A Historic Weekend

I'm heading up to St. Augustine for a long weekend – re-connecting with an old friend from high school. It will be a historic occasion for Cathy and I (on a personal level), so what better place to meet! Cathy has always been an inspiration for me – smart and focused – and it recently occurred to me that, although we haven't spoken in about 20 years, her spirit has always been there, in my memories. That little voice in my head, constantly urging me to do better, to have the courage of my convictions, to think independently and apart from the crowd, I think has been Cathy's voice, speaking to me all along.

St. Augustine was founded forty-two years before the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts - making it the oldest permanent European settlement on the North American continent. I don't feel quite so old now!

I thought I'd share some photos from a previous trip, a few years ago.

A street scene in the old residential area of St. Augustine, a couple of blocks from the Matanzas River. Narrow streets are lined with houses that are mostly hidden from view behind walls and fences, much like old European villages.

Copper lanterns flank a wooden gate with a charming dolphin door knocker. The wall looks like it could be coquina rock.

The somehow mysterious, circular peephole in this gate nicely relates to the design of the ornate wooden overdoor. The colorful patina is accented by a climbing wisteria (or is that a weed?)

Pink houses with wooden shutters always stand out to me.

This house, from around 1790-1800, is one of the oldest surviving Colonial structures in St. Augustine, and is made of coquina stone. The Murat House is named after its most famous resident, Prince Achille Murat, a nephew of Napolean Bonaparte.

Tim rounds a corner near the river. Thankfully, he is very patient while I'm dawdling, taking photos and looking at architecture and gardens.

In a shaded courtyard in Old St. Augustine Village, this interesting combination of square and octagonal tiles has a center pattern of decorative cement and glazed tiles. I had thought I might try to replicate this design somehow in my own landscaping plan.

The tile pattern, up close.

Another nice courtyard design with several shades of hexagonal tiles (concrete, I think), in Old St. Augustine Village.

I love peeking into walled gardens!

Symmetry, slighty off, in Old St. Augustine Village.

A boy and dolphins cavort on a fountain inside the Fountain of Youth Park. To taste the waters that are reported to bring eternal youth, visitors enter a Spring House – built around the famous spring to protect it from the elements. I'm still waiting for the effects to kick in, five years later.

Several peacocks live on the grounds of the park.

Hopefully, I'll have more photos to show next week when I return.

Photos by Topsy Turvy.

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Enjoy your weekend, and if you missed April Food Day, it's not too late to participate!

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