It's About Time...

 

Don't you love these whimsical clocks? Which one is your favorite? I like the cat mermaid. We found these in a gift shop in St. Augustine last week. A gift shop? Yes! We actually visited and browsed a gift shop. Now that my husband and I have both received the vaccine, we welcomed the little boost in confidence that it gave us to venture out and try some things from the long-ago past. So we took a day trip to St. Augustine on a beautiful sunny day. We had our masks and were prepared to gauge our level of comfort with each step as we went. 

Masks off for dining.

And this is where we ate- the lovely Cafe Alcazar. It's spacious and the tables were well placed for distancing. There were very few customers while we were there, so it all felt pretty safe. And the food was good.

The fun thing about Cafe Alcazar is its history. This is a view of the opposite end of the restaurant. Currently the space is part of the historic Lightner Museum located in the former Hotel Alcazar. Our dining area is located in what was once the famous indoor swimming pool at the hotel's casino. There were all sorts of recreational activities available at the hotel, including a bicycle academy. Compare the two photos above to the one below that I found displayed on a wall. Fascinating!

Jump in- the water is fine! This is where we were sitting. The Gilded Age of the late 1800s was really something. You can see even better photos on the museum's website linked above. What a feat of engineering. The hotel was built by railroad magnate Henry Flagler who envisioned St. Augustine as a winter resort playground for wealthy tourists. It became the museum in the 1930s.

 

Outside, you can get the flavor of the oldest US city's Spanish-style architecture with its terra cotta roofs. This photo is looking east toward Flagler College. And you can just see one of the Old Town tourist trolleys coming down the street. We enjoyed wandering through the city. We kept to the side streets, which were less congested with people, just to be on the safe side. There was a mix of masks/no masks. It was so nice to do something resembling normal after a full year of pretty much going nowhere and doing not much.

Here's the courtyard of the museum, complete with a tranquil koi pond. In its heyday, there were shops all around selling ball gowns and fancy rugs. There are shops there now as well, along with city offices. We put a toe in the water of normal living, and had a lovely day of it. But we certainly remain cautious.