Sunday, April 21, 2013

Getting up in the world...

This weekend, the weather has not been all that great here, unless you are a duck. It rained most of Saturday and today, Sunday. While it did stop us from touring a bit, we did have some needed down time to prepare for the journey back to Ontario... coming up this week.

On Friday, while the weather was still real good, we got to tour the St. Augustine Lighthouse. It is a real neat tour that we enjoyed, and we got to climb up the actual Lighthouse.

This is the base of the lighthouse, where the office is. Believe it or not, this lighthouse was build in 1875! It was manned until 1953! Then, good old automation took over. The way I looked at it, if it lasted this long, it would probably last one more day while I climb to the top! Only 269 stairs up! The original light was an oil type light, and the keeper had to carry a 30 lb. can of oil up these stairs to feed it! Not this kid!

 

This is looking up to the top... no elevator here! We had to take a couple breaks on the way up!

It was worth it though, as we had a heck of a view... about 180 feet up. This picture above is well cropped. This is the Old Town Area, and is probably about 3 miles away, but I had my big lens on the camera.

The view was amazing! Well worth the effort to climb up.

During the Second World War, the National Guard used this Lighthouse as a lookout post, and actually spotted 4 German Soldiers who came ashore from a German U Boat... they captured them.

This lighthouse is still in use, and is the type where they have a big lightbulb in the centre, and the lens turns around the light bulb. Very cool.

What goes up, has to come down of course... a lot easier going down...

Right across from the Lighthouse, is this beautiful home, that the light keeper, and his assistant, got to live in, with their Families... it is now a museum.

This afternoon, Judy and I went to visit the famous St. Augustine Beaches! We could not visit this area without checking out the Ocean. This beach is BIG!

 

It was warm out, but there was quite a breeze going on... hence, the sweater today on the beach.

With the big wind, came a big surf on the Atlantic today, so this kid was enjoying it all with his surfboard.

I guess with all the wind, there was a lot of sea foam whipped up, it was all over the place on the beach... kinda looked like snow... We enjoyed the day, and will be on the road back up north tomorrow...

However before I leave you tonight... a skill testing question, meant for my Daughter, Kristina.

She studied Linguistics while at McMaster University, and has a BA. I was watching one of my favourite shows the other night, "Who wants to be a Millionaire" and found the following question.

Well, what do you think Kristina??? or anyone for that matter... Answer in tomorrow nights blog.

Till tomorrow...

 

8 comments:

  1. Beautiful and unique pictures of the lighthouse. We loved the beaches too. The sand is so soft.

    Sorry, don't know the answer to the question...no clue.

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  2. Answer: C Grimm's Law, try me a tough one next time (and I have an MA in linguistics you bum)

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  3. Kristina may have given you the right answer but did she tell you just how warm it is back home. We're in Ohio tonight but will be home tomorrow. It seems being in the warm temperatures for the winter has made us allergic to this cold weather we're now facing. Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  4. That's certainly a beautiful lighthouse.

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  5. Thank s for the lighthouse tour and walk on the beach. We are heating up Woodstock in time for your arrival!

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  6. Awesome places you got to visit in that historic city.

    Safe journey as you make your way north to Ontario.

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  7. I thought you guys were on your way home? Lighthouses, beaches??? What gives??

    That must have been a tough walk up those Lighthouse stairs. Too bad it wasn't a slide going down - wouldn't that be fun!

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  8. Hey John,

    I meant to congratulate you and your NHL Toronto Maple Leafs for finally making it to the playoffs, since 2004. There is a hockey god out there.

    Good of you for sticking with the team all of this time. Great news indeed!

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