Regular life goes on: We stayed very busy in December, exploring St. Augustine. But, life must also happen...establishing new health insurance coverage, paying bills, doing laundry (on-site), grocery shopping, getting haircuts (found one in town - walking distance), planning for Christmas, washing the boat, and routine doctor appointments.
Fortunately, we still have our car with us, so these off-site tasks are not inconvenient. Here, in St. Augustine, there is no on-site marina parking, so we have a monthly garage pass, but entry is not guaranteed. During Nights of Lights, we try to get back from our errands by early afternoon -- before the "light-seeing" tourists fill the garage.
Another Freebie Tour Opporunity: Now that we are on a fixed income, we like to take advantage of free. Just before Christmas, we got in to Lightner Museum for an evening crafter's marketplace, where we picked up a few small Christmas gifts. The market was held in the space that was once the swimming pool of the Alcazar Hotel. Today, the "deep end of the pool" houses the Alcazar Cafe.
Alcazar Hotel: The Alcazar Hotel was commissioned by Henry M. Flagler and built in 1888. For the pleasure of the guests, there was the world’s largest indoor swimming pool (at the time), the grand ballroom, sulfur baths, a steam room, massage parlor, a gymnasium, a bowling alley, archery ranges, tennis courts and a bicycle academy.
Lightner Museum: The Alcazar closed during the Depression, and in 1948 the building was purchased by Otto Lightner, who converted the hotel into a museum to contain his vast collection of decorative and fine arts.
While we shopped, we were serenaded by a small jazz band. We also viewed one of the temporary exhibits, “Thinking Small: The Amazing Miniature World of Thomas Rahner”. Here we ran into some Christmas carolers costumed from the Gilded Age, and they "wished" (sang) me a "Merry Christmas".
The exhibit featured some of Rahner's miniature scale models of boats and other vehicles, including a car and other fleet vessels owned by Henry Flagler. (If you zoom in to the picture of carolers below, you can see a Flagler car on the left.)
"Quick" Christmas Road Trip: Ray & I drove to the Carolinas (6-7 hrs each way) to spend about a week visiting family:
Greenville, SC: We spent a few nights with Lisa's dad. One of those days, we all drove to Anderson, SC, for the Hooper Christmas gathering. After exchanging gifts, we played a rousing game of our traditional game of "dirty bingo" (for candy & gift card prizes).
Fort Mill, SC: We dropped off our bags at Ray's mom's, then all drove to Pineville, NC, for a candlelight service at Calvary Church, where we met other Henry family members. Nice service and beautiful church. (I love pipe organs, and angels.)
Concord, NC: Ray's mom went with us to spend the afternoon with Carson. He cooked us a delicious spicy shrimp & chicken pasta, then we decorated Christmas cookies.
Fort Mill, SC: Ray's sister and brother-in-law served a delicious beef roast for Christmas with the Henry family (at least those in the Carolinas). We played a "less-than-rousing" Game of Things.
We spent so much time in the car, I should have included the car in family photos. 🙄🚗
Reunion & Visitors for New Year's! A couple of long-time friends drove from Raleigh to visit us in St. Augustine for New Year's. And our m/v Griffin friends (from New Bern & Jacksonville) arrived by boat for New Year's. Good times, tasting and touring St. Augustine, and more Nights of Lights.
We went to Sarbez! again (awesome grilled cheese, beer, and music), hoping to catch some local songwriters again for Open Mic Night. No luck. The mic was "open" all night --- no takers. And we convinced our Griffin buddy not to get up there. 😉 Sarbez! has the largest Galaga game I've ever seen!
Our Tanuki friends had us all over for oysters and a traditional southern New Year's lunch (peas and greens) at their new home on the ICW, Villa Incognito. (You can see the river reflected on the sliding doors in the picture below.) We should have plenty of coins for laundry this year!
NOTE: Ray borrowed the Tanuki panama hat since we forgot hats & sunscreen. (We are still getting used to the January weather in Florida.)
Flagler College Tour: Though recommended by our Tanuki friends, I wondered, "What could be so special about a college tour (for anyone except potential students)?" I highly recommend this tour!
Our tour guide was Cheyenne, a Flagler College student. She provided interesting information about the architectural heritage of the former Hotel Ponce de Leon and some history about the builder, railroad magnate, Henry M. Flagler. The Hotel Ponce de Leon was built in 1887 and is considered one of the finest examples of Spanish Renaissance architecture.
Fun fact: I've seen a lot of lions (not real) around St. Augustine. Remember the Bridge of lions? Here are more lions guarding the entrance to the former Hotel Ponce de Leon. I was curious; why lions? A little googling educated me; the Greek origin of Leon is lion. Aha!
Tiffany Stained Glass: The dining room houses 79 Louis Comfort Tiffany Stained Glass windows, which are protected by bullet-proof glass on the outside and Plexiglas on the inside. The dining room, including antique dining furniture, is still in use as the college cafeteria today. Wow!
Bronze ladies: A marble staircase leads from the grand Rotunda to the Dining Room. Beautiful bronze castings of “Marie Stuart and Queen Elisabeth”, adorned with lights, flank the landing. Ref: https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/E0/04/60/74/00001/KEYS_L.pdf
Fun fact: Our tour guide said students will sometimes place a mint into the gracefully folded hand of Marie Stuart.
Reference: For a little more information about Flagler College and Hotel Ponce de Leon, below are some articles I found by googling:
Old Town Trolley Tours: https://www.trolleytours.com/st-augustine/flagler-college
Antiques Roadshow: https://www.staugustine.com/article/20130609/NEWS/306099933
Flagler Carolina Connections: The Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is named for Flagler and his third wife Mary Lily Kenan, the "pride of a prominent North Carolina family." Ref: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1989-07-02-8902190293-story.html
I found Henry Flagler's personal history interesting (and somewhat sad). Check Wikipedia for some of the background we learned on the Flagler College tour.
My sister and her daughter-in-law may be interested to know that Flagler College offers degrees in Deaf Education, and those majors usually do their student teaching at Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.
St. Augustine was a great place to ring in the new year!