Our next stop… beautiful St. Augustine, Florida. St. Augustine is known for being the very first settlement. Forget what they say in Plymouth or Massachusetts, by the time the first settlers were grown, married, had children and died they were just arriving up north to America.
We had lots of fun here at St. Augustine. Even though the weather wasn’t as hot and sunny as we hoped for, it was still great family fun! We parked our “home on wheels” at the beautiful Bryn Mawr Oceanfront Resort. If there is ever a place you need to park you RV that is right on the beach Bryn Mawr’s is a great spot! Whether you want to watch the sunset or sunrise, shell searching, bird watching, splash in the ocean waves, get sand between your toes, count the boat lights on the ocean at night or soak up some sunshine during the day, this place is sure to please. In a quiet setting tucked away in the palm trees, but yet a short drive from the many historical and tourist attractions. We didn’t have time for mini-golf, but enjoyed learning about America’s history here in St. Augustine.
First we went to the Colonial Quarter’s Historical Adventure Tour. Here we went through a live historical adventure tour through time. Here are some pictures of our exciting adventure…
Our Tour Guide.
He showed us how the blacksmith shop worked. How the guns back in those days were operated how and why the homes were built the way they were built and much more!
Here is a live representation of how early settlers in St. Augustine cooked. Cooking wasn’t done inside in a kitchen, instead it was done outside so the house wouldn’t get too hot.
Our Tour Guide also explained the difference between the steep pitched homes and the flat top home; their advantages and disadvantages.
The wooden homes were cheap and fast to build, but needed to be replaced every few years because of rot and termites. The wooden homes were steep pitched so the rain would runoff but heat was a problem for those types of homes. While the flat top homes had big windows with thick walls.
Flat top homes lasted longer because they were built sturdier than the wooden homes. However, a flat top roof isn’t suitable for lots of rain. If you want to know my opinion, I’d say a steep pitched roof, thick walls and big windows sounds good for the hot and rainy days of Florida.
We even got to tour inside what originally was a 16th Century one bedroom cottage. This cottage is how St. Augustine became popular because it was the very first well-built structure of its time.
Felicia (left) and Linda
(right) having a great time!
Next we went to the Old General Store and had a live tour of how the general store was. The General Store was a big excitement! This General store was the largest store of St. Augustine and the third largest of the state of Florida.
Museum was not like the Adventure Tour. We came into the store and the sales clerk basically treated us like we were old time customers. He was trying to sell stuff the store originally carried. From canned goods to candy, clothes, oil lamps, corn husker, apple peelers, women’s shoes, ect. It was like we were live in a commercial of how the salesmen would try ever so hard to sell stuff we didn’t need.
The hand pump vacuum. You have to push around
and pump this thing and your floors will be dirt and dust
free in about 3 hours.
In case you can’t see what the sign says…
“LIFT THE RECEIVER & LISTEN IN!
Before Telephone Numbers
When telephones first came into use, there were no telephone numbers. You had to crank a magneto phone to generate an electric signal to alert the switchboard operator who would connect your call. The operators knew everyone by name.
The yearly cost for phone service for homes was $18, $20 for farms, and $24 for businesses. Private lines were an extra $5.
Party Lines
Most people shared telephone line with up to twenty people. You could talk only five minutes or so before someone else wanted to make a call. Anyone on the party line could pick up their receiver and listen in to your conversation. The shared lines were called “party lines”.
Michael, Danny and Daniel. If you check out the one in the middle, the one Danny is in, it looks similar to what Jeremiah|YirmeYahu was hung up in. This particular one here actually has a rope on the top loop to hang the cage up in the air.
Now that everyone’s stay put and settled down we can finally tell you about how things went at the St. Augustine Flea Market.
It was great! We only had a few DVDs out on the tables and people were already stopping, asking about our DVDs and eagerly grabbing their free copies.
Once we initially got set up several flea market shoppers would come to our table and ask “What is this movie about”. Others were regular Bible studiers and church goers. They said they were eager to watch and learn more about end time prophesy and the Father’s Name. HalleluYAH! Several people would come up and converse about Scriptures with us, ask who we are, what we do and why. We even had a Muslim come and chat for 45 minutes!
We had a great time. You’re probably wondering why we are all dressed up with coats and jackets on. A cold front came through Florida that week. It was so cold, the lows were in the 30s in St. Augustine! We can’t wait to go down further south to where it’s warmer. See ya when we get there
