A Sunday Outing
A few years ago, maybe more like a lifetime or two ago, when I lived in the mountains of western North Carolina we would spend our summers getting ready for the coming winter. We would work getting firewood cut, split and stacked, We made sure the family room and master bedroom had large stacks of firewood that would dry out as the summer progressed. We took down trees damaged by the winter storms and cut them into lengths to season for the next year. By Labor Day we were harvesting and canning the bounty from our garden, all the while knowing that by mid-September we would have a killing frost and by October the first snow fall would arrive.
Now that I live in Florida and in an apartment there is no gardening, no preparing for the long and often snowy winter to come. Instead, I am trying to get as much outside stuff done as possible before the oppressive heat and humidity of the Florida summer sets in and I will loathe the thought of walking the girls.
For the second and third time this month, both on the same day, I visited State Parks, plus the St. Augustine Lighthouse. I planned my day so I would start south and work my way north, sort of, kind of, not really.
Anyway, my first stop was the beautiful St. Augustine lighthouse. This one was built in 1888. I say this one as it is the 3rd lighthouse here.
As you enter the base of the light house you see the start of the stairs and a plaque commemorating a past keeper of the light.
Part way up there is a window. You can see over the top of the two story keeper's house.
A bit further up they opened up a small section of the wall so one can see the steel beams that run up the inside of the brickwork for the lighthouse to give it stability.The bricks came from Alabama and the steel from Philadelphia.
Once you've reached the top, you can step out onto the catwalk and take in the lovely views of the area.
Back in May of last year I posted a picture of the light house that I took from the Castillo de San Marcos. Here, just to the right of the sailboat mast is the Castillo de San Marcos as seen from the top of the lighthouse.
This is the lens. It is made from 370 hand cut prisms, stands 12-feet tall and is 6-feet around.
Back at the bottom, looking up. It is 438 steps up and down total. And I wonder why my legs were not happy with me.
The lighthouse is also a working museum. There are men who hand craft small wooden boats like they did before fiberglass and steel took over as the preferred building materials.
The Lightkeeper's house. Originally built in 1876. It was a tri-plex that housed two families and a single assistant lighthouse keeper. In 1886 brick summer kitchens were added to either end of the house.
I appreciated the small, but neat details that were added, like the cross shaped vents in the back walls of the kitchens.
From the lighthouse I headed further south, about 1/2-mile further south, to Anastasia State Park. Right after you pull in there is a short, 400-yard roundtrip walking trail to what is left of an old Spanish coquina quarry. This sign, Part 1
And Part 2, tell more about the quarry and some history of St. Johns County.
Then there is this sign at the beginning of what was the quarry a few hundred years ago.
Off to the side there is a large piece of coquina laying next to the trail.
Further into the park there is a large beach. I stopped at a picnic table in the shade and inhaled my lunch. Near the picnic tables there is a long, long boardwalk that leads out to the beach.
There are some serious sand dunes here. It was, unfortunately, a super windy day and I did not want to brave the blowing sand to look for seashells.
On the way back to the shelter of my car I spied these flowers growing wild among the dunes. There were several clusters of them.
After I left Anastasia State Park I headed north towards home and my second State Park for the day. When you first park at Fort Mose (moh-say) State Historical Park there is a boardwalk that goes out over the marsh area with beautiful views at the end.
The fort was originally built in 1738. It was a small village that housed former slaves. The Spanish Governor stated that any slaves that made it to Florida, declared their allegiance to the King of Spain and became Catholic could live there as free people. This clump of trees is all that remains of the fort.
By the time I got home I was simply beat. It was windy and having spent the day near the ocean made me chilly. I made myself a cosmopolitan, actually a couple of them.
And then I relaxed in front of a fire to ward off the chill. It was a great day seeing more parts of The Real Florida.
Now that I live in Florida and in an apartment there is no gardening, no preparing for the long and often snowy winter to come. Instead, I am trying to get as much outside stuff done as possible before the oppressive heat and humidity of the Florida summer sets in and I will loathe the thought of walking the girls.
For the second and third time this month, both on the same day, I visited State Parks, plus the St. Augustine Lighthouse. I planned my day so I would start south and work my way north, sort of, kind of, not really.
Anyway, my first stop was the beautiful St. Augustine lighthouse. This one was built in 1888. I say this one as it is the 3rd lighthouse here.
As you enter the base of the light house you see the start of the stairs and a plaque commemorating a past keeper of the light.
Part way up there is a window. You can see over the top of the two story keeper's house.
A bit further up they opened up a small section of the wall so one can see the steel beams that run up the inside of the brickwork for the lighthouse to give it stability.The bricks came from Alabama and the steel from Philadelphia.
Once you've reached the top, you can step out onto the catwalk and take in the lovely views of the area.
Back in May of last year I posted a picture of the light house that I took from the Castillo de San Marcos. Here, just to the right of the sailboat mast is the Castillo de San Marcos as seen from the top of the lighthouse.
This is the lens. It is made from 370 hand cut prisms, stands 12-feet tall and is 6-feet around.
Back at the bottom, looking up. It is 438 steps up and down total. And I wonder why my legs were not happy with me.
The lighthouse is also a working museum. There are men who hand craft small wooden boats like they did before fiberglass and steel took over as the preferred building materials.
The Lightkeeper's house. Originally built in 1876. It was a tri-plex that housed two families and a single assistant lighthouse keeper. In 1886 brick summer kitchens were added to either end of the house.
I appreciated the small, but neat details that were added, like the cross shaped vents in the back walls of the kitchens.
From the lighthouse I headed further south, about 1/2-mile further south, to Anastasia State Park. Right after you pull in there is a short, 400-yard roundtrip walking trail to what is left of an old Spanish coquina quarry. This sign, Part 1
And Part 2, tell more about the quarry and some history of St. Johns County.
Then there is this sign at the beginning of what was the quarry a few hundred years ago.
Off to the side there is a large piece of coquina laying next to the trail.
Further into the park there is a large beach. I stopped at a picnic table in the shade and inhaled my lunch. Near the picnic tables there is a long, long boardwalk that leads out to the beach.
There are some serious sand dunes here. It was, unfortunately, a super windy day and I did not want to brave the blowing sand to look for seashells.
On the way back to the shelter of my car I spied these flowers growing wild among the dunes. There were several clusters of them.
After I left Anastasia State Park I headed north towards home and my second State Park for the day. When you first park at Fort Mose (moh-say) State Historical Park there is a boardwalk that goes out over the marsh area with beautiful views at the end.
The fort was originally built in 1738. It was a small village that housed former slaves. The Spanish Governor stated that any slaves that made it to Florida, declared their allegiance to the King of Spain and became Catholic could live there as free people. This clump of trees is all that remains of the fort.
By the time I got home I was simply beat. It was windy and having spent the day near the ocean made me chilly. I made myself a cosmopolitan, actually a couple of them.
And then I relaxed in front of a fire to ward off the chill. It was a great day seeing more parts of The Real Florida.
Whos fire place?
ReplyDeleteMine. Go back to the First Look of my new place. I show the fireplace in my sunken living room.
ReplyDelete