Back to St Augustine

Well you have probably figured out by now that I love Lighthouses and no matter what coast I'm on, if there is a Lighthouse, I'm finding it and taking some pictures. So today with the clear blue skies and perfect weather I decide to go back to St Augustine and get a closer look at the Lighthouse and of course take a ton of pictures.

With a big smile on my face and excited to start taking pictures from every angle possible from the ground as I have always done, something is different for me today.

Now a little background. I never, I mean never seem to hit a Lighthouse with a museum and/or tours when it's open, as you well know from the drive to Tybee Island I took when I was in Savannah and the Amelia Island Lighthouse up in Fernandina Beach. So how surprised was I when I discovered that not only was the museum open but you could purchase a ticket that gave you the privilege to go to the top of the lighthouse. Way Cool!! I couldn't get my $9.00 out fast enough!

Oh my gosh, I am entering a Lighthouse people! I know this sounds a little silly, but for someone who has always just been able to see a Lighthouse from the outside, this is a BIG deal. So I start climbing the 219 steps of the spiral staircase to the top, stopping along the way to take pictures out of the windows so that I have proof that I am in a Lighthouse. When I reach the top and step outside I am in absolute awe and filled with so much excitement, I just can't believe I am on top of a Lighthouse.

Whew! Got that out of my system. So now I head on over to the "Fountain of Youth" in hopes that a drink of the water will give me eternal youth! May I have seconds, please? I pay my $8.00 and join in on the tour which starts on the original site of the "spring". After sampling the water and listening to the tour guide give details of the history of the discovery of Florida by Ponce de Leon and the "Fountain of Youth" we then head over to another building where a short movie is shown repeating pretty much what the tour guide had already shared with us. Good for me, because I do need to hear things a couple of times to sink in. Then yet onto one more building, the planetarium. The purpose of this was to educate you on how people such as Christopher Columbus and Ponce de Leon used the stars as a navigational system while sailing uncharted seas to discover the New World. I then walked the grounds for a little while and then headed on back to Ponte Vedra Beach.

This has been another day filled with excitement and history.

If you would like to see more pictures of my day just go to "Where's Debbie" and click on the album "Back to St Augustine".