St. Augustine Adventure: Day One or Should I say Evening?

I remember as a grade schooler, hearing about the oldest city in the United States, St. Augustine.

I had always wanted to go to St. Augustine the moment I knew of its existence. My first visit was in 2003, when The Colonel took the kids and I there for a vacation. I fell in love with it. It is one of my favorite cities to visit.

I love seeing all of the old buildings and learning the history of the Oldest City.

My second trip to St. Augustine started on Sunday, June 13, 2010. It would be a Blanchard House Museum research trip with plenty of sightseeing thrown in.

The Colonel and I planned the timing of this trip to coincide with dropping Spud off at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. He would be there for six days attending a S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) seminar. He would be one of 200 NJROTC cadets from around the country in attendance.

With Spud situated, The Colonel and I drove the beautiful, coast road up to St. Augustine. We arrived later than scheduled, so did not have enough time to do much but check into our hotel room and walk around The Oldest City for a little while before it was time to turn in for the night.

On our walk we visited the Mission of Nombre De Dios (Name of God) and the cemetery there. It is a very beautiful place. A path winds through the little cemetery that is shaded by many trees. In the middle of the cemetery is a chapel that houses a shrine to Nuestra Senora De La Leche y Buen Parto (Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery).

The first shrine was built in the early 1600's when the Spanish established the mission. The original and several reconstructions were damaged by storms and attacks (Indians and British). It was rebuilt in 1875 by the first bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine, Augustin Verot, but it too was destroyed by a major hurricane. The present chapel was reconstructed in 1915 and enshrines a replica of the original Our Lady statue.

On September 8, 1565, Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed and founded St. Augustine at the site that would later become the Mission of Nombre De Dios. St. Augustine is the first permanent Christian settlement in the United States and the first mass in the U.S. was offered here. It is commemorated by a statue of the priest who offered the mass, Padre Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales and a 208 foot, Great Cross.

Remember this was a Blanchard House Museum research trip with sightseeing thrown in. The Colonel knew that one of Joseph Blanchard's (the man who owned, lived and died in the Blanchard House years ago) children was buried in the mission cemetery. We located the grave. Little Arthur was two when he passed away in 1892.

The sun was going down and it was time to go back to our hotel room. Day two of our St. Augustine Adventure was going to be dedicated to sightseeing as the research libraries would not be open until the following day. Big day ahead.