Castillo de San Marcos, January 27, 2012, early evening. Enough said

National Geographic named St Augustine’s Nights of Lights as one of the Top 10 places in the world for holiday light festivity. Wanna see for yourself? Go here.

Nights of Lights will continue through the end of January. This is a wonderful time to visit St Augustine. The tiny white lights make the city even more magical than usual, and a stroll along the Bayfront can be quite romantic.

Nights of Lights has always been one of my favorite times to visit the city. I didn’t get down there before Christmas this year, so my good friend Diana Brummer of Paris in Spring ’98 was kind enough to share her photos with me.

You can see all of Diana’s Nights of Lights photos here.

Visit Diana’s Nights of Lights page on her blog here.

Please visit Diana’s blog, Paris in Spring ’98, here.

That just twists my heart. I don’t have military relatives and I am not close friends with anyone in the military so I’ve never held my breath waiting for news of a loved one, or (God forbid) had to endure hearing news I didn’t want to hear.

That doesn’t mean I don’t care. I care. Deeply. Every day of my life my heart aches for the families whose loved ones will miss Christmas at home–again–and the ones forced to wake up every day knowing their loved one will never come home again.

So Tyler’s story touched me deeply. I’ve never met him, but I hope I do meet him and his blue-chip wife Ashley someday. Tyler is one of those people I want to be like when I grow up. He is one of those people who make me want to “do more.”

St Augustine “did more.” Through Homes For Our Troops, founded by John Gonsalves, the community built a home for Tyler. Local businesses contributed materials and volunteers rolled up their sleeves and made the home happen.

Tyler and Ashley are getting a new home for Christmas. I’m so happy for them. I wish Tyler, and all his military brothers and sisters, didn’t have to make the sacrifice that put him in a position to need that home. But I am so proud of my town for coming through and not only saying “thank you” to a wounded veteran but also showing him that his willingness to serve his country means something to us all. That he is important to us.

That we see him.

Please read more about Tyler and Ashley Southern here.

Read more about Homes For Our Troops here.

Thanks to Skye Taylor for the flag photo.

How, however, I have even more reason to visit the Mission. Archaeologist Kathleen Deagan, a lady who has devoted a good bit of her life to looking beneath the surface of my beloved town, believes she and her team have located the stone foundation of what is likely the oldest church building in the nation, right on the Mission grounds.

Here’s the link.

Article & photos by Raphael Cosme. (The photos are fantastic!)

Father O'Reilly House Museum

On a recent visit to St Augustine, I spent a little more time than I normally would on Aviles Street. I’ve always loved this street, as it seems to harbor a wee bit more of the “ambiance” we love in St Augustine. However, for years the quiet little street was largely ignored in favor of St George Street and the more active north end of town.

Aviles has always had a lot to offer if you knew what you were seeing. But without the added attractions of shops, galleries, and restaurants, few ventured to the south end of town. Now, thanks to a long-overdue revitalization, Aviles Street is part of must-see St Augustine.

Two wonderful museums live on Aviles Street: The Spanish Military Hospital (with a fantastic collection of antique surgical instruments) and the Father O’Reilly House Museum (a first Spanish period house.) The Ximinez-Fatio House, a lovely old inn, is there as well, and is well worth seeing.

My favorite spot in St Augustine, the St Augustine Historical Society Research Library also lies along Aviles Street. Of course, I’ve spent many ecstatic hours there. You might say Aviles is my favorite street in the city!

The shops and restaurants there are some of the finest in the city. There is new outdoor seating along the renewed brick street where patrons can enjoy their meals and just relax in all the city has to offer.

In the evening of the first Friday of each month, Aviles Street buzzes with activity well into the evening, as Art Galleries of St Augustine (AGOSA) hosts its monthly First Friday Art Walk. This event draws visitors from miles away, as galleries all over the city stay open late, featuring local and Florida artists. If the crowds on Aviles Street are any indication of the popularity of this event, First Friday Art Walks draw enormous attention to St Augustine.

In 2003, I worked in a small art gallery on Aviles Street for a friend who’d scheduled a month-long vacation. I loved opening the gallery each morning, watching the horse-drawn carriages roll by, and chatting with the other business owners there. But it made me sad to sit all day in a quiet gallery on a quiet street with so much to offer. I always knew that Aviles could be so much more, and now that I see it revived it makes me happy to see visitors wandering about and exploring. The gallery where I worked no longer exists, but I’m grateful for the time I had there.

