We arrived in St. Augustine, Florida on Saturday. As the oldest, continuously occupied European settlement in the U.S., we looked forward to a walking tour of the Old City section. We were a little disappointed, however, to find many of the historic buildings converted to souvenir shops, candy stores, bars and other tacky tourist draws.
When we ventured off the main drag, though, we did find a few gems such as Flagler College. It occupies the old Ponce de Leon hotel, a luxury resort built by railroad tycoon Henry Flagler in 1888. The hotel was constructed in the Moorish style with a red-tiled roof, tall spires and turrets. A beautiful courtyard is open to the public. It leads to an ornate foyer which is decorated with Tiffany stained glass, carved oak and imported marble.
Another highlight was the Castillo de San Marcos, a fortress which was begun by the Spanish in 1672 to protect the city of St. Augustine. Although the fort changed hands several time over the centuries due to various treaties, it never succumbed to a siege during battle. By the 1820s, the fort was in American hands when Spain ceded Florida to the United States.
On the day of our visit, the volunteer docents were dressed in 1835 period uniforms of the U.S. army. Part of their history lesson was the demonstration of a canon firing drill over the bastion wall toward the bay.
Also in St. Augustine is the World Golf Hall of Fame. Its mission is to honor the world's greatest players and contributors to the game of golf. There are currently 130 members representing 16 countries. It is part museum with historic artifacts and personal memorabilia, but it also has hands-on exhibits to tell the member's stories along with the history of the game.
The highlight for us was the special exhibit: Bob Hope: Shanks for the Memory.The exhibit covered over 3,000 square feet and traced Hope's life from his birth in England to his immigration to the U.S and rise to the top of the entertainment industry. The exhibit also looked at Hope's relationship with 11 presidents, his devotion to the United States troops and the various ways he championed the game of golf. Along with the over 400 items, 300 vintage images and two hours of video, there are multiple quotes and jokes from Bob Hope. Here are a few of our favorites:
On never winning an Oscar
"Welcome to the Academy Awards or, as it's called at my home, 'Passover'."
On Presidents
"I have performed for 12 presidents and entertained only six."
"I've always enjoyed playing golf with a President. The only problem is that there are so many Secret Service men around there's not much chance to cheat."
"Clinton had the best score, Ford the most errors, and Bush the most hits. Me, I cheated better than ever."
On golf
"Golf is my profession. Show business is just to pay the green fees."
On Sunday we toured the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex. The tour of the massive facility is part museum, part working demonstration and part amusement park. While we were there, Space Shuttle Atlantis was already on the launching pad, being prepared for its last scheduled mission on May 14.
While the tour gets you no closer than three miles to the launch site, it is still impressive to see the orbiter and its massive orange external fuel tank sitting on the horizon against the Atlantic ocean. The "amusement park" portion was a motion simulator ride which simulates the experience the astronauts go through during the launch of the Space Shuttle. Obviously though we've never experienced the real thing, the simulator was pretty convincing. The "working" portion of the tour is the building where the International Space Station modules and experiments are readied for transport. Although there was a lot of inventory in the room being prepared for the next Shuttle mission, it was fairly quiet on a Sunday afternoon. The "museum" portion of the tour was probably the most interesting. The Apollo / Saturn V center chronicled the steps that led to the moon landings. The most impressive display was an actual Saturn V rocket -- at 363 feet, the largest rocket ever made. Also on display was the re-created control room from Apollo 8, including the actual consoles used by the technicians to monitor the mission. It was interesting to see how 1960s technology compared to today's hi-tech.
The massive Vehicle Assembly Building and the Saturn V rocket
"Very Interesting" he said in his best German accent! It all does sound and look like a place we would enjoy. Thanks for the tour!
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