Daniel_Williams

*What Do You Mean Forgotten?*

As a boy learning about US history, what seemed to be described as "earliest" European settlement in the US included the Pilgrims arriving in Plymouth Rock, with a certain emphasis on Williamsburg and Jamestown as well. I have some recollection of a mention of a failed colony (Roanoke Rapids?) in North Carolina that was described as "first", that pre-dated the above-mentioned settlements in the 1590s. But curiously enough, unless I zoned out in class, Saint Augustine, established in 1565 over 50 years before pilgrims and some 30 years before even the failed colony, was perhaps not mentioned and certainly not emphasized. Maybe since it initially was Spanish colonization that didn't lead to the formation of the original 13 colonies? Maybe since the Loyalists in Saint Augustine imprisoned and heckled Patriots? Yet it seems to me that the turbulent Spanish->English->Spanish->territory->US history of Saint Augustine is a fascinating tale that is very relevant to the story of the evolution of the United States and should be told nationwide (as it likely is in modern textbooks for all I know) as part and parcel of the nation's founding.

Another reason for the title is that when I told my Canadian friends that I was going to Saint Augustine for the holiday, the most common comment was "where's that?". I was lead to believe that Saint Augustine would be this charming but somewhat undiscovered gem through the vehicle of these comments combined with my own silly imaginings that northern Florida might be overlooked by the universally sun-worshipping and amusement-seeking Florida visitors in favour of further south Florida destinations like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Key West and the Orlando area. Consequently, it came as a bit of a surprise (and then I felt a touch ridiculous about being surprised) to see that Saint Augustine is a well-oiled tourist-ready machine that is plenty thronged with visitors wanting to taste its special energy.

Jacksonville is a city in Florida that seems to get very little attention compared to other Florida locales. Perhaps this is since it's seen to be too cold for a winter's getaway...why go there when somewhere further south will be warmer, I imagine prospective visitors as saying. Whatever the reason, the city rarely entered my thoughts too; I think the only time the city really crossed my consciousness in the past was during news reports that most states got snow, and they'll say "even Florida", and the report will then show Jacksonville residents making surprised comments about flurries.

Jacksonville consequently was probably somewhere under Columbus OH and above Albuquerque NM on my priority list of cities to visit... rightly or wrongly, in the multitude of places to visit in the world, Jacksonville ended up in the category of cities that only mildly pique my curiosity. However, due to its proximity to Saint Augustine, along with the fact that my train is leaving from Jacksonville, I decided to tack a day-and-a-half to my Saint Augustine trip. I thought: since I'm so close; let's see what this northern Florida city is all about. Shall we say, I've only been in the city for a few hours, but I'm already glad I'll came.

*How did I do this trip?*

Although I do fly when I have to, as many of you here know, I am particularly enamoured with taking the train, especially sleeper trains and seek out destinations that allow me to indulge that passion.

Montreal-Albany: Greyhound
Albany-NY-DC: Amtrak coach (saw family in DC area for Xmas holiday)
DC-Jacksonville: Amtrak sleeper train (Silver Meteor) (Dec. 28)
Jacksonville-St. Augustine: Greyhound bus (Dec 29)
St. Augustine-Jacksonville: two buses: Sunshine Bus Lines, Jacksonville Transit Authority (for $2.50) (Jan 2)

*Details of My Activities and Thoughts about Saint Augustine and Jacksonville to Come*

suewoo

Yay, Daniel, you're on the road again. I know you had fun and will tell us all about it. PS The Lost Colony was at Manteo, NC on the Outer Banks. Add the Banks to your to-do list!

Pat_in_Mich

We'll be visiting St. Augustine in March so I'm looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

cmcfong

What a treat for a frozen day! Daniel, as Sue notes the Lost Colony of Roanoke settled in the area of Manteo. http://www.history.com/news/ask-hist...ony-of-roanoke
It is an area perfectly suited to a cycling tour!

Daniel_Williams

Hi suewoo, Pat_in_Mich, cmcfong,

Thanks for tuning in. Speaking of frozen day, I have about 24 hours left in Florida and given the reports up north, I'm tempted to miss my return train . (Mind you the high is only 46F here in Jacksonville today, but it's still been comfortable for exploring appropriately dressed!)

