And the Fun Goes on with my Dad!

George and I continued to think of more places we could take my dad that he might enjoy while he was in Florida.  Fortunately, Florida has so many great places--even if you don't consider any of the amusement parks!

A Walk on the Beach 

 Although we didn't get even our feet wet, we had a great time walking along the beach and watching all the people as they were having fun, too.

 

Eating at the Landing and Touring Downtown Jacksonville

My dad remembered eating down at The Landing when he's been here before, so he definitely wanted to go down there again.

Besides showing him other sites in downtown Jacksonville, we took a spin around EverBank Field where the Jaguars play.

Here's hoping for a great season for our Jacksonville Jags!

Taking a Day Trip to Georgia and the Old Farm

Each year, the descendants of George Fleming Copeland, my husband's grandfather who he was named after, meets together at the old farm house property in the backwoods of Georgia in Camden County.  The family has built a nice covered area for the big picnic further up front, but I always like to take pictures of where Grandpa George Copeland raised his 14 children (one more child died when six months old.)

Although it is in shambles now, it really is a monument to what a family can do who works together, prays together, and plays together.  That's what this family was like. 

Through frugal living, the family had a garden, planted crops, and hunted to feed the large family.  All of the children learned to work hard, and although none of them had much formal education, they all lived well due to their many occupations such as radiator repair, plumbing, welding, upholstery, and farming that they did--plus, they all watched how they spent their money and never went into debt, so they all had the money they needed.

Grandpa George had walked to town one time and heard the Mormon missionaries preaching there.  He invited them to come and stay at his home and teach his family.  They did, and how grateful our family is that they were all converted to the gospel!

My dad, as well as George and I, really enjoyed seeing the old place.  We never tire of thinking about this great family!

Our next stop was at Kings' Bay Naval Submarine Base.  This base is home to the Atlantic Fleet's Trident II Submarines.  Although we didn't go on base, we always like to see the U.S.S. George Bancroft exhibit which was named after George Bancroft, Secretary of the Navy from 1845-1846 and founder of the United States Naval Academy.  The top part is the original sail part on the submarine and when it was scrapped, it was brought here to be placed on 500 tons of soil and trees to construct the footings, foundation, and lighting necessary for the exhibit.  Then the earth was formed into what looks like the submarine hull, whereupon a contractor sprayed the earthen hull with a thick coat of black gunite which you can actually walk on.  This was all dedicated in the year 2000.  It is really cool to see.   

From there, we stopped in Callahan, Florida, and drove by the little home George's parents lived in after they sold their home in Jacksonville on the river.  They loved coming out here where Grandpa had a few cows and they could just enjoy the outdoors.

My dad especially wanted to see the old place where he had tried so hard so save a cow that was having a calf who the vet had just given up on and walked away instead of doing a Caesarean on her.  The calf was trying to be born with one of its front legs up next to its head.  My dad has helped in the birthing of many calves, but by the time we got there, the calf had already died and was swelling, and the cow was in so much pain, and try as he might, my dad wasn't able to help the cow.  He felt so sad!  Grandpa Copeland ended up having to put the cow out of its misery.  I will never forget that day which happened back in the 80s.  None of our kids will ever forget it either!

Another "must-do" was stop at the Cedar River Seafood place.  This was Grandpa Copeland's favorite place to eat, and he had taken my dad there when he had come out to Florida many years ago in the 80s.   

The seafood was just as good as we remembered! 

When we told the waitress how good it was then and now she said, "Well, it ought to be.  We've had the same cooks for over 30 years!"  Now that is something!  How many restaurants keep their straws in a real gator mouth???

Visiting St. Augustine and the Old Spanish Fort

A trip to St. Augustine and then touring on the Red Train tours was what we did on this day.  Although I have lived 45 minutes from St. Augustine for 16 years, it is always fun to find out new facts about a city that has so much history.

Founded in 1565, St. Augustine is known as the "Nation's Oldest City."  These old city gates are part of the wall that the Spanish built to protect the southern approach to this historic city.

 

 On Cordova Street we were able to see St. Augustine’s Love Tree which is really two trees—there’s a sable palm growing out of the heart of an oak tree. If you separate them, both will die.

 The influence of Henry M. Flagler on St. Augustine was noted almost everywhere we went on this tour.

The original Methodist Church was located on some land that Mr. Flagler wanted to built a hotel on.  Therefore, he made an offer to build a new church and this beautiful Spanish Renaissance-Style building was built and completed in 1887 at an original cost of $85,000.  It is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

 This is the Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church and it is where Henry Flagler is entombed.  He is often called the father of Florida tourism because of the lavish hotels he built and the help he gave to the Florida East Coast Railway to get tourists to the Florida towns he invested so much in.

This is the smallest of the three hotels Henry Flagler owned.  He actually bought this Hotel in 1888, changed its name to Hotel Cordova.  The Great Depression caused it to close in 1932, but it has been re-opened now, with the name of Hotel Casa Monica, and is a very popular hotel.

How did Henry Flagler get all his money?  He was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil along with John D. Rockefeller and was one of the wealthiest men in the world.  He came to St. Augustine to spend his honeymoon with his second wife and later returned in March 1885 just in time for St. Augustine's annual Ponce de Leon celebration.  The celebration impressed him so much, it inspired him to build a luxury hotel, The Ponce de Leon Hotel. 

The hotel attracted the wealthy, and President Grover Cleveland attended a ball held here.  It was so well-built that after a few million dollars worth of restoration, it now is known as Flagler College, a small liberal arts college named for the man who originally built it. 

Here is the archway into the main building on campus.  Our driver said the statue which is at its entrance was only installed after Henry Flagler died because he never liked the statue.

