Day 16, Tuesday, February 5, 2013, a.m.

 

Sixteen days on the road, I can’t believe I’ve been gone this long. I’m having a great time except for having some “real” conversations with friends. Yes, I’ve called family and I have good e-mail and fb conversations, but I do miss physically seeing the people back home. I keep running into people here in the south who used to live in the north. I think I’ve talked to more people from Michigan than anywhere else and Conn. comes in second.

Still, I am enjoying this trip. The history is so fascinating. I don’t know what I was thinking, but it is SO different than New Hampshire. I guess that just goes to show that each area is unique. And Florida, being originally a Spanish colony, is even more different with the eyes noticing right off because of the architecture of the buildings.

The plantations that I visited on the way down had some European influences especially as the original owners wanted to set themselves up like British aristocracy, the wealthy gentlemen farmers, with a touch of Roman and Greek in some of the fancier architecture. In St. Augustine, I love the Spanish influence in the style, type of materials, and colors that were used. In one place, every window in the building was different; size, shape, angle and color of trim. (Well, I don’t know if that was Spanish or just the owner’s whim.) In the Villa Zorayda Museum, the window trims are painted bright reds, yellows, and blues.

A couple days ago, I had mentioned tabby. Here the tabby is any kind of shell mixed with limestone and water. The city of St. Augustine at one time was walled and could only be accessed through a gate. Those walls, built of tabby, also had a defensive aspect. Anyone trying to climb the walls could get severely cut.

Today I want to try to get a photo of Magnolia Avenue said to be one of the most picturesque streets. Although no longer lined with magnolias, it is lined with majestic live oaks covered in Spanish moss.

Live oak is an extremely hard oak. The USS Constitution was build with this wood. Also, the natural curves in some of the trees were excellent for the ribs of the old ships.

The churches are amazing, too. I know, churches usually are beautiful.

I imported and edited the photos I took yesterday. There were more than I thought. I’ve now uploaded 18 to fb and now I’m ready for today’s adventure.