Back Tracking...
Here are a few (okay a million) pictures of our final weeks in Georgia. The kids and I flew home last Sunday and Justin finishes training and will start his drive home on the 9th.
We drove down to Saint Augustine and visited two Spanish forts from the 1500s. The first was Fort Matanza. It looks like a small square fort but in the picture below you can see Brighton and I in the bottom right hand corner and it's three stories tall! It was pretty cool since it was free admission including a ferry ride to get to it. It was a living history day so all the volunteers were dressed in Spanish uniforms depicting that time period. Best of all was the cannon firings, our favorite!
The second fort was Castillo de San Marcos. This one was pretty dang awesome. Not only is it right on the river making it as beautiful a backdrop as Fort Matanza, but this one is huge and has also NEVER been taken over by force.
"Upon their arrival at St. Augustine, the British laid siege to the city. All of the city's residents, some 1,200 people, along with all of the fort's soldiers, some 300, remained protected inside the wall of the fort for the next two months during the attack.
The British cannon had little effect on the walls of the fort. The coquina (shell base used to make the walls) was very effective at absorbing the impact of the shells, allowing very little damage to the walls themselves. The siege was broken when the Spanish fleet from Havana, Cuba arrived, trapping the British in the bay. The British were forced to burn their ships to prevent them from falling into the Spaniards' hands, and march overland back to Carolina. As they withdrew, they set fire to the city of St. Augustine, burning much of it to the ground."
At this fort they had a whole big production for the firing of the cannon and all the orders were yelled out in Spanish.
It was a long day but a great history lesson!
Here are a few (okay a million) pictures of our final weeks in Georgia. The kids and I flew home last Sunday and Justin finishes training and will start his drive home on the 9th.
We drove down to Saint Augustine and visited two Spanish forts from the 1500s. The first was Fort Matanza. It looks like a small square fort but in the picture below you can see Brighton and I in the bottom right hand corner and it's three stories tall! It was pretty cool since it was free admission including a ferry ride to get to it. It was a living history day so all the volunteers were dressed in Spanish uniforms depicting that time period. Best of all was the cannon firings, our favorite!
The second fort was Castillo de San Marcos. This one was pretty dang awesome. Not only is it right on the river making it as beautiful a backdrop as Fort Matanza, but this one is huge and has also NEVER been taken over by force.
"Upon their arrival at St. Augustine, the British laid siege to the city. All of the city's residents, some 1,200 people, along with all of the fort's soldiers, some 300, remained protected inside the wall of the fort for the next two months during the attack.
The British cannon had little effect on the walls of the fort. The coquina (shell base used to make the walls) was very effective at absorbing the impact of the shells, allowing very little damage to the walls themselves. The siege was broken when the Spanish fleet from Havana, Cuba arrived, trapping the British in the bay. The British were forced to burn their ships to prevent them from falling into the Spaniards' hands, and march overland back to Carolina. As they withdrew, they set fire to the city of St. Augustine, burning much of it to the ground."
At this fort they had a whole big production for the firing of the cannon and all the orders were yelled out in Spanish.
It was a long day but a great history lesson!
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