Today was a big day for me. Since moving to Florida I have gotten in a few short cycle trips but nothing like I was undertaking today. Today marked a milestone in my return to touring and adventure. Some may say this is a fools quest, ok I am fool. Spending the day cycling to and from America's oldest city was beyond amazing. Ever since my drop dead date of 10/18/2013 I have been on a mission of healing from my open heart surgery/stroke/cancer and experiencing all of life. From the end of my first attempt at being the first triple survivor to cross the United States Solo and unsupported this was the perfect day tour for me to undertake. A total of 60 miles were covered in this but you do not have to do it by bicycle. I prefer to travel this way because I see all the that the world has to offer. I meet people I normally would miss and I see the details that you miss at 70 mph. This was the perfect day trip to prepare me for my second attempt to be the first person to make the daunting cross country trek.
With my journey south being less then a week ago I decided that my first jaunt back into the realm of touring was going to be to a place I have always and I mean always wanted to see. It is the place of legend here in the United States and place that everyone should take in at least once in their lifetime. Or so I heard.
Saint Augustine is breathtaking in its beauty. Yes I said Saint Augustine Florida about 20 miles south along the Atlantic Coast from Jacksonville. It is America's oldest continuously occupied settlement of European origin. Founded in 1565 by Spanish Admiral Pedro Menendez and the famed starting point for the search for the fountain of youth by Ponce De Leon.
After spending the day cycling around this amazing city, I would have to say there is no reason to search for the fountain of youth. Just being here around all the people and the sites you instantly feel younger at heart, at least I did. Maybe it was the fact though that I have returned to something that I have come to love. Being back on the saddle for something more than a training ride brought back a whirlwind of thoughts and feelings. Since my original journey ended in November with the car accident outside of Dallas, I have been struggling with things.
,Issues, from my past, issues from my present and even issues yet to come. I missed being on the road more than you can imagine. It is said once you decided to travel few things can hold your love like what you have not seen. This is all too real in my case, finding the return to everyday life boring and uneventful I choose to make my way out of Pennsylvania to the sunny state of Florida in hopes of starting over and chasing a dream. A dream I think I found, that just started with today.
Saint Augustine, was everything I had heard it was. Beautiful, inviting and charismatic in its old world charm. Not like visiting some other older cities, where the they have cordoned off sections on the outskirts of a metropolis set up to show you how it once was. No not at all Saint Augustine, has melded the old with the new and preserved both in a magical way. Creating a modern world that is both in harmony with the old as much as the new.
I came down US 1 about 20 miles into the city from the north. It is a fairly simple ride and easy to make some very good time. The shoulders are good size, the road is clean of debris and it is straight and flat. There is not much to look at on the ride in as the Florida pine line both sides of the road for most of the way. But it still made for a great ride with the Florida sun beating down on me, a slight breeze and the sound of my favorite tunes playing in my ears. I felt like I was home, like I had just walked in the door at Thanksgiving, cycling and travel have become my passion. Although I am not sure if it is the cycling or if it is the quenching of a thirst to find something new. I will think about that but either way I was in my element.
Mind you I am not a fast rider, I am a steady strong rider. I will never win the tour de france and frankly have no desire to. But what I love about my time on the bike is the ability to take it all in, to see the world as it should be seen. That ride in, brought back so many memories for me, memories of my solitude in Texas, my joys of riding along the gulf coast and the knowledge that despite the major injuries I suffered on the last tour, I still loved this and was good to go.
Coming into Saint Augustine, you immediately notice the increase in the amount of people from the roadway in. People walking everywhere, crossing streets, waiting outside of stores and people clamoring to take that perfect photo. I missed getting a picture of this but maybe I will on my next trip back, there was a sign that read "welcome to the historic district'' and just below it it read "the entire city is the historic district".
One of the first thing that you see on your left when entering the city from the north is the Fort. Castillo De San Marcos a 17th century fort still stands guard over the city. Its moat is now dry but its walls are sturdy. The visible signs of age are easily seen but to look at this fort is kind of surreal. To imagine what ships it has welcomed, from Spanish Galleons to pirate ships. For a man like me who grew up loving the lore of pirates this was home. Especially when I looked into the background and saw the local pirate ship going under the drawbridge. It was like witnessing a childhood dream.
One of the things I noticed here was the sheer number of people who were speaking other languages. I have been to many historic sites in my day and age. I would like to think most Americans have but this visit to the fort surprised me. Virtually everywhere I turned there were people speaking in other languages. It actually kind of drove the whole lore of Saint Augustine home, the fact that this was once the port for everyone coming to the Americas. This city would be flooded with people speaking not just English but also Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, ok so maybe not Chinese but hey it just added to my experience.
