Castillo de San Marcos
Believe it
or not, this beautiful blue-sky day preceded a tornado watch by a mere matter
of hours . . . The Castillo’s gun deck, the place to hang out in any sort of
weather except stormy (it’s closed then) showcases a variety of old bronze and
iron artillery pieces. These cannon are the real deal, mostly forged in the
1700s. While a bronze piece can be seen in the foreground, there are a few iron
cannon visible in the right background. The tower you see to the left of the shot
is the Colonial Quarter watchtower (worth a climb; there’s a terrific view of
the fort!)
The Oldest Wooden
Schoolhouse
If you’ve
ever visited St. Augustine, you may have noticed that everything seems to be
the “Oldest” this-or-that. In this case, it’s the truth. This schoolhouse, also
the home of Juan Genoply and his family (hard to believe they lived only in the
upper story of this tiny place), was constructed in the 1700s. Students were
learning reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic here as late as 1864, and in the early 20th century the large rusting anchor you see in the foreground was placed
around the schoolhouse as a precaution against hurricane winds. How effective
it would be remains to be seen.
(c) 2015 St. Augustine Fridays
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