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".

St Paddy's Day in Savannah Georgia

I know March 17th is St. Patrick's Day. I know you should probably wear some green, unless you want to get pinched. I know that corned beef and cabbage is more than likely what you're going to eat today, and that you will definitely have some green beer. Who doesn't know this? What "I" didn't know is that in Savannah Georgia, St Patricks Day is treated somewhat as a "National Holiday".

I've heard about what a beautiful place Savannah is, and that it has a wonderful historic district. I thought since I will be so close while I'm in Ponte Vedra on my home exchange that I would take a drive up there and check it out. Why not? So I check somethings out on the Internet and I find that there are several companies who offer trolley tours where you can hop on and off all day long for $10.00. Cool! I had done this in Boston and it was a great way to see everything.

I decide that Tuesday is a good day to head up to Savannah. Not because it's St. Patrick's Day mind you, but because the weather on Tuesday is going to be better than any other day of the week. That's why.

So the first place I go when I get there is "Oglethorpe Trolley Tours" . Hmmm, strange, it's closed. Maybe they're out to lunch, it is 12:15pm. But would they really do that? So I head down the street a little further and see the Oglethorpe Trolley Welcome Center and park across the street. Hmmmm, closed. For the life of me I can't figure out why they would be closed on a Tuesday. Maybe it's the off season and they don't start doing tours until April or May? Maybe they aren't in business anymore? I continue to walk towards the Visitors Center and I pass another Trolley company and a gentleman who is cleaning some things up around one of the trolley's says "Good Afternoon Ma'am". Perfect! I ask him if this trolley service is doing tours today and he says to me, "No Ma'am, we're closed for the Holiday". "The Holiday? St. Patrick's Day?", I reply in surprise. What I learned was that there is a big parade that takes place in the historic district and the trolleys "can't" run. Bummer.

I head into the Visitor Center and discover that the 185th St. Patrick's Day parade is still going on. How lucky for me! This parade is the second largest in the U.S., behind New York, and the celebration is the third oldest, behind New York and Boston. The lady at the counter pulls out a map and points out that Bull St. is the route of the parade and that I could follow that right to the historic Riverfront, and then she hands me the map.

As I step out of the Visitor Center and walk down W. Liberty St. it becomes immediately apparent to me that St. Patrick's Day is taken very seriously here. There was not one person that I passed that wasn't all decked out in some sort of "green" fashion. When I get to Bull St. the parade is indeed still in progress, but I'm not so much impressed with the parade as I am with the thousands of people who are lining the streets in their green hats, green shirts, green beards...... Suddenly I am feeling a bit out of place. I truly was the only person in Savannah not wearing green. It really was sort of embarrassing walking around in a pair of blue jeans and a white sleeveless shirt.

As I continue down Bull St. taking pictures along the way, I come to the first of many squares, "Chippewa Square". And here I just stop and I can't believe what I'm seeing. The square is packed with more people who have set up canopies covering their tables filled with food and coolers filled with beer I'm sure. Some people even had their gas barbecue grills here!

At another square there was more of the same along with vendors selling green paraphernalia from carts, and fountains with green water.

I just couldn't stop people watching and taking pictures. And everyone was really friendly and ready for a group photo.

By the time I make it to the Riverfront the parade has ended and the thousands of people I just passed are also headed here.

I really enjoyed walking along the river on the cobblestone and seeing the old cotton warehouses that had been converted into cute shops and boutiques, and restaurants and pubs over looking the river. There was plenty of music with a live band and a little further down a DJ playing some favorite dance tunes.

I thought about going into one of those great Irish Pubs and getting myself a green beer but the lines to get into any bar were entirely way to long...........

.......so I opted for some ice cream at this great little shop where you could also watch Pralines being made and have someone throw some taffy at you that had just been freshly twisted and wrapped.

Well it's time to start thinking about heading back to Ponte Vedra Beach. But there is a Lighthouse nearby on Tybee Island and I must go take pictures.

My day is complete now.

Before driving back to Ponte Vedra Beach I stop in at a little road side ice cream stand and order me up a large black cherry waffle cone! The perfect way to end a perfect day!

There are a whole lot more pictures of my day in Savannah at "Where's Debbie". To see them just click on the album "St. Paddy's Day".