This past week, several members from our group had the opportunity to visit St. Augustine, where we had the chance to partake in some of richest history Florida, and our nation, have to offer.  You see, St. Augustine is actually the nation’s oldest city, with the oldest fort.  And, while many new things in Florida may have been built by the Mouse or Mr. Potter, there is an older, darker side to the sunshine state.

Founded in the 1500’s, St. Augustine is rich in history, with everything in the city essentially built on death.  Having visited the Castillo de San Marcos, the Lighthouse, Ripley’s Warden’s Castle, and the Mission of the Lady de Leche, there is one common factor to all of this – death.  The Castillo de San Marcos tells stories of sieges, where when the English came to town 1500 townspeople and 200 soldiers lived within its walls.  It tells of chief Osceola, and how he was held prisoner there – after being taken prisoner during a truce meeting.

The Lighthouse talks of children who were killed in a wheelbarrow race.  A tragic accident that caused their spirits to never quite pass on.  As a result, they actually offer ghost tours there in the afternoons.  It is known as a hot spot in town.  While we visited this during the day, I personally do not recommend the faint of heart attempting the 212 stairs (which feels like million!).

Ripley’s of course features shrunken heads, and its own tragic story of a fire that killed several women – as well as tales of a man known as Mr. X.  We also went about the Haunted Trolley, and creepily stared in at several people who were at a bed and breakfast, looked over the walls of the Hugenot cemetery, and learned that it is a felony to bring a metal detector into the San Marcos Castillo – because the whole grounds is nothing more than a cemetery.

The inevitability in St. Augustine is, that everything revolves around death.  Even the lovely Fountain of Eternal Youth is based off of the idea that everyone will die.  It is amusing to ride through the town, and hear that the latest place to eat in town – actually used to be a mortuary.

Bringing an Ovilus with us this trip, it was hard to keep it on it public places.  To say it kindly, it wouldn’t shut up!  There are actually 10 sensitivity levels on the Ovilus M, and even on 1, it was constantly speaking.  This was my first use with it, and while it can be hard to determine the words, I was impressed when we went to cannons and it said “naughty humans”.  People do mount the canons and pretend that they are… well… you know.

I am also attaching a picture of what I consider to be a possible apparition.  Let me know what you see…