St. Augustine Lighthouse

Breakfast this morning at the Casa de la Paz was broiled grapefruit, French toast, orange juice, and coffee or tea. I had time this morning to do some more sightseeing before the reunion beach party was to begin. I decided to visit the St. Augustine Lighthouse on Anastasia Island, near where the beach party was to be held. This lighthouse was built in 1871. The Lighthouse Board (which was in charge of lighthouses between 1852 and 1910) ordered that each lighthouse have painted on them different colors and designs so that sailors could know their own locations by recognizing a particular lighthouse. At night, a group of rotating lights would produce a special pattern unique to a particular lighthouse, which sailors would also be able to recognize.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

St. Augustine Lighthouse

Another view of the St. Augustine Lighthouse.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

St. Augustine Lighthouse

Entrance to the stairs to the top of the lighthouse.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

St. Augustine Lighthouse

The 219 stairs up to the top. Eddie climbed all of them when we were here 5 years ago. I was wondering if now was my turn to climb up them. I took one look up and decided that it wasn’t. However, I saw a man, probably in his late 70s, who had difficulty walking even with a cane, begin a determined climb up the steps, with a helper taking up the rear. I don’t know how far up he got but his effort was quite impressive.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

St. Augustine Lighthouse

Another view of the 219 stairs.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

St. Augustine Lighthouse

And another.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

St. Augustine Lighthouse

I still had enough time before the beach party was to begin to visit a special showing of U.S. Coast Guard paintings in the Lighthouse Museum (museum in photo).

St. Augustine Lighthouse

St. Augustine Lighthouse

The paintings dealing with the Coast Guard were very interesting. This one is named the “Fisherman’s Wharf Fire.”

St. Augustine Lighthouse

St. Augustine Lighthouse

“The Graveyard of the Atlantic.”

St. Augustine Lighthouse

St. Augustine Lighthouse

“The Puerto Rican Disaster.”

St. Augustine Lighthouse

St. Augustine Lighthouse

“Depiction of 8 Dec. ’41 Attack on CG–manned Transport USS Wakefield at Singapore.”

St. Augustine Lighthouse

Reunion Beach Party

I left the Coast Guard art exhibit to head to the beach party. I saw a friend down by the water where the party was being held and joined her in looking at a tricolored heron.

Reunion Beach Party

Reunion Beach Party

Closer–up view of the tricolored heron.

Reunion Beach Party

Reunion Beach Party

An even closer–up view.

Reunion Beach Party

Reunion Beach Party

The tricolored heron in flight.

Reunion Beach Party

Reunion Beach Party

We noticed that there were hundreds of tiny crabs in the sand almost under our feet. But if we moved, the crabs could sense the movement and quickly hid back in the sand but soon resurfaced a few feet away. I would imagine that these are called sand crabs but they do not look like the photos of sand crabs on the Internet.

Reunion Beach Party

Reunion Beach Party

Close– up of one of the crabs.  After the beach party, I went back to the Casa de la Paz for a nap and then over to the house of one of the hosts for dinner. When I got back to my B&B, I started packing as I was to leave St. Augustine in the morning to drive down to Melbourne, Florida, to visit a friend. I didn’t visit all the great tourist sites of St. Augustine on this trip––other sites of interest are the Fountain of Youth, a Ripley’s Believe It or Not located in a mansion/castle, and the Oldest Drugstore, among others, some of which I have previously mentioned. There are also Ghost Tours at night and many, many restaurants to try. A great city to visit.

Reunion Beach Party