St. Augustine, Florida

St. Augustine
October 14-15, 2018
Trip Journal #12

Attention grammar police. 

When I mentioned St. Augustine in this part of the country, I was kindly corrected. My Catholic friends will know that I accurately say “a-gus-tin” with the emphasis on the “gus”. However, hereabouts they say “Aug- us-tine” emphasizing the “Aug”. However, we did visit and attend Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Augustine … where they pronounced it my way from the pulpit.

Cathedral Basilica of Saint Augustine 

The walls featured many paintings recording the history of Catholicism in this region. Very beautiful work. 

Choir Loft at back of Cathedral

St. Oscar Romero

This Sunday as we attended Mass, they observed that this very day in Rome, Bishop Oscar Romero is being canonized as a saint. An advocate for peace during El Salvador's civil war - he sacrificed his own safety to be close to the poor and his people. Óscar Romero was killed by soldiers while celebrating Mass in 1980 in San Salvador. Sainthood only 38 years after his death. We mention this because our family has a close connection to Salvador. Hello Jorge 💖

Greece in Florida

This city has much to offer, yet when we pulled into the parking lot for large vehicles, we parked right next to a enormous Greek Festival by Trinity Greek Orthodox Church ... covering three acres with huge tents, entertainment, vendors and of course Greek food.  We seem to be traveling the world … remember our visit to the Polish Festival in Baltimore!


Besides the great food, we were treated to some Zorba dancing!
Fun fact: when waiting in line for some delicious Greek food, we struck up a conversation with a priest. Lots of comparative discussion between the Roman church and the Greek church. The fun part came at our parting when he said ... "Now where is my wife?"

Historic District

The City of St. Augustine is the nation’s oldest city founded in 1565 by Spanish Explorers. Possession of Florida changed hands quite a few times … but never by violence … always by treaty or purchase. An interesting fact: when the United States purchased Florida from Spain in 1819, all free blacks (those not enslaved) and all indigenous peoples (Indians) were expelled and forced either north, west or to the Caribbean Islands. You will recall African Anna Kingsley, wife of Zephaniah Kingsley and manager of his plantations … she and all her children moved to Haiti.

We walked the Historic District of St. Augustine, savoring its food and shopping a little.  Of note is the five & dime shop where we found nice hats, the soap shop owned by a Frenchman, the gelato and chocolate shop that smelled fabulous … and the Backyard of Meehan’s Island Café!  Great food ... I had the schrimp scampi and he had fish and chips ... with outside seating … we recommend 😋

Plaza de la Constitucion

At the end of the historic district is the Plaza de la Constitucion and a fascinating tidbit of Florida’s independent streak. Also in this picture is the Cathedral Basilica shown as it is today across from the plaza. The plaza was laid out in 1573 with specifications that imbue it with harmony and spiritual meaning … the length being equal to 1½ the length.

Fascinating piece of history here about this monument. St. Augustine is stubborn.

Castillo de San Marcos

Spanish Explorer Ponce de Leon first explored this area searching for gold in 1513. He names it La Florida.  Sporadically claimed by Spain, France and England (and of course the indigenous natives) Spain wanted to keep control. Completed in 1695, Spain hoped to fortify their claim on the Floridian region with this fort at the west bank of Matanzas Bay leading to the Atlantic Ocean. The fort was never conquered due to its design and construction of a sedimentary mix of shells mixed with sand and water, called Coquina which absorbed canon balls rather then destruct.

A note for our Roadtrek Family

That large vehicle parking lot we parked at ... it is there because the 3 story parking structure will not accommodate anything taller than 8"2". Interestingly, the structure charges $15.00 flat fee. The large for oversize vehicles only lot is free until 10:00 p.m. You can also purchase an overnight pass for $35.00, but with no hookups; we declined and headed to a Walmart.

Florida Sandhill Cranes

These beautiful birds were more interested in scraps of food in the parking lot than in our efforts to capture them photographically. Sandhill cranes "couple" for life and do not migrate. They are threatened in the state of Florida and belong in freshwater wetland and marches ... which is why we do NOT leave food in the parking lot of Walmart!

Next: Cruising down the Coast