This is another of Flagler's hotels.  The architects who did this also designed the New York Public Library and the U.S. Senate office building.  After the hotel was closed, Otto C. Lightner purchased the building to house his extensive collection of Victorian artifacts and opened the museum in 1947.  He gave the building to the city of St. Augustine, and they now use it as a museum as well as their City Hall.  

The statue in front is of St. Augustine's founder, Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles.  (There is some major renovating on the outside of the building right now, as can be seen.)

This is the Town Square in St. Augustine.  The sign says, "Under British Rule it became the market and place of public auction.  Ever since called The Slave Market."

The other end of the Town Square or Plaza.

Although this is a small city, you could spend days looking around!

The Matanzas River which is part of the Intracoastal Waterway.  You can go by boat all the way from Miami to Maine on this Waterway.

This is the oldest surviving house in Florida, called the Gonzalez-Alvarez House.  The site has been occupied since the 1600s, but the present house dates to the early 1700s.  Inside is evidence of the Spanish, British, and American occupations of St. Augustine.  Definitely a National Historic Landmark.

Next we saw the Tovar House. This house had as its occupants an infantryman, a Scottish merchant, a Spanish assistant surgeon, and a Civil War General over the years.  It was built around the 1740s.  Notice the cannonball still stuck in the wall just above the lower middle window.  The reason it didn't get through the wall is that it is made of coquina stone, a limesone consisting almost entirely of shelly fossils.  Because it is so porous, it compresses under the impact of cannon fire rather than shattering.  That's the reason that cannonball only got that far and stopped.

Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum - Always fun to go to!

On the outside is this four-room house made entirely of one log!

On September 8, 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés landed and proclaimed this site for Spain and the Church.  The cross was put in 400 years later to commemorate this event.  It is said this is the world's largest cross at 208 feet high.

We were still moving, so this isn't the clearest, but this tree is called "The Old Senator." It is one of the oldest Live Oak trees in St. Augustine and it sits right in the middle of the Howard Johnson Hotel parking lot.  It has been tested and is found to be no less than 600 years old. 

I love the beautiful oak lined streets which look as if they are decorated for a party.

We haven't ever actually gone in to the Fountain of Youth Park where Ponce de Leon discovered the famous water in 1513, but I really want to some day.

People fail to realize this was actually 55 years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, and 42 years before Jamestown!

Florida's School for the Deaf and the Blind.  Established in 1885, this is a state-supported boarding school for Pre-K through Grade 12 and some post-secondary classes which are all tuition free.  There are about 600 students enrolled here.  The famous Ray Charles went to school here.  

After the trolley train tour, my dad and I went over to the old fort which is known as the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.

The fort incorporates over 335 years of history and culture.  Construction began in 1672, making it one of the oldest standing structures in North America.

The entrance of the fortress which was the only way in or out of the Castillo.  There was a large drawbridge and a heavy sliding door.  The thickness of the outer walls varies from 14 to 19 feet thick at the base and tapers to 9 feet towards the top.  The blocks are made of 400,000 blocks of coquina stone, all hand cut and set by hand obtained from across the water at Anastasia Island.  As explained above, the coquina is porous and compresses with the impact of cannon fire rather than shattering, making the Castillo practically indestructible.

The Castillo was initially built by the Spanish to protect their vast empire in the Americas.   Although it changed hands between countries many times, and it was engaged in battles, every transfer was negotiated through treaty and agreement, not by losing the fort through a battle.  

Where the soldiers would rest with places for their coats and stands at the bottom where their guns would rest.

This was the Kings' Treasury Room.  It reminded me of the same type of room we saw in Westminster Abbey with its wall at the front like a counter where only certain people could go in . . .

and its huge locked door.

Showing the different uniforms through the periods the Castillo was occupied.   Spain ceded Florida and the fort to Great Britain in return for La Habana, Cuba.  The British held this through the American Revolution.  The Treaty of Paris of 1783 ended the war, returned Florida to Spain.  Spain held Florida until 1821, when Spain gave it to the United States who used it to house Indian prisoners during the Seminole War of 1835-42.  Confederate troops occupied it briefly during the Civil War and Indians captured in western military campaigns were held there later on.  It was last used during the Spanish-American war as a military prison.

"The Necessary Room," the sign explains, "had a tide-operated flushing system.  At high tide, the water pipe would be flushed out into the bay.  This controlled odors and disease within the fort.  The latrine top was made of two wooden covers and equipped with iron handles.  This facilitated the servicing and cleaning of the latrine box.  A barrel of water and a bucket was kept in the Necessary Room.  After each use, water was poured into the latrine to flush the waste between high tides."  They thought of everything!

Although there was no elevator and the steps aren't easily climbed, my dad wanted to go up on top.  He was so glad that he did!  The view up here is fantastic!

It's too bad we were here on Thursday, and not on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.  There is a re-enactment of the soldiers dressed in period costumes who shoot off one of the cannons.  We had seen it before with Kyle and Kim's family and it was really interesting how they pack the guns, shoot them off, etc.  In 1740, this gun deck and the surrounding city wall mounted over 70 cannons of varying size.  The largest of these guns had a range of three and a half miles.  That distance is about to the lighthouse which can be seen just to the left of my dad's head. 

The fort is formed by diamond shaped projections called bastions on each corner of the fort.  This design eliminates blind spots for the guards and increases the fort's firepower by allowing multiple cannons to fire on the same target, creating a crossfire effect.  This large tower once housed a platform for a lookout and a bell that was rung to warn the town of attack or danger.

So much history involved in this old fort. 

Such a beautiful view and beautiful day in St. Augustine.

Next up:  The Month with my dad sadly draws to a close