of the facilities or activities at the Alcazar Hotel right across the street, however, those at the Alcazar were not permitted to enter the Ponce.  Different class of people, don’t you know.

Unfortunately, this hotel closed in 1930 due to the Depression and remained closed and uninhabited until it was purchased by Otto C. Lightner in 1947.

Mr. Lightner was from Chicago and was a collector of collections, and he chose this place to house them when his collection got too big.  In 1925, he founded Hobbies The Magazine for Collectors, where he encouraged everyone to collect something.

Through his magazine he did much in promoting various fields of collecting, autographs, antique furniture, china, silver, stamps, coins and paper money, buttons, dolls and just about anything collectible. His stamp and coin departments were important in the history of American numismatics which were run by various celebrities over the years and filled with a rich assortment of articles and advertisements.

 

 

We wish we’d had more time here, but we had a tour to get to.

 

Back at the College, we were treated to a partial tour.  When I say treated, I don’t mean it was free, just that it was a remarkable place with a wonderful guide.  A portion of the normal tour was off-limits due to something (I don’t remember what) and so they only charged us half the regular admission price!  I said, we don’t know what we’re missing, so that’s fine.  The student who sold us our tickets said she wished everyone had that attitude.  Must have had to face a lot of grumpy people . . . .

There were a lot of people for this tour!  So many, that they had to have two students – each taking half at a time, but much to our surprise, it didn’t matter.  The places were large and we could gather around, and the guides only talked when everyone was ready.

This place truly was exceptional!  I wish we could remember more of what our tour guides taught us . . . .

 

During our tour, our guide mentioned the Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church that was also built by Henry Flagler – at the same time as the two hotels!  It was built to the glory of God as a memorial to his daughter, Jennie Louise Flagler Benedict, who passed away as a result of childbirth in 1889.  The church was dedicated in March of 1890.  So we walked over to check it out on our way to dinner.

 

Now it’s really getting  late!  Three o’clock as a matter of fact!  We were getting weak from hunger and just plain tired . . . .

Blaine’s sister lives near West Palm Beach, Florida in a town called Jupiter (where Burt Reynolds lived).  We knew that she’d visited St. Augustine several times, so we asked her where to eat.  She suggested The Columbia, a Cuban restaurant.

Wow!!  The food here was spectacular! Thanks sis!

 

An hour and a half later, the sun was setting and we still wanted to see the Lighthouse and Blaine still wanted to walk on the bridge.  And after that dinner, we really needed that walk!

 

Oh my!  Was it windy and cold on that bridge!

 

We only walked halfway across and went back to the Jeep to warm up.

They’re still doing Christmas lights here, clear through the end of January, but we didn’t stay.  Still recuperating, remember?

 

The lighthouse was on the way home, so we stopped just to get a couple of pictures, but you can’t get to it without paying $12.95.  So this is all we were able to see.  Because it was late and admission includes climbing to the top (almost 300 steps!) and we were tired and it was cool and windy.

 

Time to go home.