One thing I must say, I think every European nowadays is required to purchase a Harley Davidson Jacket. Everyone I met from Europe had one.....must mean something...I mean it is a distinctly american icon.
The next place I traveled to after walking the fort was to cycle over that bridge and visit that light house. I happen to love lighthouses and besides that why not cross a drawbridge and ride on the intercoastal for a bit.
My new bicycle happens to be a dream to ride, it has a active rubberized dampening system that made easy work of some of the cobblestone and brick road sections. Saint Augustine still has a few of these but most of it has been paved over. A little more about those in a bit. Today my bike got to experience city traffic and maneuvering for the first time. It worked perfect and I instantly felt at home on this bike and in this city.
So up over the intercoastal and down along A1A. This is where the beach homes and hotels are. Instead of being in Saint Augustine proper they are on the outskirts as to not screw up the harmony that has been created by old and new.
I rode up to the lighthouse, looked up at its majestic servitude to saving lives. I know that may sound stupid, but I am the son of a man that loves ships. Ships have been an integral part of my family for as long as I can remember. From seeing the last dry dock launching done in Baltimore to waving goodbye to my dad as he left on sea trials, ships have always been in my life. My father used to say he loved coming back from trials and seeing the light houses, he knew he was almost home.
Cycling back into to town was not an issue at all. The city is set up to be bike friendly, there is plenty of parking people clear the way and cars are always on the look out as so many ride in the area. When I came back into town I noticed a section that had been converted into a major retail area. What the city has done is kept the original widths of some the streets. Since it is to small for automotive traffic it is the perfect way to get that old world charm. Realizing that roads were not wide and that buildings were virtually on top of other buildings it gives you a real sense of what life may have been like that in a bustling town back in the 1500's.
Along this network of old world roads and it stretches and weaves for a few miles are restaurants from every time period, clothing stores, magic shops, ghost tours and bars with some great music. This area alone is worth spending a few days in. Bars and restaurants abound and one little known fact about those streets, the past is buried below them. Yes I said buried, the bones of prior residents were crushed and used to create the base material for the streets. Kind of creepy if you take the time to think about it.
After weaving in and out of these little streets I came to something I had heard of but never seen. The oldest catholic church in the United States. Now not being catholic I still have great reverence for the religion and I think I can not be alone in this action. Upon entering this holy place I just as I do anytime I have walked into a catholic church I instantly feel catholic. It is a feeling of both instant guilt and one of instant redemption. As if the feeling of original sin and forgiveness hits me all at once.
This church is simple and beautiful. Inside were stained glass windows from centuries ago, granted my readers in Europe will laugh over that remark but here it is kind of a big deal. Imagine the prayers that have been said in silence in this building, the calls for help for loved ones, prayers for lost loves and the dying. It is extremely humbling to not only witness but to now realize my footsteps are part of its history.
After taking some time to say a few prayers of my own for lost loves, sick family and for the forgiveness of my sins, it was time to continue my adventure that had become my day. I rode up the street a few blocks to see two buildings that just took my breath away. One was once the Hotel Ponce De Leon and the other I am not sure what it was but it is now the main building for the city headquarters.
At the hotel which is now Flagler College. All I can say about the main building is WOW.....I MEAN WOW. It is breathtaking in its scope and magnitude. In its heyday as a hotel it had to be the most happening spot in all of Florida, as a college it alone will take your breath away to just be lucky enough to attend its location.
After walking through a 10 inch steel and wood gate you are greeted by a central garden like no other. I swear the fountain at the center is the real fountain of youth. Because as I looked around I felt giddy almost as if I were a child. The courtyard is like nothing I have ever seen, smelt or felt. The building was beautiful, the sheer magnitude of sculpture is like nothing done today. Every detail was perfect and then you walk into the main entrance and there it goes, you are now breathless and speechless.
From the circular tile floor to the hand carved pillars everything is perfect. Oh god then you look up. I have seen the some amazing ceiling work in my lifetime, like that of the US capital building but that pales in comparison to what I witnessed today. All I can say is WOOOOOOOOW!
When I finished with my walk of the campus it was time to beat the sunset home. So back on the saddle I climbed and north I headed. Leaving a little piece of me in that city was a dream come true, taking a little piece of that city with me was the making of a lifetime. Saint Augustine must not just be seen it must be experienced. It is as beautiful of a place as I have ever seen and I look forward to returning again and again over my lifetime.
