One Last Day in St. Augustine

Saturday was our last day in St. Augustine, and we had one more place to visit – The Mission El Nombre De Dios.

On September 8, 1565, Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed at this spot and claimed the location for Spain and the Church.  Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, chaplain of the expedition, presented a cross to Menendez and celebrated the first parish mass at this same location.

The Great Cross, erected in 1966, stands 205 feet above the Matanzas River.

 

The impressive bronze statue of Father Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales, chaplain of Menéndez’s fleet; celebrant of the First Mass here; and first missionary, stands eleven feet tall.

 

 

 

 

 

We continued onto the grounds of the mission, walking among the numerous gravestones,    

and statues.

 

It’s a beautiful and peaceful cemetery,

with the Stations of the Cross along a walkway through the grounds.

The Rustic Altar is located in the spot where the first mass was held, and it still used for masses on special occasions.

The Chapel of Our Lady of La Leche

The present chapel is small and simple, holding approximately thirty persons, and reflects the Spanish mission style of the sixteenth century.  The chapel houses the statue of Our Lady of La Leche and is a special place of quiet prayer for those seeking Our Lady’s intercession.

The Chapel was beautiful, and a peaceful location for reflection and prayer.

Outside the Chapel is the burial site of several Sisters of St. Joseph, who came to St. Augustine after the Civil War to teach the newly-freed slaves.

Their Patron Saint, St. Joseph

 

 

 

We enjoyed our walk through the grounds of the mission – it’s a beautiful sanctuary in the middle of America’s oldest city.

From there, we had planned on going to mass at the Basilica, but we were over an hour early, so we drove down towards St. Augustine Beach to get a look at the beach on a sunny day.

On the way there, we checked the mass time at St. Anastasia on St. Augustine Beach, and it turned out that we were just in time to catch the 4pm mass.

We were pretty hungry by the time we got out of mass, so we decided to go with Carol’s recommendation and have dinner at the Salt Water Cowboys.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We opted for a table inside, since dark clouds were moving in and it was looking like we were going to get some serious rain.

Our timing was great, as we were seated right away and our food came quickly.  By the time we left, there was a huge line outside, and the parking lot was overflowing.  Dinner was great – it was definitely a good choice!

We never did get to see the beach on a sunny day, but we couldn’t leave St. Augustine without driving down to one of the beach ramps.  Since it was evening, and with storms moving in, there was nobody collecting fees and we were able to drive onto the beach for a quick picture!

On Sunday morning, we hitched up and moved north into Georgia – officially ending our winter 2015 season in Florida!

 

It turned out that our location was just down the road from where our friends, Debbie & Ken, were staying with Debbie’s parents, and they invited us to join them for dinner.  We enjoyed a great meal, and another wonderful visit with our friends before they move north for the summer.  Thanks guys!

 

After one more overcast day, we were promised some sunny and nice weather!  We’re looking forward to it!

Exploring St. Augustine

Besides the two forts, there was plenty to see in St. Augustine.

 

We spent one day checking out the beach areas.  Our first stop was Anastasia Island and the St. Augustine Lighthouse,

where we ran into another 4th grade field trip . . . or maybe it was the same one!

 

The lighthouse it self is undergoing some renovations and repairs, but it was still open for tours.  We did not tour the lighthouse, but we did wander around to get some pictures from different vantage points.

 

From the lighthouse, we continued south along A1A to the resort area of St. Augustine Beach,   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

where we came across a Farmers Market at the pier.

We walked through, and picked up a few vegetables.

The Farmers Market was pretty busy, and parking spots were at a premium . . . so why not park your Grand Marquis in the bike rack??!!

The beach, though, was pretty empty on this hot day . . . but storms were threatening in the afternoon and I guess that was keeping people away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back downtown, we entered through the ancient gates of the city,

and walked through part of the old town.

 

We did a little window-shopping,

and looked at some of the historical structures.

 

 

 

The Cathedral-Basilica

 

 

 

Ponce de Leon

The Bridge of Lions

Isn’t he a handsome fella??

We walked out to the middle of the bridge to see the marina and boats in the harbor,    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

just as the drawbridge was going up, and we were able to see the tour boat going through,

and also a fishing boat out in the harbor.

From the center of the bridge, we also had a nice view of the Castillo de San Marcos.

Leaving downtown, we drove north on A1A to look for the campground that we spent one of our favorite Thanksgivings at, many years ago on our way back to Michigan after a trip to Disney and the Kennedy Space Center.

The beach area north of town has changed considerable since then, and we didn’t recognize much.  We didn’t find the campground, but we did see a parcel of vacant land for sale that looks like it could have been the campground . . . too bad . . .

We stopped for one more look at the beach as storms were moving in and the surf was getting pretty rough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a few baby pelicans in this group that flew over our heads (or, at least some that were considerably smaller than the rest!)

With the bad weather coming, we headed back to the campground for the rest of the day . . . but we would be back again . . . there was still more to see!