St Augustine Municipal Marina, St Augustine, Florida

The bridge is working. Shortly after I finished writing the blog last night it went up and all of the stranded boats came through. So far today, it seems to have worked. Luckily when we leave we won't need it lifted for us. Toured the Presbyterian Church today, it is magnificent. As I have said earlier, this church was built by Henry Flagler in memory of his daughter who died of childbirth fever, and of course, of the granddaughter who died at the same time. It replaced the original Presbyterian church which was the first one in St. Augustine. The architects of the church were inspired by St. Marks Cathedral in Venice, Italy, even to putting kneeling benches in front of the pews. Someone asked if the congregation kneels during the service, but the docent said no, the architects didn't know the difference between Protestant and Catholic; the benches serve as handy foot stools. There are 92 stained glass windows in the building; the floor plan is laid out as a Latin Cross. Small tiles in the floor create patterned mosaics made of Italian marble. The lectern and pulpit are both carved out of mahogony, as is the clam shape over the pulpit which acts as a sound amplifier. Henry Flagler, his first wife, his daughter and grand daughter are all buried in the mausoleum off to the side of the church. Space was left for his third wife on condition that she not re-marry, but she did remarry after his death, so that spot is empty.
After lunch went on the beach shuttle over to the barrier island, Anastasia Island. The beach consists of several miles of fine sand, beautiful. Since we have come to St. Augustine, several guides have told us about the lack of high buildings. In the early 1900s, a bank built a 6 storey building in St. Augustine. The people of the city were so upset with it that they created a law that no highrises could be built here. Therefore, there are no buildings higher than 2 or 3 storeys. That makes the beachfront unique, no high condos or apartment buildings along the waterfront, only a few houses.
Went on from there to the lighthouse. It has 219 stairs to the top, stairs climbed several times daily by the lighthouse keepers of old, as they brought fuel (heated lard) to the top to supply the light, plus did maintenance on the light. We climbed the stairs, what a view from the top. The lighthouse museum was interesting and informative.
Back to the boat and a quiet evening. We plan to move further north tomorrow.

Memorial Presbyterian Church

Pulpit with carved clamshell overhead to enhance sound



Painted ceiling at the church




The beach



Another view of the beach, note the lack of high rises

The top section of the lighthouse. The light can be seen from between 16 and 25 miles out into the Atlantic.

View out to the Atlantic from the top of the lighthouse. The docent commented that the intervening island was not there when the lighthouse was built, it has developed from shifting sand since then. In the Second World War apparently a German submarine managed to hit several US ships just off St. Augustine because they were visible in the light from the lighthouse.

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