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Welcome to St. Augustine, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the US. Founded by the Spanish in 1565, there have been people living here ever since. No I’m not getting into ‘but the natives were always here’. When I get the respect for Jews being native to Israel and returning after 2000 years in exile – then maybe I’ll pay attention to the claims of other natives – until then – go pond sand. This building is now Flagler college, but started life as a hotel. More on that later.

On the right, a fountain in St. Augustine, on the left – Savannah, I’d say the same foundry made both of them.

Old gates to the city. although there is plenty of history, it sort of felt more like Disneyland. We had a great guide, Angie, who really knew her stuff- which was very informative. But unlike Savannah where the history is celebrated, here it felt like a backdrop for tourist.

Castillo de San Marcos. Built in the late 17th c. to protect from both pirates and the British. It is built from Coquina – a local ‘stone’ limestone made mostly from shells. Didn’t go into to it. We had our fort in Sort Pulaski. I’ll be honest, one more day here and this would have been on my list.

This isn’t one of the oldest buildings, it’s just that Florida weather will do this to wood.

One of the many churches, I think Flagler built this one in honor of his daughter who died young. By this time on the vacation, there were too many things to remember.

The cathedral tower.

Tallest building in all of St. Augustine, today it is called the treasury and is an event location. In 1927 it was the Art Deco bank building. Like so many other cities – banks built big and Art Deco was the style. Early on. the city fathers realized that they didn’t want a city of sky scrappers. So the limited the hight of buildings to 4 stories – to this day- this holds true even in the modern city – although now of course, these rules are being bent and broken

An eagle at one of the fountains.

A frog at another.

The bridge of lions, sorry, forgot to take a picture of them, there are two sets on both sides of the bridge. Meanwhile, the drawbridge can open every half hour for tall boats. Which is why we didn’t go over the bridge to visit the lighthouse.

someone had breakfast in their car. I guess they didn’t like it all that much. Also, I don’t want to think about the smell when they get back.

Famous St. George street, yes a lot of kitschy shopping here.

We are definitely in Florida.

Leah

A useful chart of terms. Btw, at Columbia, when the police finally arrived to dismantle the pro-Hamas murdering camp. Someone was yelling that they would repeat Oct 7 10,000 times. I bet if you asked that evil person beforehand – they would deny anything happened on 10/7 and that the Jews started it all. Another question – who bought all those lovely new green tents for the encampment? I say Soros inc. which means any of the many lefty non profits that hate Israel and America.

It was pouring cats and dogs the whole way down to St. Augustine. So we stopped at Buc-ees. A huge gas station with a huge market – at least as big as the Costco across the street. Their emblem is the beaver – here he is.

A small section of what they sell.

Joel bought a shirt.

We also got brisket sandwiches. Sorry no pictures. There is no where to eat in the megamart – so we ran out in the rain to our car and ate there. Not elegant but boy was it delicious.

The rain was still coming down in buckets, what does one do in the rain? Go to a classic car museum of course.

there were plenty of other people with the same idea. This place owns classics, stores classics for other people and also sell some of them

That Bakelite Indian head! not to mention the color of the car. And no, I don’t know the year or make, I’m just admiring the craftsmanship.

I did notice the Sinclair oil sign, yes, I still get gas from Sinclair, and sometimes, the Dino is sitting outside.

I was surprised to see Gilmore Gasoline. I thought it was only a waistcoast chain. Maybe it made it’s way east, or maybe they just found these old pumps and put them in the museum.

they brought this ambulance from Yreka CA, so why not the gas pumps?

How about a classic pickup truck?

I took this picture for Eyal, he informed me that he doesn’t like Spiderman, he likes the HULK! Oh well, I tried.

Met anther woman from Palos Verde, she was visiting her daughter in S Carolina. They were on spring break with the kids.

By the time we left the museum, the rain had stopped, and it was off to the hotel and then to explore St. Augustine.

Leah

I’ve been saying this for years, one of the many reasons they hate us is because we don’t let them forget. You’d think, six months isn’t a long time. But our haters have been saying for six months, that there is no evidence for what happened. When Truth doesn’t matter, nothing matters.

I had heard of Jekyll island, to me, it was just a name. I was told I had to go if only to see driftwood beach. It actually helped that it was raining, the whole atmosphere made the beach all the eerier.

One has to pay $10 just to get onto the Island, its’ called a parking fee. Smart move if I may say so. These trees aren’t driftwood, they have grown here and fallen onto the beach.

Its’ clearly raining!

I love this atmospheric feeling on this beach.

Got to love all this greenery, that is what you get for the rain.

Driving through a tunnel of live oaks, with Spanish moss in the rain.

