St. Augustine, worth a visit

When I first heard about St. Agustine in Florida, I was a bit reluctant about visiting,  as I had become so tired of hearing Americans telling a story of their country, as if it was the white man's story. And more, I had heard of that city being described as America's oldest city.

Anyway,  since I was trapped in Florida, as the coronavirus is out of control here which makes international destinations out of reach at this time,  I decided to kill some time visiting that location.

I was pleasantly surprised as everywhere I went, it spoke to it being "The oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the USA," not America's oldest city as others had described it.

                               

That is exactly right.

This was originally a native American village called Seloy,  but the Spanish put down their roots in 1565 after the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon, who is reputed to be the first European to set foot in Florida, came ashore there. As the Europeans came with diseases that the native Americans had no immunity to, in the old part of the city, you see a native American cemetery which bears witness to the fate of the toll their arrival had on those early people. Besides, the Native Americans just did not have the wherewithal to repel the European invaders with their superior ships and weapons,  so the rest is history.

The first thing the  Spanish did was to build a wall encircling their settlement, and most of it is still intact today. 

They occupied the area 200 years but in 1763, they ceded it to Britain after the 7-year war.

 Britain returned Florida to Spain in 1783 but Spain ceded Florida to the United States in 1819.

The wall still looks quite intact 

This city, therefore, plays an important role in displaying history in action, and in Florida (pre carnivorous) all third-grade children were taken to this important city to see and feel the history of their state.

The oldest marina in the USA

St. Augustine is also the site of the oldest marina in the USA and of course, the impressive vessels you see there today are nothing like what existed in the olden days. 

There is a huge modern bridge over the marina which attaches the mainland to the 14-mile long island of Anastasia, where numerous hotels are now to be found, but in terms of history, only the lighthouse is of interest. 

Matthew did this

In 2016, a category 5  hurricane named Matthew created havoc in the region, and although many streets could only be navigated with canoes and small boats, today there is very little evidence of the damage except for this building at the entrance of the marina which had been a restaurant. There is one building close to the sea, where the 5-foot tall watermark is prominent, to remind all of that devastation. 

Replica of the original look-out tower

My favorite place was "The Fountain of Youth" which is actually a very impressive archeological park where a bunch of peacocks has now taken a shine to. 

There, it is said Ponce de Leon first came ashore and in the 1990s, they actually found archeological evidence of it being the first Spanish settlement.

Images of the native American lifestyle are all over

 Naturally, hoping for a miracle, I actually drank some of the water from the well which is supposed to be the fountain of youth. The water was awful, as it had a salty taste but neither Ponce nor I were lucky enough to revert to our youth😀!

It was really an interesting experience touring the park though and I actually needed another day as after trying to take in everything.

A demonstration of how a crossbow was used

 I got my first experience of seeing and hearing a cannon being fired and some information on the workings of a crossbow. 

Of course with each European conquest came the church and a replica the oldest catholic is there and of course a huge cross on the property next door.

 To be fair, in St. Augustine, there has been a commendable to record actual history, and not downplaying the role and of slaves and Native Americans as one often encounters in the written history in the USA.

Outside of the Fountain of youth, what I also found intriguing was the excellent architecture representing the various periods. 

And as a matter of interest to music lovers, especially soul music lovers, the late Ray Charles who was born in Alabama,  went to school there.  For at age seven, when he started to become blind, his eye had to be removed. When he became totally blind, he was sent to the school for the blind in St. Augustine where he learned to read Braille and started to play the piano, clarinet, and saxophone.

We who continue to revel in Ray Charles' music, give thanks to the school for the blind in St. Augustine.

Bridge to Anastasia island