Jail Bird (for the second time), St. Augustine, FL

My first trip to jail was much closer to home - DeSoto, Texas.  I was 15.  I played in a softball tournament that my boyfriend's roommate's girlfriend (got that?) was also playing in.  The boys moved to a new apartment that week and she offered to go check it out with me.


After the last game we get in her car with two other girls from her team and head out.  On the way to the highway, Lisa pulls into the parking lot of a pharmacy.  A car pulls in behind her.  It is an unmarked cop car.


The policeman flashes his lights and we stop.  Two officers walk up, one on each side of the car.  The one on the driver's side says, "Get out of the car."  We all get out.  He says, "Come to the back of the car, sit down on the ground, put your hands behind your back, you are under arrest."  No warning, no explanation.  They bind our hands with plastic zip ties.


We are being arrested for "criminal trespassing".  The pharmacy isn't open so we are not "authorized" to be in that parking lot.  They are also arresting 3 boys in a pickup truck in the same lot.  The pharmacy is on Hampton Road, a major cruising strip.


There is something I should mention.

I am still in my uniform after playing softball all day.  Not an attractive look.  I am the brunette leaning on the wall.

Ironically, I had cruised DeSoto before with a different friend.  I never had a problem until I tried to leave after a softball tournament.  Because I am 15, I am transferred to the local police station, the other three girls with me are all 17 and so they are sent to Dallas County Jail.  I cry on the way to the station.

At the police station, they cannot find the cutters to remove my zip ties.  They type my report (on a typewriter) and then call my parents.  They put me in a holding cell.  Soon, I am joined by a lot of other girls (boys are in a cell next door).  My parents come get me.  

Not a good day.  

Soon, the whole incident shows up on the local news and newspaper.  Lisa's family was not amused.  We were invited to the city for the tournament and then arrested for being there.  The city decided on that day for a cruising crackdown.  We were swept up in the sting.  

That last sentence makes it sound more exciting than it was.

My second jail booking is for a very different reason:  Lewdness.  Don't get too excited, I simply showed some skin in public violating the law.  That skin was on my ankle.

Driving away from the Fountain of Youth, I see a chain gang.

They are in front of the Historic St. John Jail breaking the same rocks I saw them working on when I drove by on my first day in town.

I park, there are several attractions here including the jail, a general store and Gator Bob's, a souviner shop with penny arcade games that cost $.25.  They also offer tram tours of the St. Augustine area.  In the time I have, I can either do the jail or the general store tour.  

I choose the jail.  Both have the same basic premise...it is 1908.  The employees act and dress as if this is the case.  This explains the problem with my pants.

One of the jail "trustees" comes up, dressed just like these "gardeners", and asks me, "Whatcha being booked for?"  He looks like Santa Claus if Santa was scheduled to be on a chain gang.  "Nothing I am going to confess to you," I tell him.  He says he already knows and points to my pants.  Women weren't allowed to have their ankles exposed in 1908.  I tell him if I could get away with it I wouldn't be wearing shoes either.

Santa asks me where I am from.  I tell him Texas and he gets excited, "Your guide Willie is from Texas too!".

Willie just moved here from Coppell, Texas, a city in the Dallas area, near where I live.  He said our last summer, the hottest on record, was the last straw.  The forecast for St. Augustine today is a high of 100.

It looked like I would be the only person on this tour - the first of the day.  I am getting the impression that not many of the people in St. Augustine were up for the sunrise like I was.  Willie and I walk around back to the Gallows when we are flagged down and a family of 4 runs up and joins us.

Willie's stories are so much better than those of Guido from the ghost tour.  Above, he is telling us about the last "official" hanging at the prison.  After the convicted man fainted, they strapped him to a board and hung him anyway.  But the rope snapped under the extra weight and he came down and then went face first on the ground, still strapped to the board.  He wasn't dead.  Another rope must be procured and the process tried again.  He dies in the over 20 minutes it takes waiting for them to return.

The view of the Gallows from the Death Row cell.  This cell housed multiple 

inmates if needed.  The main fainted in here...I can't imagine why.

The other woman and I are shown to our cell.  There are two cells in the front of the jail for women.  Willie explains that there are always women in the cells...otherwise who would do the washing and the cooking?  

Willie shows us our shared toilet, shown in this image of the inmate sleeping the sweetest of dreams, I am sure.  I tell him that this isn't going to work for me.  He is unmoved.

