This is our second day of sightseeing here in Saint Augustine. We started our day with an informative boat tour of the Saint Augustine Bay. We went past the Castillo de San Marcos, a large cross (put there by the Catholics to commemorate 400 years of Christianity), the School for the Deaf & Blind of Florida, and an old hotel. We also saw some of the coastline and some of the wildlife. St. Augustine has a large bird population, mostly composed of pelicans and cormorants. Also, while waiting to board our boat, I saw sea anemones growing on the dock posts and a string ray swimming near the water’s surface.
After our boat ride, we drove out to the Old Florida Museum. There, we saw what life was like in three different settlements and time periods. The first settlement was a colonial village. There were different activities which allowed us to experience life in that time period such as writing with a quill pen, playing with a stick-and-hoop, using a sewing hornbook, and pumping water. There was also a model of a colonial house and a colonial classroom.
In the next section was a model of a Spaniard village. There was a Spanish house, a Spanish garden, and a Spanish kitchen. Among the activities were duck pin bowling (bowling with small balls and pins), grinding corn, weaving, candle making, and building a stick-and-daub fence. The bowling was interesting because the pins were about five inches high, and the balls are about the size of a large jawbreaker. It was really easy to get a strike with that bowling set!
The last section was an Indian settlement. You could see inside of a replica hut that the Indians would take shelter in. Sometimes there would be a whole group of families living together in one hut! You could grind oyster shells with a large stick (used for walkways and house floors), play “darts” with corncob darts, shoot a bow and arrow, and play a game resembling “Trouble” or “Sorry”. (The first person to get their piece home wins.) This was the most unique area of the three because these Indians weren’t the “brave and prairie, savage” type of Indians that you normally hear and learn about. They were actually very civilized, which I found to be very interesting.
After exploring the history museum, we went to a popular street in St. Augustine, located within walking distance of the Castillo de San Marcos. It is filled with souvenir shops, restaurants, and my personal favorite….homemade candy shops! The neat thing about this busting avenue is its old-time look. The buildings look weathered, the signs are hand-painted and rustic, and the roads and sidewalks are made of compressed, crushed seashells. Honestly, you forget to notice these details when you walk by the candy shops and smell the fresh pralines!
After our boat ride, we drove out to the Old Florida Museum. There, we saw what life was like in three different settlements and time periods. The first settlement was a colonial village. There were different activities which allowed us to experience life in that time period such as writing with a quill pen, playing with a stick-and-hoop, using a sewing hornbook, and pumping water. There was also a model of a colonial house and a colonial classroom.
In the next section was a model of a Spaniard village. There was a Spanish house, a Spanish garden, and a Spanish kitchen. Among the activities were duck pin bowling (bowling with small balls and pins), grinding corn, weaving, candle making, and building a stick-and-daub fence. The bowling was interesting because the pins were about five inches high, and the balls are about the size of a large jawbreaker. It was really easy to get a strike with that bowling set!
The last section was an Indian settlement. You could see inside of a replica hut that the Indians would take shelter in. Sometimes there would be a whole group of families living together in one hut! You could grind oyster shells with a large stick (used for walkways and house floors), play “darts” with corncob darts, shoot a bow and arrow, and play a game resembling “Trouble” or “Sorry”. (The first person to get their piece home wins.) This was the most unique area of the three because these Indians weren’t the “brave and prairie, savage” type of Indians that you normally hear and learn about. They were actually very civilized, which I found to be very interesting.
After exploring the history museum, we went to a popular street in St. Augustine, located within walking distance of the Castillo de San Marcos. It is filled with souvenir shops, restaurants, and my personal favorite….homemade candy shops! The neat thing about this busting avenue is its old-time look. The buildings look weathered, the signs are hand-painted and rustic, and the roads and sidewalks are made of compressed, crushed seashells. Honestly, you forget to notice these details when you walk by the candy shops and smell the fresh pralines!
No comments:
Post a Comment