St. Augustine | FindPenguins

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Trip start
November 2, 2016
St. Augustine Traveler
Prologue
November 2, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
Jeff and I went to St. Augustine to celebrate the wedding of Aleia, one of his former divers. I initially wasn't terribly excited about going to Florida as I thought anything outside Miami would be flat, humid, and full of boring planned communities. My interest was piqued, however, when I cursorily googled St. Augustine and I discovered that it is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the United States and that there was a lot of history there dating back to the 16th century. Everything I read about St. Augustine made the trip more appealing and so I researched things to do and sights to see with more enthusiasm.Read more
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St. Augustine Traveler
Honolulu to Dallas/Fort Worth
November 2, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
American Airlines AA8 | HNL/DFW
Economy Class
Boeing 767-300ER | N377AA
ATD/1719 | ATA/0556+1
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Dallas/Fort Worth to Orlando
November 3, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 19 °C
American Airlines AA2255 | DFW/ORD
Economy Class
Boeing 737-800 | N3HSAA
ATD/0657 | ATA/1028
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St. Augustine Traveler
Visiting Friends
November 3, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Jeff's main job is teaching deaf and hard of hearing kids (coaching diving is his secondary job and his real passion). St. Augustine is Deaf Central Florida; the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind (FSDB) is located there, as is Flagler College which has a deaf education program, so naturally we had friends there.

We flew into Orlando Airport, got into our rental car, and drove for about 1 hour and 45 minutes to St. Augustine. Arriving in St. Augustine in the early afternoon, we headed to Michella and JC's home west of St. Augustine and spent the afternoon there. Michella was Jeff's former co-worker from the Hawaii School for the Deaf, and she and JC relocated to St. Augustine for her to teach at Flagler College after she completed her PhD. We spent the afternoon catching up, getting acquainted with their cute 9-month old baby, and checking out the 2-acre plot of land they bought, and the area around.

After visiting with Michella and JC, we checked in to Jaybird’s Inn, and we went for the rehearsal dinner after.

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Florida School For The Deaf and Blind
November 4, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
We started our day by walking a quarter mile from our motel to the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind (FSDB). Jeff's former principal Jeanne is now the principal at FSDB. She welcomed us warmly to FSDB and immediately escorted us to the gymnasium to watch a goalball tournament.

Truth be told, I was reluctant to watch a high school game as historic St. Augustine was beckoning, but that changed quickly. Watching goalball turned out to be the coolest experience ever. FSDB has over 200 blind students and they have a thriving blind education program, and goalball is part of that program. Goalball was started by blinded World War II veterans and it is now played widely among the blind and is a Paralympic sport. FSDB is one of the powerhouses of goalball and it was hosting a national tournament that weekend. The players orient themselves spatially by feeling the lines on the court and the goalposts, and they sense the ball coming at them by listening for it. All of them wear masks to level the playing field.

After the game, Jeanne took us out to lunch and then she showed us the beautiful campus. It is the most impressive deaf school I had been to. FSDB is Florida's only deaf school; students come there from all over the state. Those who live some distance away are put up in the dorms during the week and they are bussed back and forth from home on the weekends. The school even has a bus station to facilitate a smooth bussing operation. During our walk around the campus, we stood with Jeanne at the bus station and watched her say goodbye to the learners as they boarded their buses. What struck us most was how positive the culture appeared to be. I know that a large part of that can be attributed to Jeanne.

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Castillo de San Marcos
November 5, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
After the wedding festivities, we had one day to explore St. Augustine. We started our day of sightseeing at the Castillo de San Marcos, a fort built by the Spaniards. Although this fort was much smaller than other Spanish forts we visited in San Juan and Cartagena, we found that the exhibits were very informative and educational. We spent a good two hours exploring the interior and exterior of the fort.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/castillo-de…

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St. Augustine Traveler
Old Town St. Augustine
November 5, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
After Castillo de San Marcos, we walked around the old colonial quarter for a bit and we didn't really enjoy it much. It was too touristy and it didn't appear to be lived in. We did find a few little hidden gems, though, including the St. Photios Greek Orthodox Shrine.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/st-photios-…

From the center of the old town, we then made our way to the nearby Flagler College and walked around the beautiful campus grounds (it had once been a hotel). We later learned that there were architecture tours of the campus. We also visited the nearby Memorial Presbyterian Church which Henry Flagler built in memory of his daughter. The church had very beautiful stained glass.

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Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth
November 5, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
After visiting the colonial quarter, we headed north to visit the shrine of Our Lady of La Leche, but we were disappointed to find that it was closed after Hurricane Matthew. However, the adjacent Mission Nombre di Dios was open. There, a very knowledgeable docent told us about the history of the mission and about the shrine of Our Lady of La Leche. Apparently, women go there to pray for fertility (hence la leche, which is Spanish for milk) and miracles have been known to happen. There is also a 208-foot cross on the premises.

Close to Our Lady of La Leche was Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth, an archeological park which had a replica of a native village, a watchtower, a planetarium which explained how the early navigators found their way by looking at the stars, and the fabled Fountain of Youth. This was another surprise of our trip - the billboards looked silly and touristy but we actually had a very educational experience learning about how early settlers lived and how they interacted with the native tribes. We both drank from the Fountain of Youth - the water was alkaline and tasted of sulphur - but, alas, you can only reap its benefits if you stayed there.

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Orlando to Dallas/Fort Worth
November 6, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
After a long day of exploring and learning, we drove back to Orlando where we stayed the night at an airport hotel before our very early morning flight back to Honolulu the next day. Our hotel room had a view of a disturbing Gays For Trump billboard. The mind boggles… I can’t imagine why any LGBT person would support Trump, but they do exist.

https://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United…

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American Airlines AA127 | DFW/MCO
Economy Class
Boeing 737-800 | N3HEAA
ATD/0600 | ATA/0652Read more
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St. Augustine Traveler
Dallas/Fort Worth to Honolulu
November 6, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
American Airlines AA123 | DFW/HNL
Economy Class
Boeing 767-300ER | N344AA
ATD/1050 | ATA/1447
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Home!
November 6, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
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Trip end
November 6, 2016