** Best wishes for all those in the path of Hurricane Matthew ... stay safe! **
Castillo de San Marcos
Here
we see the door between the two Spanish guardrooms on the south wall. Before
the construction overhaul of the 1750s, these two chambers were one
large room. Aside from the modern wooden gates, everything about this photo
screams “old.” The walls with their patterns of deterioration, the door with
its rusty hardware . . . more like a medieval castle than anything
else. Of course, as soon as you step through these chambers and into the courtyard, it gets a
lot cheerier.
Fountain of Youth
I
don’t know whose house this is at the end of Magnolia Avenue, but I’d sure love
to live in it. Imagine taking a stroll along this beautiful street
every morning, with one of St. Augustine’s most historic attractions (the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park) just a
short distance away. The wall seen at left is made of tabby, an oyster
shell-based construction material. Interestingly, the Spanish form “tapia”
means “mud wall.” Note the Spanish moss hanging down from the branches, in some
places so low that you can touch it. (I wouldn’t recommend touching it, though.
I remember tour trolley tales about unsuspecting settlers using it as filling
without boiling it to remove the bugs . . . fun times, no doubt!)
(c) 2015-2016 St. Augustine Fridays
No comments:
Post a Comment