Happy New Year to you all! Daniel

suewoo

I bet all those Floridians pulled out their furs

Daniel_Williams

suewoo-- Yes, the way Floridians were talking "omg, it's sooo cold" would have lead one to believe that there were icebergs floating out in the Saint John's River. Meanwhile, this Montrealer found it, while glove and hat-worthy in the morning, overall quite a pleasant day .

*Challenges of getting to Saint Augustine without renting a car... do-able but JUST* (Skip to next post if you're more interested what to do in Saint Augustine.)

Arriving at Jacksonville Amtrak station at 9:20 am, my plan was to take the city bus to the downtown stop, from which I would catch the Greyhound bus to Saint Augustine at 1:45 pm. Unfortunately on a Sunday this city bus comes once an hour and it's raining at the unsheltered bus stop in front of the Amtrak station. So, there I am with my two pieces of luggage and a parka in 61 F temperatures looking progressively more and more forlorn with my progressively wetter and wetter luggage and parka due to my wholly insufficient umbrella as the 9:35 am bus doesn't show. I rationalize that maybe the bus broke down, maybe a driver called in sick and they couldn't find a replacement, so I decide to stand in stupid heroic patience, convincing myself that the 10:35 am bus must come given that it would be a different driver, etc... plus, the $1.50 bus fare is motivation to wait. Well, that second bus doesn't come either, so I give in to fate and ask the Amtrak ticket seller to call me a cab, which costs $18 to downtown. This was not a good introduction to the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA).

When I arrive at the Greyhound station, I tell the ticket seller that I'd like one ticket to Saint Augustine. She says, "well, you ain't going today!" to which I reply, "well in that case, we've got a problem". Luckily she then tells me that there is space available after all on the bus to Saint Augustine; it seemed that at least a dozen seats were empty on the bus, so I'm really not sure what that was all about.

So, the deal is this: there are two Greyhound buses daily from Jacksonville to Saint Augustine leaving at 4:45 am and 1:45pm. In the reverse direction, options are fewer: one Greyhound bus from Saint Augustine to Jacksonville leaving at 7:30 am... for a direct connection, that's it, that's all.

However, there is one more public transit option one CAN do for the approximately 40 mile trek from Saint Augustine to Jacksonville. Since I didn't want to lose out on the breakfast at my bed & breakfast, I chose this option #2. The Sunshine Bus Company's (St. John's County public transit system) Purple Line, an 18-seater van that runs 4 times daily from Saint Augustine meets up with the one-every-30-minutes L7 "Avenues Mall" bus run by the Jacksonville Transit Authority (JTA). Option 2 will probably seem to most to be too much of an ordeal, especially if you're like me and wheel your luggage for 20 minutes to an unprotected bus stop along US1 in what seems at first light drizzle but becomes progressively harder and harder rain and get your clothes and luggage splashed by two SUVs on the way. Since Option 2 takes 2 hours rather than the 45 minutes that Greyhound takes, let's just say sitting in wettish clothes with wettish luggage and parka made me an interesting sight to say the least. On the plus side, the connection went rather smoothly and the ride set me back a whopping $2.50.

Given how interesting Saint Augustine is and given that Jacksonville does have its appeal, it seems to me that to have a few more direct connections daily between the cities would be beneficial for both in terms of attracting visitors. I hope some enterprising individuals within government or the private domain will see the potential windfall of filling this public transit void.

sludick

Happy New Year, Daniel_Williams!! Yep, broke out my fur AND down AND fleece here, in the low 40's and wind. Now, last January, it was this same temp and I flew to Denver on business and then to Yellowstone. It was as low as -20F, but did not feel as cold as here. Maybe it's the humid air that goes right through me.

By the way, we do enjoy going places where there is actually a "real" workable public transportation system. It's not so much, here.

Daniel_Williams

Saint Augustine, however, once there, is well set-up for the car-less traveller.

*Arriving in Saint Augustine*

Arriving at Greyhound's station nearby the Visitor Information Center, I could quickly see that Saint Augustine was somewhere special. Wheeling my luggage to my B&B, the streets exuded charm and history; people were milling about in considerable number on pedestrian-only Saint George Street, enjoying an arts fair or sitting out on patios of eclectic-looking restaurants. Arriving at my B&B, the Penny Farthing Inn, a beautiful, charming yellow wooden Victorian home with a porch was decorated for a Charles Dickens Christmas, I was quickly enamoured with my accommodations and the town in general.