Since the late 19th century, this has been a retreat for the rich, Rockafeller, Morgan, Vanderbilt, Pulitzer built cottages and a large club house. Don’t you love this kind of cottage?

This is Moss Cottage, in the rain.

Goodyear cottage, btw, I didn’t get out in the rain. So these pictures were taking from the car. Goodyear is Frank Henry Goodyear – a lumber baron.

This one is called Indian Mound. Clearly if Had planned well, it would have been fun to go into one of these. But I didn’t.

The Clubhouse, which today is still a hotel. Didn’t stop at the museum or the other sights – it was time to drive in the rain down to Florida.

Leah

Canadians! Please vote for this guy! The left worldwide has been destroying Western civilization. That can’t continue. Meanwhile, Saturday was surreal, watching live the footage from Israel as the iron dome downed 99% of the rockets from Iran. My family were in shelters. And now Biden is demanding that Israel not retaliate – while he has removed all sanctions on Iran. American Jews, please wake up – the Dems hate us now. But you’ll continue to vote for Biden – because orange man bad. The clown world is getting to be unbearable.

Since it was a big birthday this year, I wanted something special during the trip. So I booked us into the 5 start Cloister resort on Sea Island GA. Yes, I got to see how the 1% live. Very nicely btw.

Sure, these experiences aren’t cheap, but look what they did for me – a special birthday cake, delivered to the room. At dinner there was champaign and Tiramisu.

One of the halls of fame, with photos of the history of the resort as well as the many important people who visited.

What a library! A little crowded with all this seating, but oh my!

A delightful beach house. Beaches are different on the east coast, lovely in their own way.

Local seabird.

Quite a few lovely pools. Btw, the 1% are having kids! most families had 2 or three kids. It was Spring break, and the place was full of young families. Sure, we enjoyed sitting by the adult pool, but I love seeing all these kids.

Very relaxing, just what we needed.

LOVE this mirror. Not for my home, for a resort. I did go into the shops, just because. Sorry, can’t buy a bathing suit for $370, or a little hairclip for $20. I did see a lot of the women wearing the beach coverups they bought here, bless them all.

The Spa waiting area. of course we both had massages.

what is not to love?

I’m like Reagan, I love Calvin Coolidge. Nice that he planted this wonderful oak.

Leah

woman who survived Holocaust with 4 generations. So five generations together. Yes, the world wants us dead, and we keep on going.

Fort Pulaski on Cockspur Island, right near Savannah. This is the last brick Fort built in the US. Named for a Polish nobleman who came to fight in the Revolutionary War. It was built to serve during the Civil war – but by then far range canon balls made sure that the fort wouldn’t withstand the onslaught. On to new a different weapons and defenses.

Entering the Fort.

Standing on the ramparts looking down into the center of the Fort. The North took this very quickly and stayed here until the end of the war. Not really attacking Savannah. So the soldiers had a lot of time on their hands – so they played what would become the national pass time – Baseball.

A canon, the type that defeated the walls.

What I like, the shapes and shadows formed by the brick.

The textures of materials.

The corkscrew staircase.

An old wooden gate to the fort.

The damage done by the canon balls. Yup, they went deep into the walls of the fort.

The battle didn’t last very long.

Canon facing out. Although the battle was short, the fort itself has stood for a long time

The Fort is now a national Park. And worth a visit.

More so than Tybee Island, which is just a place to escape the city to the sea.

Leah

The third oldest Jewish congregation in America. NY was first, I think Philadelphia was second, not sure.

A very Neo Gothic looking building, makes sense since it was built in 1878.

You have to look for the star, it is there.

The first Jews arrived shortly after Oglethorpe. Most were Sephardic – Jews who escaped Spain and Portugal and had settled in London. among them was Dr. Nunez, who became extremely important in the small colony. Yellow fever was raging, the doctor who came with Oglethorpe died. So Dr. Nunez stepped and and quarantined the sick (notice he didn’t do a Fauci and quarantine the healthy) and helped stem the tide and stop the epidemic.

One of these two torah scrolls came with those settlers, the other with a following group. The scrolls are written on deer skin. Quite a surprise to our guides from the day before. No surprise to me. A torah must be written on vellum from a kosher animal. Usually sheep. these two are from Spain. If a deer is captured alive and goes through a ritual slaughter – it is kosher and it’s skin can be used as vellum. These two are among the oldest Torah scrolls in America.

German Jews starting arriving as well. By 1741 many of the Spanish Jews moved north. they feared that in a war with Spain – which held territory close by in Florida – they would suffer the consequences of the Inquisition – a real fear – the Inquisition came to the new world – that is a whole other story.

Of course this isn’t the original building, there were others on other locations, a wooden structure that burned down.