Well, that’s not exactly true. I have lots to say. Lots. But the fact is, I don’t live in St Augustine or St Johns County, I don’t pay taxes there, I don’t elect its officials. I’ve spent a number of years enjoying St Augustine and talking about it to anyone who’d listen and doing all I could to help visitors enjoy it. But that doesn’t put me in a position or give me the right to voice an opinion on the city’s decisions. Or to question inconsistencies. Or wonder why things that need attention get overlooked in favor of things that really don’t need much attention right now.

But, as always, St Augustine will go on and I will continue to visit it. In fact, I am leaving shortly to spend a couple of days there. The prospect of having to walk past a shuttered and silent Spanish Quarter is like a knife in my heart but I’ll not die from that. I hope I’ll run into some of the people I got to know there, the ones who lost their jobs because “We do not have a foundation contributing to it as does Williamsburg, Va. Living history museums do not pay for themselves.”*

I’m still shaking my head over that one. Who does that?  Who opens a business that “won’t pay for itself?” I’m abysmally bad at running my own business and even I see the flaw in that reasoning.

Oh, I have no doubt the Spanish Quarter will reopen next year under private management. It’ll be cool, it’ll be fun to visit, and it’ll be good to have it open again. But the whole thing leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.

*The St Augustine Record, September 23, 2011

The Colonial Spanish Quarter offers a retreat into a different time, a different place. A time when life was hard, but simple. A life that few ever get the privilege of experiencing first hand.  No electricity, no phones, no cars, no Internet. Just the task of getting through one day at a time making sure needs were filled and everyone stayed safe.

This collection of houses and buildings is a window into St Augustine’s past; an opportunity to experience St Augustine on a deeper level. The community represents St Augustine in 1740; a Spanish town during a time when the rest of the Eastern Seaboard was under English rule. The state of Georgia was still in its infancy and its well-intentioned founder burned with determination to present his king with the “gift” of the small Spanish town. His resolve was futile.

St Augustine has endured pirate sackings, burnings, hurricanes, attacks, and transfers of ownership. Through it all, nothing has crushed its spirit or its fortitude. Since September 8, 1565, every effort to take the tiny town by force has failed.

Why? Because when St Augustine made up its mind it was not going to be taken, it wasn’t taken. If “not getting taken” meant building a massive fort to protect itself, then that’s what the town did. Took thirty years to do it, but it was done. And so the town survived.

The Colonial Spanish Quarter still shines with St Augustine’s sheer determination to survive. However, the threat against the Quarter is much more insidious than the pillaging pirates or fierce storms of yesterday. In the 21^st century, the threat against the Colonial Spanish Quarter is financial.

Admittedly, there have been better times in our country’s economic history to operate museums and tourist attractions. St Augustine, however, is not just a museum or a tourist attraction. It is the place in America where one may walk where the first Europeans walked; touch what they touched, see what they saw that ignited the spark of desire to carve a life out of a brand-new world, at any cost.

The Colonial Spanish Quarter is a living, breathing piece of American heritage.

• It is where you stroll along sandy paths under the cool shade of spreading trees and meet people who live a very different life than yours.
• It is where you experience a simpler time and place, with every one of your senses.
• It is where you understand that a barrel of corn or a length of cloth has far more value than a laptop computer or a portable music player.
• It is where you walk into a simple, two-room home and realize that it is as well equipped (if not better so) than your own home with its comforts and conveniences.
• It is where you see a blacksmith making a nail, and suddenly comprehend what goes into the building of a home.
• It is where a mockingbird chatters at you from the top of an open shutter and you remember what it is like to be “chosen” by a pet.
• It is where The Nation’s Oldest City emphasizes independence and self-reliance.
• It is where, in the midst of a Spanish community that survived everything they were dealt, you will remember what it means to be independent and self-reliant.
• It is where you will understand independence requires sacrifice and “making do.”

The Colonial Spanish Quarter, for all its uniqueness and purpose, is in danger of closing. Without visitors moving in and out of the living history museum, every day, it will close. Without the support of local residents who understand its value, it will close. Without raised voices to say what it cannot say for itself, it will close.

How can you help? Easily, and it will not cost you more than a bit of your time:

• If you are planning to visit St Augustine, please include the Colonial Spanish Quarter in your plans. When you get there, explore it, experience it, and gobble it up. The staff will be more than happy to help you get the most from your visit.
• When you are visiting the Colonial Spanish Quarter, take pictures—lots of pictures. Get pictures of the staff, the scenery, and of yourself enjoying your visit. Post them to your Facebook page or make a digital album of them to share with everyone you know.
• Let the staff know you enjoyed spending time with them. Encouragement matters.
• If you are a resident of St Augustine, invite anyone and everyone you know to visit the Colonial Spanish Quarter.
• If you are a resident of St Augustine, greet visitors to your city and welcome them with a smile. Ask if they have visited the Colonial Spanish Quarter. If they haven’t, encourage them to do so.
• If you use Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or any other social media, please mention the Colonial Spanish Quarter. Do it often. Post your pictures, and encourage vacationers to make a stop there.