*Castillo de San Marcos*

The first day was rather rainy, so it was only my second sunny day that I felt energized to do some proper exploring. My first stop, the Castillo de San Marcos, situated alongside the handsome Matanzas Bay whose mouth leads into the Atlantic Ocean, is possibly one of the most fascinating historical sites I've seen in the USA. This fort, built in the late 1600s during the so-called First Spanish Period, has never been taken by force due to its powerful coquina walls; the fort has only changed hands due to treaty. What an amazing past that building has witnessed, from its construction and attempted sieges by the British in the first Spanish period. During which time, the Castillo was seen due to the red and white colours of the Cross of Burgundy flag as a bastion of safety for citizens of the Spanish empire, but as a daunting symbol of antagonistic power for those who were not. Then becoming "Fort Saint Mark" under the British, a bastion for Loyalists where Patriots were imprisoned and heckled only to be handed back to the Spanish for almost 40 years during the Second Spanish Period, when New Spain was seen to be a safe haven for escaped slaves. Then to become "Fort Marion" under the United States, where imprisoned Confederate soldiers and deserters during the Civil War were kept and resettled Native Americans were housed for assimilation purposes.

It was good fun when a National Park Ranger dressed in blue early Spanish Colonial Garb barked orders in Spanish at his similarly-dressed underlings that constituted the protocol for the firing of a cannonball. The birds fled the sentry box in advance, clearly knowing exactly what was going to happen.

What I loved most at the Castillo however were the stories on the plaques about individuals from the varying periods who lived in Saint Augustine. For example, Juan O'Donovan, an enterprising Irishman who fell in love with the daughter of the Spanish governor Zespedes Cespedes y Velasco. The father disapproved, O'Donovan being an Irishman and all, but after two years relented due to his paternal love for his daughter. Or the English carpenter and craftsman whose boat blew him many miles off track, landing him in Spanish Florida. Over the course of several years, after declaring his loyalty to the Spanish crown and the Catholic church, appreciated as a skilled craftsman, the Englishman became an accepted, trusted and respected member of the Spanish society of Saint Augustine!

*Coming up: Old Houses, the Lightner Museum and Saint Augustine Beach*

Daniel_Williams

sludick-- I'll admit to being glad I had my gloves, hat and scarf today (only day I needed them in Florida though). Seems far too many folks in Jacksonville don't have a clue about how to dress appropriately when it's colder.

Believe it or not, despite certain public transit "woes" (I really did have bad luck with rain this time), I was hoping to demonstrate to non-driving travellers that visiting Saint Augustine and Jacksonville, while it has its challenges, is *possible* and really in the grand scheme of things, enjoyable!

emalloy

Daniel, Did you see where Geronimo was in the Castillo ?

It does take courage to visit the non public transportation friendly areas without a car.

I can't wait to here what some of the New Mexico folks have to say about Albuquerque being at the bottom of your "cities to visit" list. You could get there by train I think and visit on one of the city tour busses, then take the train up to Santa Fe. I would want to do it with a car because there is so much to see that is not on the train route.

Thanks for the report.

Daniel_Williams

Nice to hear from you, emalloy. Pray tell, who's Geronimo?

And by the way, I didn't mean that Albuquerque was dead-last on my wish list of places to visit, just part of the category of cities that only mildly pique my curiosity. Santa Fe, on the other hand, of the cities I've not been to in the United States, is in the group that I'd most love to see!

Incidentally, now that I've been to Jacksonville, I'm so glad I decided to tack on the extra day and a half here. I definitely did not have the city nearly high enough on my wish list. I've truly found much to like, as I'll report on in the upcoming week.

suewoo

Hey Daniel,

Great report as usual.

Geronimo was once fierce Apache.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo

emalloy

Daniel, this is part of the history of the Castillo,

Under United States control the fort was used as a military prison to incarcerate members of various Native American tribes starting with the Seminole - including the famous war chief Osceola - in the Second Seminole War - and members of various western tribes including Geronimo's band of Chiricahua Apache. The Native American art form known as Ledger Art had its origins at the fort during the imprisonment of members of the Plains tribes such as Howling Wolf of the Southern Cheyen.

Maybe you could tie it all up with a visit to New Mexico!

Daniel_Williams

Interesting emalloy; I remember reading about Osceola at the fort (but not Geronimo), who fought for Seminole rights; interestingly enough, I learned that Osceola had a Scots-Irish father. I thought you might be referring to the Geronimo below...

