field trip to st augustine

The weather was chilly enough last Friday that Chris had to scrape the windows before he could drop us off at Ashley's school for the 4th grade's annual St. Augustine field trip. It should have been a sign to run in and put warmer clothes on, but oh well...too late.

We took a tour of the old jail and Gator Bob's museum. The girl in the orange is our neighbor Amina, from Nigeria. She's a sweetheart (she gave Ashley the purple "friend" necklace she's wearing).

I bought some of Bob's gator bites while we were there. You can't live in a swamp without at least trying some gator. (I still haven't been brave enough to open the package and try it yet, though.)

Poor Ashley was locked up. Our tour guide said it was because she "knowed what the class done." All that dancin' on desks, and stickin gum where it don't belong. And the pages of the math book are supposed to stay inside the math book. That's why they were all locked up.

This is my cute group of girls I got to hang out with all day. They were so calm and easy to be around. Except they kept getting left the tours behind because they took pictures of everything. :)

Here's Ashley ponderin' the life she's gonna have as a fee-may-al prisoner, haulin' water to and from the well just so she can cook in the hundred-degree kitchen all day long for the men on the chain gang, just so she can haul more water to and from the well to clean up the dishes and kitchen all night.

Part of her sentence was public humiliation, both in the stocks and in the cage. Then she was real sorry for what she done...and because I'm her mother, I was guilty by association and was thrown in the cage, too.

I'll bet you didn't think Ashley could manage to make a face like the one above. That's why she's in jail, I reckon. She made the face, and it stuck like that and frightened all the children.

The gallows are only used for murderers. The guide said she knowed none of Ashley's class could have killed someone. Except for one of two of the kids who probably did. 

I was tempted by some of the classy souvenirs being sold around Gator Bob's place.

 After the museums, we headed over to the Castillo de San Marcos for a tour. Ahhh. A nice Atlantic ocean breeze. Or, more like a nice Atlantic ocean gale. It was so cold and windy! But at lease we didn't get rained on, since it had rained off and on all week.

This is the bunk room, where the soldiers slept on wooden planks and straw-filled mats.

(I love watching how much the other girls like Ashley. Had to get a picture of this sweetness.)

 Last time I came on the field trip with Ethan's class, we were standing on the ground below the cannons when it went off. This time our guide said she made sure her groups always have the best seat in the house. Ashley is getting ready for the cannon to go off.

 After the castillo, we hopped on the trolley and took a guided tour of the city. I love St Augustine and wish there was some way I could just live there forever. I love the history, with pirates and Spanish conquistators and Martin Luther King and the Fountain of Youth. The ocean, the light houses, the ships. The good food and fashion boutiques and quaint homes. It's a beautiful place.

Here's a small video of the cannon going off. It's much louder in real life. In the video it just sounds like "pop" and is totally anti-climatic. But it's still cool to see the soldiers getting the cannon ready.