A weekend away

More than 400 years of history

On Sept. 8. 1565, Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles came ashore and named a stretch of land near the inlet in honor of Augustine, a saint of the Roman Catholic Church on whose feast day - Aug. 28 - land was sighted. The location has been pinpointed in recent years by archaeologists from the University of Florida as being where the present-day Mission of Nombre de Dios and the Fountain of Youth stand, several blocks north of the City Gate and the Castillo de San Marcos.

The emphasis on "first European settlement" acknowledges that the Timucuan Indians were here first and observed Menendez and his party of about 1,500 soldiers and colonists. Since, the city has been under the governments of Spain, 1565 to 1763 and 1784-1821; Britain, 1763-1784, and United States, 1821-present. Florida became a state in 1845. It was part of the Confederacy from 1861-1862 when it returned to Union control.

St. Augustine in the late 1880s had its birth as a resort community with the arrival of Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler. He built two hotels and took over another to serve as the base of his Flagler System hotels. He founded the Florida East Coast Railway as a means of transporting guests to and from the north to his hotels in St. Augustine, Palm Beach, and Miami.

Here are some snap shots, now that we are home, from our Friday around St. Augustine. JB and I had never been here before. What a quaint, beautiful city, with as much history as is possible in the U.S.

This morning, Saturday, we were able to connect with Nicole and new fiancee Bay. Bay works at the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville. This was actually where he met Nicole. Nicole was doing a rotation there, spotted him, and she asked him out. Good thing says Bay, because he would have been too shy to ever initiate a date.

They took us to a quaint breakfast joint in the heart of Jacksonville and showed us around the downtown and Mayo Clinic there. JB was very impressed with the idea of working at a Mayo that has palm trees! Especially considering there's a possibility Bay and Nicole could someday end up there.

Bay told me he'd "kill me" if I used the second picture but since he's one of the nicest guys ever, I highly doubt it. So I'll risk it and use it.

We are now back home and getting ready to head over to Tiff and Matt's for dinner. That's a good friend for you: feeding you after a trip when everyone is overwhelmed with the idea of cooking.