*Historic Houses in Saint Augustine*

The Oldest House in Saint Augustine is the Gonzalez-Alvarez House built shortly after the English sacked and burned the city to the ground in 1702. Sadly, no house in Saint Augustine as a result predates that year. I found it amusing and not too surprising that apparently during the English occupation of Saint Augustine that the British residents that moved in bemoaned what they viewed as the primitive houses of the Spanish. Needless to say, additions were made to the Gonzalez House during those years, which apparently were well appreciated by *Geronimo* Alvarez's family during the Second Spanish Period.

At the Dow Collection of Houses, the home that I appreciated most was the Prince Murat House, lived in by Achille Murat, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte during the Second Spanish Period! Apparently, Prince Murat became a friend of and was considered a kindred spirit by Ralph Waldo Emerson and married Catherine Daingerfield Willis Gray (who became the first American princess as a result), the grand-niece of George Washington! A fascinating gathering of personages I thought and they were brought together in Saint Augustine of all places at a charming pink house about 2 blocks from my B&B. Prince Murat was apparently quite the eccentric and liked to be dunked in the Matanzas Bay while wrapped in mosquito netting to beat the Florida heat; he also never liked to change his clothes, only removing his boots when they fell off his feet.

The third building that engendered great enjoyment was the Lightner Museum, part of that complex of gloriously red-orange roofed buildings in Saint Augustine that include the Ponce de Leon hotel. The Lightner Museum has two quite grand courtyards, one outdoors and the second indoors. The collection of furniture, paintings, urns, china and other collector's items (such as cigar bands, matchbox covers, gemstones) showcases truly masterful works of art-- with sometimes over-the-top ornate touches like a rocking chair with gilded swans emanating from the rocker legs.

Every day at 11am and 2pm, the Lightner Museum does what was truly the highlight of my visit there--a demonstration of musical showpieces from the early 20th and late 19th century. From the Nickelodeon to the Stella Grand to the Violano Virtuoso to the street organ to the German Orchestrion, all were masterpieces of design and craftsmanship and I felt truly honoured to see these extinct music boxes in operation and hear the tunes using keyboard, violin (Violano Virtuoso only), pipes, even glockenspiel (orchestrion only) they automatically played by manipulation of (depending on the device) a crank, 24" disk, bellow or even a cardboard book. True genius created such devices.

*Thoughts on Saint Augustine Beach and Jacksonville to Come Later Next Week (For now, I must travel!)*

flpab

The Lightner Museum restaurant has seating in what use to be a swimming pool. Henry Flagler did everything almost right. We have horrible public transportation in Florida and our current Governor feels we should just build more lanes in the highways. He would not accept Federal money for trains. I-4 is a parking lot and 95 is adding lanes all the time. BOOOO.

Daniel_Williams

*Saint Augustine Beach*

To get out to Saint Augustine Beach, I rode the Old Town Trolley. While mostly used by guests of the beach hotels to go see Old Saint Augustine without renting a car, I took advantage of the service in the reverse direction and I was pleased that it dropped me off right at the corner of A street and the A1A, where a terrific bike shop (The Pit Surf Shop) was located. I found I preferred Saint Augustine's beach over other Florida beaches (such as Jacksonville Beach or Fort Lauderdale Beach) I've been to due to the charm created thanks to ordinances that prohibit the building of high rises along the coastline in Saint John's County. Cycling on the sand on a beach cruiser while admiring the dunes and waves was a magical way to spend an hour, capped off by a tasty seafood lunch at Mango Mango's.

*Jacksonville*

Leaving Saint Augustine, I initially wondered what insanity had caused me to book two nights in Jacksonville before returning to the frigid north (especially after my Dad's cousin told me that Jacksonville was the "crime capital of Florida"). My brief initial impression of Jacksonville when I caught the Greyhound to Saint Augustine had been less than inspiring as it seemed that all I noticed were barren, desolate lots and a mostly deserted downtown core.

However, arriving at the Rosa Parks Transit Center, I almost immediately was glad of my decision to stop in Jacksonville, thanks to... the Skyway (!?) that took me to my hotel on the South Side! Taking the Skyway made me remember that when I was in my early 20s, I had the fanciful idea that I would like to take every public transit conveyance on the continent(or in my youthful folly, perhaps the world!) so as to appreciate the differences in style and the general functioning between different systems. While the intervening years dissipated such dreams, the Skyway, a free two-car trapezoidal monorail really is in my opinion cute as a button and quite unlike any other city transit vehicle I've ever run across in look and feel. I loved the way it tilted as you went round curves and offered a vantage point of the skyline and Saint John's River from up high! I felt like I was adding a notch to the post of my youthful dream.