This land, right next to the Luthern church was given to the Jews as a burial side. today there is a marker, and a lot of Jews have put stones on it. It’s what we do instead of flowers.

The interior is also very very Neo gothic

The columns are not marble – they are faux painted, cast iron.

Among the Germans who arrived was Mordecai Shelfall, he and his descendants will form a pillar of the community for years.

There are beautiful stained glass windows as well.

Savannah in not a large city, of course there are more than one Jewish congregation, cuz that is who we are…. The nice thing is that Mickve Israel is reform, and Agudath Achim is Conservative, for years they have had a joint religious school and even though that isn’t necessary anymore they haven’t stopped, because it is actually nice when Jews work together.

We took the free Dot Shuttle that goes beyond the historic district (I think it goes west, I’m unclear on directions in Savannah). And of course, there is Chabad, sharing a building with and acupuncture clinic and Sugar Bare. Usually in smaller towns they are close to universities, even if SCAD has Jewish students (Im sure they do) most are probably too artsy for religion.

Plenty of Torah scrolls in the ark. Ok, this should help me with direction, the Ark faces east towards Jerusalem. which means that the Dot Tram is heading south beyond the historic downtown.

A look lengthwise at the sanctuary.

A replica of the William and Sarah that brought the original 41 Jewish settlers.

Of course the sisterhood made a quilt. I don’t remember the year, but probably 20-30 years ago.

Of course I love this one, celebrating Israel and you may notice – the quilter didn’t carve out Judiah and Sameria…

Always two flags, American and Israeli, unlike the Arabs in Michigan who are screaming death to America, and yet no one says a word. but because we support Israel for some reason we have ‘dual loyalty’ it’s not easy being a Jew.

Leah

As the world continues its’ massive Jewish hatefest, we are here, taking care of our own.

We took a wonderful walking tour with a great new small company. Bull Run walking tours. It is a husband and wife tag team. Melissa and JP. they are two years old and I wish them so much success that they won’t have to tag team but will be able to give individual tours. On this Saturday morning, it was just the two of us – so anyone going to Savannah – look them up.

We visited many of the squares – so delightful. I’m pretty sure this is Olgethorpe – the man who arrived in 1733 and started the GA colony.

Almost all squares have a statue in the middle, some have fountains. I did take a picture of the plaque – Sgt. William Jasper, who though wounded grabbed the fallen colors (the flag) and charged forward. of course this was explained in the tour, but who can remember all of the details?

The Mercer house, made famous by the murder described in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I wasn’t too interested in the story. But Melissa did say that Jim Willians, owned the house at the time and where the murder of the young Danny Hansford happened. not only was he gay, an antique dealer he also was very much part of trying to save and revive old Savannah. So if the book and movie helped with that – it’s a good thing.

The Mercer house was built for General Hugh Mercer, but he never lived there. The family remained in Savannah, because his great grandson is the celebrated Jonny Mercer, who wrote and composed so many popular songs. There is a bench in his honor in one of the squares.

I already forgot, I think this is victory.

Interesting architecture, I only got a few pictures. I could have taken the architecture walking tour, but one walking tour was enough for Joel. This is a Moorish style carriage house for horses. Later it became a showroom for Packard cars. Today it is boutiques

House with live oak in front

Gotic revival, I’m pretty sure that Sherman has this house as his headquarter until the end of the Civil War. After burning the south, especially Atlanta – he arrived in Savannah and thankfully didn’t burn the city down.

The Methodist church which has a spire higher than the Catholic Cathedral.

Oglethorpe always like the Jews, maybe because they arrived soon after he did and Dr. Nunez helped stem the tide of the yellow fever. Part of this was done by quarantining the sick – not the healthy – should have been a lesson for Fauci and company – but of course they weren’t about healing – they were about controlling the population.

The Savannah theater has been rebuilt a few time, let iteration, Art Deco.

Leah

first of all, when I ask people who Flannery O’Connor was – most don’t know, some Irish guy? No, a woman, an author, who wrote mostly short stories. considered southern gothic. She grew up in Savannah, a Catholic among the Protestants. She remained Catholic her whole short life and that figures heavily in her stories.

Here is the house, a very narrow row house in Savannah.

the view from the upstairs bedroom, of the Cathedral. A wealthy relative who had no other relations, gave the house and many of it’s furnishing to the O’Connors. They lived there until Flannery was 13, then they moved back to Milledgeville GA, as her father was too sick to work. Turns out he was dying from Lupus, something that would kill Flannery at age 39 herself.

These historic plaques are all over town.

Joel didn’t know anything about her, so on the drive from Atlanta we listened to some of her stories, of course: A Good man Is hard to find.