We are shown the kitchen and explained our duties here.  The jail is not air-conditioned and there are no windows so we will be sweating and swatting mosquitoes that could stand flat-footed and...do naughty things to a turkey.

Our "booking" takes us through the sherriff's house, which is attached to the jail and then on to the main cells where the general population men are held.

The sheriff meets us here and he and Willie have a conversation. 

When the sheriff is done, the three prisoners start telling their stories.  

When the stories end, the sheriff takes pity on me and a pardon is arranged.  Just in the nick of time too, I have a plane to catch.

The Fountain of Youth, St. Augustine, FL

When the alarm went off at 5 am, I thought, who cares about a stupid sunrise over the Atlantic.  I turned the alarm off, no snooze.


I cared enough that I couldn't go back to sleep.

Sunrise was at 6:31 am.

I wanted to get some photos of the sun halfway up.

Because I didn't get up right away, I missed that.  It is about 6:40 when I arrive.

I think I got some good shots anyway.

And I am really glad I got my lazy butt up.

Until I almost had a panic attack after this shot.

There are surfers in the water (look to the left in the image above).  As I watch them, I see a fin.  At least I think I see one.  I stop walking and look harder.  I watch, alert.  Definitely a fin.  I start to get a little freaked out.  I want to yell - SHARK!  Inside I AM yelling - SHARK!  LOOK!  IT'S RIGHT THERE!  IT IS GOING TO EAT YOU!

Then I see two more fins.  And then a baby dolphin jumps.  A school of dolphins, not a shark.  Good thing I didn't yell.  I feel a little embarrassed anyway.

After I calm down, I pay a dollar to walk on the pier.

There are quite a few people fishing, even at this hour.

No catching but a lot of fishing.

If someone does catch a fish, this is where they clean it and dump the guts in the drain that  leads back to the water.

Where these surfers who haven't been eaten by the sharks in my imagination hang out.

After the pier, a short stroll on the beach before hitting the road to hunt down breakfast.

I decided last night to go back to The Fountain of Youth before flying home.  I have no idea how long it will take but I figure well, I'm not getting any younger, and I will have time for a quick drink at the very least if I get there when they open.

Once again I hit the main highway, rather than taking the "scenic route" to St. Augustine, stopping at a Denny's for a quick breakfast.  Because I am going to be early and I pass right by it, I decide to stop at the Ancient Shrine of Nuestra Senora de la Leche to see if i can get lucky and find the chapel open.

It is!

The inside is small but quaint.

Candles can be purchased at the closed visitor's center.

The Fountain of Youth is a short drive down the road.  The parking lot is largely empty.  I pay and pick up a map.  There is a lot more here than I expected.

My handy map.  I have a hard time following it but at least it shows 

what the possibilities are.

The entrance to the fountain.  Should I be suspicious of the water hose reel on the right?

There's the fountain, behind that wood barrier.  Not what I expected.

This fountain just outside is what I expected.

You don't get to dip your own water, they have it all lined up in plastic cups for you.  I take the 3rd cup of the day.  Since I haven't seen anyone, I suspect the employees are 

working on their own eternal youth.

It tastes like water.

Outside, I find this man and ask him if I look younger.  He has no opinion.

One of the things I can do is go to a Planetarium.  After Houston, I know I don't want to do that so instead I go to the theater.  There is a large globe that lights up and rotates while a live narrator talks about the voyages that led to the discovery of Florida.  On this globe, the whole of the US is labeled Florida. That is because the entire US was Florida based on their version but I must have missed that part in my high school US history class.

This is really interesting but there is one problem.  The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind - which is here in St. Augustine - is here for a field trip.  The woman at the front is signing what the narrator is saying.  I can't stop looking at her and find I go long periods of time without looking at the globe.

Next, I walk around the grounds.  I don't see any people that aren't employees. There are several peacocks on the grounds.

I see two beautiful white ones.  What isn't beautiful is their call.  It is quite intimidating.  This one starts to follow me.  I am worried I might have to break into a run.  I am feeling pretty happy about the lack of other people at this moment (the kids went to the Planetarium).

She stops her pursuit of me when she sees this showoff.

The plaque here reads (spelling and line breaks are theirs, not mine):

On March 3 AD 1513

Don Juan Ponce de Leon 

set sail from Porto 

Rico in search of

"Bimini" and the

"Fountain of Youth".