The Colonial Spanish Quarter does not have to close permanently. It does not have to be left lonely and forgotten, its houses shuttered, its spirit silenced. The Quarter still has stories to tell and songs to sing and with a little help, those stories and songs will go on. If the Colonial Spanish Quarter closes, the living history of St Augustine will die.

SEE ALSO:
An American In St Augustine
The Colonial Spanish Quarter Museum

In mid-March of this year, two of St Augustine’s most loved residents came home to their rightful places on the Bayfront and in our hearts. Although I’d grown used to seeing the two empty spots where the lions used to stand at the foot of their bridge, I never stopped missing them. Throughout their six-year absence (and the accompanying chaos of bridge reconstruction) I knew the day would come when the two beautiful sculptures would once again guard the Bridge of Lions as it rose gracefully over Matanzas Bay.

That day is here. The boys were lovingly cared for and cleaned up during their time away. They stand radiant and proud in the Florida sunshine, greeting visitors and welcoming home those of us who return, time after time.

Interestingly, I never knew the lions had names until they came back. One is “Faithful” and the other is “Firm.” Excellent names for these two, I think. I am not sure which one this is, but I love them both equally!

What does this have to do with St Augustine, you ask? Good question. In June of 1983, I and two friends decided to take a road trip to St Augustine and spend a week baking in the sun. DD had just released the Rio album, and one of my friends had the cassette. (Remember those?) We left Atlanta at midnight and I was blasted by Hungry Like The Wolf all the way to the Georgia state line. At the Florida welcome center, I took the wheel so I was driving when we arrived in St Augustine around 6:30 am. My two friends were sleeping in the backseat. Duran Duran was quietly playing in the background.

Dawn was just starting to break over the Plaza. King Street was so still and quiet. I pulled up to the traffic light at King and Avenida Menendez, the only car on the road. Suddenly, Save A Prayer started, and I was so overwhelmed by the moment I sat through two cycles of the light. This was the moment I knew, beyond all doubt, that I loved this town with everything that was in me, and the music just seemed to—fit.

Since that moment, any Duran Duran song can put me in St Augustine at any time, no matter where I am. I have a “St Augustine” playlist on my iPod that includes all my DD albums as well as some other music that goes well with them. When my head needs to be in St Augustine for writing, I play that playlist and I am there.

I’m sure most music lovers who are aware that Duran Duran released a new digital album in December 2010. If you ever even remotely liked Duran Duran, please get this album. THIS is our band, back, hot, and rockin it. The guys have never sounded better, never looked better, and this time they pulled it together for the Duran Duran we know and love. God bless Mark Ronson.

Sadly, Andy Taylor did not return for this album. I miss him and hope he is well.

The title track, All You Need Is Now, is classic Duran. You can clearly hear every member of the band in this song. Nick’s trademark synth is amazing. Simon sounds splendid. John and Roger are right there in every beat.  Many, many thanks to Dom Brown for taking over on guitar and doing an incredible job of it. The song is such a perfect combination of talents that you can listen to it as a combination or you can focus on the artist you want, at any given moment. Perfect.

Until December 2010 when the digital album released, Save A Prayer was my most favorite song ever. Now it’s my second most favorite song ever. My new favorite song of all time: Leave A Light On. This song contains the most beautiful lyric I’ve ever heard:

“You ease the lost cause out of me.”

Dear. Heavens. What a line!

During my first 500 plays of this song I was finishing the first draft of By Heart, a novel set in St Augustine, about a “forbidden” romance between an Englishwoman and a Minorcan man. Leave A Light On became “their” song, because it described their relationship perfectly. The line above applies perfectly to both characters. If someone had written a song with one line specifically for those two, it wouldn’t have been better.

Another good track: Safe (In The Heat Of The Moment). The entire album is worth having just to hear Ana Matronic’s caramel-smooth voice on this song. Girl Panic is another good one. Mediterreanea, released on the physical album in March 2011, is my new St Augustine song. Totally.

Welcome back, guys. I’ve missed you and your amazing sound.

Thanks John, for busting the rumor that this is most definitely not Duran Duran’s last album!

And by the way: I like Mark. I think we should keep him.