My
intent on leaving the Alligator Farm was to go to Flagler College. Imagine
seeing the first hotel that had electricity (five years before the white house)
and to see $40,000 worth of Tiffany windows. We got back to Stop #4 and I sat
on the bench awaiting the next train.
Suddenly,
I changed my mind. I wanted to go buy a pair of red earrings. I went back to
the Silver Feather where I’d made the purchases yesterday. It took a bit of
hemming and hawing, but I finally decided on a pair of coral disks with silver
design. They go good with the wolf pendant that I wear. At another shop, I
purchased a pair of sunglasses.
By
that time, the day had warmed considerably. The sweater had to come off, but it
was too bulky to fit in my back pack. I tried to put the sleeves through the
carry handle of the pack so that the sweater wouldn’t get in the way of the
straps. After walking a bit, the sweater fell to the ground. Okay, that didn’t
work. I draped the sweater over my walking stick, but that messed up my
feathers and it wasn’t easy holding onto the sweater and the stick. Somehow
along the way, I lost my pretty guinea feather.
I
decided to head towards the fort and took this old side alley. It was
non-vehicle and the bricks were horribly uneven. I had to watch my footing. The
last building at the corner of the main thoroughfare was a coffee place. There
were patio tables outside in a little courtyard and there was a woman sitting
near the sidewalk with a huge piece of pie. I had to ask.
Key
lime, that’s a key lime pie? Oh, I had to have a piece. This gave me the
opportunity to sit for a few minutes, take the back pack off and tie the
sweater around it. That pie was delicious. One problem with traveling alone is
that with no one to talk to, I tend to eat too fast, but there’s so much to do
and see.
After
returning the plate and fork, I headed across the main street to Castillo de
San Marcos. From the street, it just looks like a cement wall. I walked up the
incline to the ticket booth and paid my fee. There used to be a moat around the
fort which cannot be seen from the road. I crossed the drawbridge into one
section then a ramp went down between tall walls and across another drawbridge over
the grassy moat and actual access to the fort.
It
was like stepping back in time. The fort was actually made out of coquina, as
were most buildings around the area. Coquina is a mixture of shells, limestone,
water and mortar. (The city had actually been burned down a few times and
people found that coquina doesn’t burn like wood.) Plus, cannon balls tended to
sink into the material rather than shatter it. The walls were originally
painted white with red corners (the colors of Spain.) One of the stories goes
that the Spaniards, after the British shot cannonballs during the day at the
fort, would rappel down the walls after dark and repaint the walls where the
cannonballs hit. When daylight came, it would look to the British as if their
cannonballs had no effect.
The
Spanish began building the fort in 1672 and it took 23 years to complete. It is
the oldest masonry structure in the U.S. The walls were 10 feet thick at the
bottom and four at the top. Once inside, visitors can go in most of the rooms
where there are story boards and pictures telling of the history. One room is set
up as sleeping quarters with rough mattresses thrown down on wooden beds. The
center courtyard is a large open area. Climbing a double set of stairs to the
top, there are walkways around and cannons. My ticket is for two days. I may go
back today.
The
British did hold the fort for some time, so there are British influences among
the Spanish. I still can’t get over all this history. It boggles the mind that
these structures have lasted for hundreds of years and even though some have
been rebuilt or added to, parts of the original buildings are still visible.
After
climbing up the all those stairs, then back down, I’d had enough for the day.
It was 2:30, so I headed to the train stop. I was back at the hotel around
3:30. I haven’t been writing down times as I was in the beginning of this trip.
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