[Rick] We finally left St Augustine. We had a wonderful visit there and have placed the city on our list of places to return and visit again. We motored to Jacksonville, 31 miles up the ICW and are staying at Palm Cove Marina. They have a very nice marina with laundry and a very nice boater’s lounge.
We took no pictures today and Betsy spent the afternoon riding her bike to Wal-mart, about a mile away. I caught up on some housekeeping chores and took a spectacular nap. On the third Friday of the month, the marina sponsors a get-together for all of the people in the marina. Since we happened to be here, they invited us to attend. They had Chili and brownies and various types of drinks including wine, beer, and soft drinks. It was very nice and we met several residents of the marina.
On the way up this morning, we noticed about 1100 that there were no boats or people on the waterway. We passed Ponte Vedra FL at that time and realized that all eyes in the area were on Tiger Woods and his press conference, held just a few miles from us at PGA headquarters. We caught the highlights on the evening news.
Since there is so little to report, perhaps a small history lesson is appropriate.
Most people, if asked, will say that America was started when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620 and taht Plymouth is the oldest European settlement in America. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is true that the first ENGLISH PERMANENT colony was settled by the Pilgrims. Here is the actual chronology of settlements:
1559 – Pensacola is settled by Spaniards. However, a hurricane wiped it out after a few years and it was not rebuilt for 100 years. Thus, it is not the oldest PERMANENT settlement.
1565-St Augustine is settled by Menendez of Spain. St Augustine is the oldest PERMANENT settlement of Europeans in the US.
1583-Sir Walter Raleigh settles on Roanoke Island. After 3 years with no provisions, the colony disappears and is forever named the Lost Colony. Virginia Dare is the first ENGLISH child born in America.
1607-Jamestown Virginia is settled by the English.
1620-The Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth Rock.
The reason you never hear about St Augustine is that the winners write the history books and England, after defeating the mighty Spanish Armada, had Florida ceded to England via the Treaty of Paris. Thus the history books teach that England settled America. As Ripley says, “Believe it or Not”…….
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