Nov 20-24 St. Augustine and Tallahassee, Florida

Nov 20-22 - The Spanish influence is stunning in St. Augustine.  This is America's oldest city and has the oldest everything - oldest house, schoolhouse, and oldest street.  A very walkable city with cobblestones and Spanish/Moorish architecture in the historic buildings.

The Flagler College is beautiful.  It was once a hotel built by Henry Flagler for his rich friends to spend the winter in Florida.  To stay for the season, people would have to pay $4,000 in cash (equivalent to $120,000 today).  The lobby has a grand rotunda with lots of gold leaf and gold fixtures everywhere.  The ladies parlor room is painted Tiffany blue with 11 crystal chandeliers and ornate moldings.  The dining room features beautiful Tiffany glass windows everywhere.

The Fort-Castillo de San Marco is a Spanish fort built in 1672 to defend the city.  The fort and walls are made of coquina, a compressed mixture of sand and shells that is flexible and would compress when struck by cannon balls instead of breaking.

We spend Thanksgiving at Golden Acres Ranch in Monticello, with the Harvest Host program.  This farm has miniature donkeys and a miniature horse, as well as chickens and lots of goats.  We see some Tennessee fainting goats, who have myoclonic seizures that cause them to stiffen up and sometimes fall over.  We see the rear legs of one goat do this, making the goat unable to move for a number of seconds.  Another goat does the same thing and actually lays its head down on the ground briefly before carrying on.  The seizures happen when the goats are scared or just randomly.

Nov. 23-24 - The Florida Historic Capitol Museum allows us to tour the restored Capitol building as it was in 1902.  This includes the Supreme Court, the Senate, and the House.  A very pretty building with its red/white awnings.

Nearby is the Museum of Florida History.  This is a lovely museum that is free.  Its exhibits include a mastodon, as well as displays on native culture, transportation, the Spanish influence, and even a surfing history display.

We happen upon the Tallahassee-Leon County-Civil Rights Sidewalk.  These murals depict lunch counter sit-ins and bus protests during the segregation years.

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Nov 15-19 Genteel Georgia and sea turtles

Nov 15-16 - Historical Savannah, Georgia, surprisingly is much different than Charleston, although not that far in distance.  Savannah has old brick/stucco buildings with decorative iron railings and balconies.  The style is not the antebellum style of Charleston.  There is a huge shipping port here.  Savannah has lots of town squares full of camellias, azaleas, Spanish moss, and palm trees.  We also see a person with a sidearm in a holster - it is okay to carry a weapon in the open here!

 The Savannah National Wilderness Refuge provides a wonderful 4 1/2 mile drive through the wetlands looking for alligators, but without success.  We do see lots of birds.  America's smallest church is nearby with room for 12 and beautiful stained glass.

Nov 17 - Jekyll Island in Georgia was the millionaire's playground in the day.  It is still very exclusive and has 4 golf courses within its 10 square miles.  We take a long bike ride along the shores,  seeing beaches choked with downed trees from a recent hurricane.  Our favorite stop is the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, a hospital for injured sea turtles.  We are lucky to see a sea turtle receive IV nutrition, as well as have its infected flipper irrigated and dressed.  This turtle has a deep gash in its shell from a boat strike.  An injured tortoise chewed on by a Great Dane is also treated, having its front legs irrigated and dressed.  These infected wounds are being treated with maggot therapy to get rid of the infected tissue.  Amazing how similar the treatment is to what we might see in humans.  The vet even uses Tylenol and Tramadol to treat pain.  Other turtles and small hatchlings are also being cared for here. Amazing visit to see these magnificent creatures.

Nov 18 - We visit Hofwyl-Broadfield plantation in Georgia, which was once a 7300-acre rice plantation.  Up to 357 slaves labored here draining the swamps, leveling the land, and digging ditches and dikes.  Malaria was a huge problem, as well as alligators and snakes.  With the end of slavery, the plantation became a dairy farm before being donated to the government.

Nov 19 - We cross into Florida and visit Amelia Island. Fort Clinch State Park is here and we hike through the hammocks, live oaks, Spanish moss, and lots of different types of palm trees.  At the huge beach, there are lots of surf fisherman looking for a fish called whiting -  one man catches and releases a small shark.  He told us earlier in the day he had caught a hammerhead shark!

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