In St. Augustine, FL

Today was my St Augustine day. Louise planned dinner for our other sister, Mary, and her daughter Lisa and son Jack and grandson Joshie. Before that, we decided to go on a tour of our old haunts.

St Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States, founded by Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in 1565. He named the city after the saint on whose feast day he first sighted land. St Augustine was the capital of Spanish Florida for over 200 years, and witnessed many conflicts and changes of sovereignty. It also became a haven for freed slaves, who formed the first free black community in North America. Today, St Augustine is a popular tourist destination, known for its historic landmarks, cultural diversity, and natural beauty.

We'll start with Louise's house. She had it built on this land herself, decades ago. She's seen it through roof work, rotten floor replacement, redecorating, and weird neighbors as the area has built up—but nothing like the rest of the town!

We then swang around to Coquina Gables on Anastasia Island, where we mostly grew up.

I wanted to visit Crescent Beach, which had been my favorite beach to lifeguard, when I was doing that as a teen. I preferred it because, then, it was almost always deserted. No more!

We then made a quick through our old neighborhood in Matanzas Circle, where we lived for two months in 1961, in number 19. When we were there, there were no trees. Now it's a mature neighborhood, and if it weren't for the address, I would never have recognized the place.

Returning to town via the old Bridge of Lions, I spotted (on the left) the motel we stayed at during Hurricane Dora in 1965, and (on the right) the motel where I had one of my first jobs as a kid, cleaning the pool. Both have changed names since then, of course.

St Augustine's Bridge of Lions is a historic and scenic bridge that connects downtown St Augustine with Anastasia Island. The bridge is named after the two marble lion statues that guard its entrance, which are replicas of the Medici lions in Italy. The bridge was built in 1927 as a bascule bridge, meaning it can lift up to allow boats to pass through. The bridge was renovated and restored from 2005 to 2010, preserving its original design and charm.

The Cathedral of St Augustine is a historic and beautiful Catholic church in St. Augustine, Florida. It is the oldest parish in the United States, founded in 1565 by the Spanish colonists. The current building was constructed in 1797, and features a Spanish colonial style with a bell tower, a dome, and, of course, a statue of St. Augustine. The cathedral was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970, and a basilica in 1976. And my late ex-wife Mary and I were married there.

St George Street is a pedestrian-only street in the historic district of St Augustine, Florida. Our mom used to work there as an interpreter (tour guide) at several of the buildings. It is one of the main attractions of the city, as it offers a variety of shops, restaurants, museums, and landmarks that reflect the Spanish colonial heritage of St Augustine.

The street was closed off to vehicular traffic in 1964, as part of a restoration and preservation project that aimed to revitalize the downtown area and showcase its history and culture. Since then, St George Street has become a popular destination for tourists and locals alike, who enjoy walking, browsing, and exploring the oldest street in the nation's oldest city

The Cordova Building is a historic structure on Cordova Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It was built in 1887 by Henry Flagler, a railroad tycoon and developer who transformed the city with his grand hotels and resorts. The Cordova Building was originally the Hotel Cordova, a luxury accommodation that catered to wealthy tourists. It was designed by John Carrere and Thomas Hastings, the same architects who created the Ponce de Leon Hotel and the Alcazar Hotel nearby.

One of the remarkable features of the Cordova Building is that it was constructed using poured concrete, a then-new technique that Flagler pioneered in St. Augustine. He used coquina, a local shellstone, as the aggregate for the concrete, and added color pigments to create different effects. The Cordova Building has a distinctive pink hue and a Spanish Renaissance style that blends with the historic district. Flagler's poured concrete method was innovative and durable, as it allowed him to create large and ornate structures that could withstand fire and weather, even hurricanes. The Cordova Building is one of the examples of Flagler's legacy and influence in St. Augustine.

Flagler College is a private liberal arts college in St. Augustine, Florida, that was founded in 1968. It offers 33 undergraduate majors and one master's program, and has a campus in Tallahassee as well. The college is named after Henry Flagler, the railroad tycoon and developer who built many of the historic buildings in St. Augustine, including the Ponce de Leon Hotel, which is now the main campus of the college. The college is known for its Spanish colonial architecture, its small class sizes, and its high-quality education.

We then returned to Lou's so she could start cooking dinner. Since she insisted I couldn't help, I decided to take a run out to Bakerfield, where I used to be a fire control dispatcher for the FLorida Division of Forestry. Mary and I had lived on the tower site with all four kids, back in the day.

However, to my surprise, the tower (as well as our house) was gone! The Forestry folk are still there.

We had a nice conversation, and they explained to me that towers are obsolete. I used to sit in that tower, looking over the Florida forest for signs of smoke, at which I would triangulate it's location with one or two other towers, and then dispatch rangers to go put it out. Nowadays, however, everyone has a cell phone; so everyone driving anywhere within 20 miles will see the smoke and simply call it in. 911 directs the call to our guys, who use the locations and descriptions of the callers to locate the fire…and then dispatch rangers to go put it out.

So, back to Louise's, where my sister Mary and her daughter, Lisa, and grandsons Jack and Joshie had already arrived. Of course, you know I was immediately crazy about the baby.

I last saw Jack 7 years ago, and he was of course just an adorable little guy then. He's now become a handsome and intelligent teenager—with marginal interest in adults.

Louise, Joshie, baby, Lisa, Mary, Jack