And it was the Saint John's River that ultimately won me over to liking Jacksonville. I found walking along the wooden boardwalk on the South Side of Jacksonville by the large circular Friendship Fountain opposite the downtown skyline, with the John T. Alsop Main Street Bridge lit up in glorious blue at night a very picturesque, tranquil sight. Perhaps since I live in a city that already has hustle and bustle (Montreal), I found that rather than bemoaning the relative desertedness of the city like I might have done at a younger age, that the peacefulness of sitting on a dock by the water in a calm only mildly-peopled environment while across from a city skyline actually a rather refreshing and pleasant change.

Taking the Riverside Trolley for 75 cents (runs from 10:30am to 2:30pm only) brought me to the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens. The museum had a number of interesting pieces, but the gardens were the highlight for me, with one area of hedged archways by the Italian Garden deliciously overlooking the banks of the wide blue Saint John's River, with the opposite shores visible in the distance.


The Cummer Museum is right nearby what I'd call my favorite area of the city: the Riverside/Avondale neighbourhood, an area of handsome older wide-porched homes that has some interesting stores and restaurants at its commercial focal point, known as Five Points. While I understand that downtown Jacksonville was largely destroyed in a fire in the early 1900s, it seems to me that some of the homes here most definitely have stories to tell. Again, though, what made me fall for the Riverside neighbourhood was the broad blue Saint John's river: at one point, the sun was shimmering on the water with the backdrop of these handsome homes as dozens of larger birds sunned themselves on rows of stone upside-down U structures jutting out of the water. Just magical!

Daniel_Williams

flpab-- The docent at the Lightner Museum told us that Henry Flagler made one mistake for his beautiful Ponce de Leon Hotel in Saint Augustine... he built the railroad further south causing tourists to bypass northern Florida in search of greater warmth in winter.

*Public Transportation*

That's too bad that the governor didn't want to encourage public transportation. I understand that some parts of Florida are impossible without your own wheels. Jacksonville I found ended up being mostly manageable using buses, trolleys and Skyway for the simple goal of visiting downtown, the beach and the Riverside/ Avondale area. A car I also felt was not necessary for me to do everything I wanted to do in Saint Augustine. With better connections from Jacksonville to Saint Augustine and better weekend services, I think the public transit situation on the First Coast could go from "do-able but just" to "ok".

*Some final thoughts*

My last day, I took the CT4 Bus and the Beaches Trolley out to Jacksonville Beach. While standing out on a fishing pier with several fisherman and killdeer, admiring the sheer power of the waves of the Atlantic Ocean crashing against the shoreline on the 50 degree F day, I could not help but feel glad that I'd chosen to visit Florida's so-called First Coast.

From glimpsing first-hand the unique and fascinating history of Saint Augustine to finally seeing the beauty and majesty of the mighty Saint John's River adjacent the glimmering Jacksonville skyline, I enjoyed every bit of discovering this region.

sludick

I was looking forward to your trip report and really enjoyed reading it, Daniel_Williams. Did you make it to the Colonial Quarter at night?

Good to hear the Penny Farthing Inn worked out. How was their breakfast? Were there any other B&B's that you noticed and thought would be somewhere you'd like to stay? (Plotting a weekend getaway for spring with DH.)

Daniel_Williams

sludick-- It warmed my heart that you looked forward to this report and enjoyed reading it . I walked by the Colonial Quarter but never actually went in to any of the establishments associated with it; on the days I had the idea to go, I ended up doing an alternate plan due to rain.

The Penny Farthing Inn had such gracious hosts. They had a New Year's Eve musical entertainment for the guests and generously poured us bubbly and offered us chili as we celebrated the arrival of New Year's in the UK (where the hosts are from). I almost felt like staff, hosts and guests were old friends by the time I left. I even ended up going out for a drink in the Historic District on New Year's Eve with some of my lovely fellow guests. And indeed the breakfast was fantastic, ranging from eggs benedict to bread pudding/ yogurt to blueberries on French toast.

There are many other B&Bs in the historic district that also looked charming; one of my fellow guests said they'd stayed at several others and each was as magical as the next; unfortunately, I don't have much in the way of specifics about these others, although I think I recollect that this guest said he stayed at Peace & Plenty Inn next door.

Happy New Year to you!