On Easter Sunday 

March 27 he sighted

this land and named 

it "Florida".

April 3 AD 1513 he 

entered the harbor

and

landed in this 

vicinity.

Behind him is the Historic Landing Observation Platform.  

Birds are the only thing landing here today.

That is one big cross over at the Ancient Shrine of Nuestra Senora de la Leche.

In the gift shop, I buy bottles of water for my parents and David.  I get David a bottle containing about 2 oz and mom & dad get a liter.  They are older so they need more.

This tour doesn't take all that long since I am the only person here and there is no waiting around.  I still have a little time before I go to the airport.  I end up using it to check out the inside of a jail.

Scary Stuff: St. Augustine, FL

This is my last full day in Jacksonville.  My flight tomorrow is in the early afternoon so I can sleep in a little if I want.  This helps me make the decision to go back to St. Augustine to participate in a ghost walk.  Because it doesn't start until 8 pm, I have a little time to check out one other sight and eat dinner first.

St. Augustine has a lighthouse.  I have always been drawn to them, as I know many other people are.  I haven't had the opportunity to go inside one in the past and so I get on the main highway this time to ensure I get there before they close.

Built in 1874, this lighthouse has been featured on Ghost Hunters.  I do not do the ghost tour here since I have a ticket for the other one later.  Also, they didn't advertise this, I found out later they offer one when I looked at their website - which incidentally is listed incorrectly on their brochure.

The climb to the top requires you to follow this half spiral staircase up 219 steps which they say is equivalent to 14 stories.  Fortunately there is a small landing at each half spiral.  This is quite narrow and not easy to navigate with someone coming down at the same time.

Getting to the top is worth the beautiful 360 degree view.  Unless you are allergic to wasps (I am not) then you might want to skip this since they are swarming all over up here.

The brochure I was given at the visitors center warns you about the wasps and also about spiders, snakes and scorpions on the grounds.  It also indicates that because it was constructed over 130 years ago, it was not built to modern safety standards.  Here are some of their tips:

1. Don't throw objects from the top of the lighthouse, it can feel like a bullet to the person below.
2. Don't walk and look up at the same time.
3. Don't climb the trees. 
4. Don't leave children in your car, with other visitors or staff.

I am really glad no one tried to leave their kids with me.  I would have been forced to decline and show them my copy of the safety rules if they insisted.

The keepers house is - quite literally - in the shadow of the lighthouse.  This is part of the tour but I ran out of time.  You can also tour the grounds and replica gardens.  They offer an audio tour for no extra charge so I did listen to some of the parts I didn't get to see.

Back across the Bridge of Lions (so named I assume due to the lion statues at the end) to the main part of St. Augustine I look for a place to park at Barnacle Bill's, tonight's dinner destination.  This restaurant was recommended to me by a couple of different people.  I wanted to go back to Cap's on the Water but I am committed to branching out.

After circling the block 4 times, I give up on trying to park at either the restaurant or the mission parking lot nearby and park in the $10 public lot which will be reasonably convenient (and well lit) when I return after dark.

Barnacle Bill's has a number of people waiting in the lobby but I am seated immediately.  While I wait a couple of people come in to buy souvenir shirts.  Several of the people waiting are here for take out and others are large parties.  It is packed.

It takes a long time for my food to come and when it does, I am disappointed.  It is AWFUL.  Having been to such a great place last night, this is a terrible let down in every possible way.  It is noisy, service is slow, the food is bad.  I am not sure what the draw is for this place but there obviously is one from all of the people and the fact that they sell merchandise.

I eat just enough to keep from being hungry and get out of there.  Back in the main area, I walk around waiting on my tour to begin.  There are a lot of shops and restaurants here, most of them still open.

Based on the neighboring establishments, I am surprised to find Saint Photios Shrine here. 

This Greek Orthodox National Shrine is beautifully painted and completely deserted except for me and the gift shop employee who tells me they are closing.  She would already be closed but she is here alone and didn't get a chance to block the door I entered through.

There is a lot of Greek family history on the walls in the foyer.

And this white on white raised copy of The Nicene - Constantinopolitan Creed.  I will have the the song "Istanbul" stuck in my head the rest of the night.   "Every gal in Constantinople lives in Instanbul not Constantinople..."