Latter I spoke to a friend who very much knows who she is, I was discussing the pain leads to Belief in Catholicism and how strange that is for me as a Jew. He laughed, he is Catholic and it completely resonates with him – but spending time in our Jewish services on Saturday – he can see how different the two religions are.

I’ve gotten so bad with names. I think this is Jennifer, our guide, who also runs the foundation. She was excellent. My only critique is that at one point she tried to say the although Flannery was Catholic her whole life, in her writing – she is trying to distance herself from that. This is what a college education will get you.

Here is the baby Pram cousin Kate gave the family when Flannery was born. Notice it even has a window for the baby to look out!

Lovely stained glass over the front door, as well as the frosted glass panels.

The house is tiny, they did have a small sunporch in the back. Love the stain glass here.

sparkling Jewels.

After the family left other people lived there. At some point the building was sold and chopped up into 3 apartments. So when the foundation was created and the house repurposed- a lot of work had to be done. Luckily, when the family moved to Milledgeville, they took all the furnitures – so all that is back in the house and is original.

Today the small backyard looks like and 18th c. garden – it would not have looked like that in the 1930s’ it would have been a kitchen garden with chickens.

Flannery loved birds, back in Milledgeville- where she also spent the last 12 years of her life – she had a lot of birds. As well as peacocks, so people have been donating peacocks to the house. A lovely stained glass one.

Be still my heart! A cross stitch peacock! A really nice one at that.

Someone even made a bust of Flannery, I LOVE it.

Leah

For some reason, the lefties think they own the creative arts. I was kicked off Ravelry years ago for voting for Trump. I can hardly listen to any creative podcast – cuz they are lefties. I stopped following a number of people on IG – cuz they celebrate Hamas and the murder of Jews. So I am thrilled to have found some Jews who craft and support Israel and Jews worldwide.

Gorgeous Savannah. The squares, with live oaks, Spanish moss.

Beauty abounds.

We were so lucky with the weather. No humidity, I even had to wear my sweater.

A gorgeous fountain in one of the many squares.

Just beautiful.

A lot of American flags.

I saw three Israeli flags on houses, only got two pictures. What is more important – not a single Pali flag anywhere, not even on the many SCAD (Savannah college of art and Design) buildings all over the city.

The wisteria was in full bloom. flower boxes abounded.

The Cathedral Spires. Didn’t go in, it was Easter weekend, so it was closed to non catholics. Did have a tour in the synagogue more on that later.

Broughton Street is always busy, and this is just one of the SCAD buildings around town. If you see the sign Leopolds’ that is the best ice cream around.

We got a tip from our guides. Skip the line, walk in like you own the place, pick up a pint from the freezer and pay – so you don’t have a cone, you have a pint or more if you like.

We also got c00kies from Byrds. Yes, I took the bag home, the cookies are bite size. there are many choices. all yummy

Leah

I won’t be posting for a week – vacation time! So here goes before I head east to Savannah Georgia.

I have no generosity for the world right now. Not the Palis, not the rest of the world that is calling for ‘Ceasefire’. They don’t want Hamas or Hizbollah to stop shelling and fighting Israel – they want Israel and the Jews to cease to exist.

The Biden administration now won’t defend Israel in the UN anymore. I’ve just been telling Jews – stop voting for Dems. They hate us – I know they tell me Trump is worse. Really? Great economy, the Abraham Accords, not funding UNWRA. So yeah, Dem voting Jews – if you care about us – go pound sand.

A British Jew is chosen to be the next James Bond – and the world goes wild – he isn’t Israel – he’s Jewish, which just shows that it is antisemitism pure and simple.

A massive Bridge collapses in Baltimore and even if it wasn’t terror – something is going terribly wrong. So I’m off on Vacation, hoping that maybe I can escape for a while before everything comes tumbling down.

The gophers are out, it is spring time. This is at a large local park. I shared this on IG. Someone was horrified it might be in my garden. I know, most people I know aren’t screaming for the destruction of the Jews but, they just want us to be quiet and go away. So my comment was, gophers are like Gazans, digging a massive tunnel complex, just without murder and kidnapping. If people don’t like it – that is fine- I’m done being quiet.

I’ve been working on my cross stitch butterfly. Being me, the colors don’t exactly correspond with the pattern.

Finished another puzzle with Westley.

Friends had a big Purim party. Joel dressed as a bike rider and the boys were soccer players. A good time was had by all.

As I’m leaving, the flowers start blooming. I know, I’ll only enjoy this for one day, but I bring them in.

Some of the beads are new, most are canabilized from my old jewelry.

Blue necklaces.

I have a lot of earth tones to work with as well!

See you in about two weeks.

Leah