Sing it with me David!  He loves this song.

A statue of Ponce de Leon stands near where he landed in 1513.

An old waterwheel.

The masks of Fuente de los Canos de San Francisco were a gift to the city by sister city Aviles (birthplace of the founder of the city, Pedro Menendez) in 2005.

The Old Spanish Trail (St. Augustine to San Diego) Zero Milestone

The Oldest Wood School House in the USA.  Built over 200 years ago, the schoolmaster and his wife lived upstairs.

Where she is still being held prisoner.

When I arrive for the ghost tour I find my guide standing outside chatting with some of the other tourists.  I am concerned right away for two reasons.

He is wearing a kilt and he is talking about orbs.

My kilt-wearing guide has a decidedly Italian name - I'll call him Guido here.  He makes it very clear he believes in ghosts and that some of the ghosts on our particular tour don't like him at all.  He also warns us that there will be hecklers, people who honk their horns or yell at us from their cars. 

There are about 25 people (I never counted exactly how many) standing around to take the tour.  I am the only one here by myself.  I am not sure if it is this or something else but there are 4 women who are here together that keep looking at me.  They are clearly talking about me and I am not just being paranoid.

As we walk through the stone gate in the photo, our first stop is a cemetery.

Specifically the Huguenot (non-Catholic) cemetery.  He tells a story of grave robbing and ghost sightings.  It is neither scary nor all that interesting.  It could also be the distractions.  We are standing near a busy corner.  People walk by.  Cars go by.  As promised, we have our first hecklers.

Other tours also go by.  This horse-drawn buggy driver is telling her passengers the same story as Guido is telling us, sans the part about the orbs he has seen in photos of the cemetery.

This tour also goes by and because the driver is using a microphone, I can hear him better than Guido because I am trying to avoid the women who are still talking about me.

There is a restaurant across the street with a patio and they are doing a trivia game, also over a microphone.  The woman gives the question:  Which 4 states have capitals that begin with the same letter as the state?  While Guido is still talking, the woman next to me suddenly yells out, "New York, New York!"  The man with her quietly says, "The capital of New York is Albany".

As we walk on to the next cemetery - the Catholic one - there is much talk of orbs and state capitals.  The woman is still obsessing and naming off random, incorrect answers (Anchorage, Alaska!) so I say, "Oklahoma City, Honolulu, Indianapolis".  She is impressed even though I can't come up with the 4th (Dover, Delaware), but neither does anyone else.

As we approach the Catholic cemetery, we pass another tour outlet.

They offer a lot of these tours here.  There is a real man outside that looks a little like his wax partner who is dancing to Lionel Richie.  Not swaying a little, full on dancing.

At the Catholic cemetery a story is told about the ghost of a child and there is additional orb discussion.  There are a couple of women who take pictures here and see these phenomenon in their own photos.  People gather.  There is a lot of excitement.  I am wondering if anyone will notice if I sneak off.

We continue down the street and Guido tells of some things reported at the bed and breakfast establishments along this street.  However, the bulk of the story is of how the proprietors of said establishments don't appreciate this and how they have come out to directly confront him in the past.  We also encounter more hecklers and Guido obsesses about this each time.  Pouting.  Complaining.  Whining.

As we turn down this street, I let the tour get ahead of me, contemplating my escape.  I eventually catch up when they stop but the last straw is when two girls come up and make a big issue of the group standing across the way.  "People need to walk through here!  JESUS!"  She and her friend proceed to walk right through the middle of our group during the current story that I am not really listening to.  Several people, including Guido, mouth off back.  When the group turns left, I go straight.  I have wasted enough of my evening.

Walking back to the car, I pass an ice-cream parlor that is still open and doing a brisk business.  I go in and, on the recommendation of the girl making the cones, have a sea-salt caramel cone.  It is good and am happy to be free of the ghost tour.  David and I have talked about doing ghost tours before and I am sorry my first experience was so bad because I will be less inclined to try again in the future.

I walk back to my car enjoying the last of the sunset.  Since I am returning to the hotel earlier than expected, I am going to get up and catch a sunrise over the Atlantic.  At least that's the plan...

No moonrise to go with the sunset this week, only a brightening of the "day moon".  If you look back at the photo I took from the top of the lighthouse and the one of Ponce de Leon, you can see it there too.