Aylmer Express "MoHo" Extravaganza 2006

Today the weather took the expected turn for the worst. It wasn’t raining, but the dark, cloudy skies were certainly threatening to do so. However, it was the wind that was the most prominent feature today. And given that the temperature only managed to work its way into the mid-60’s, the wind-chill factor, if I may use that term here in Florida, made things seem a tad chilly. So we decided to bundle up and check out the Old Town in St. Augustine. We arrived to find a very charming old-town area. Complete with skinny streets for pedestrians only and filled with quaint, touristy shops all along the way. We decided to start off by making our way over to the old fort in town, namely, Castillo de San Marcos. St. Augustine bills itself as the oldest settlement in the US, established long before Pilgrims stepped onto Plymouth Rock. This helps explain the old town as well as why they have a fort dating from the late 1600’s. Amazingly, this fort never lost a battle. This is perhaps an even more interesting statistic considering it changed hands, under the control of a different country, on three different occasions. But this fort must have been tough. It withstood a siege from the British back in 1702 which lasted 50 days before some Spanish ships finally came to the rescue and chased the British away. They didn’t leave quietly but instead they burned the city before retreating back to Charleston. And then again in 1740 the Brits returned and unleashed another bombardment but after 27 days the Brits, perhaps not wanting to repeat what happened last time, decided to give up and head home. I get the distinct impression that at that time the British and the Spanish did not exactly enjoy a good rapport. Our visit to the fort was punctuated by the ceremonial firing of one of the actual cannons from that era. You can see a video of this if you click to see the videos (top left on this page) but I can summarize it by saying … it was LOUD! For you regular blog readers, it was not quite as loud as the blast we endured during the July 4th parade in Skokie, Illinois, but it was close. My right ear can attest to that. One interesting fact that I came across on this visit pertained to why these old forts were designed in such intricate geometric shapes, especially at the corners. It turns out that these angles were planned to expose attackers to crossfire from several walls. Well, now it all makes sense. Anyway, after a short hearing test, we set off back into Old Town to get some lunch. Next we continued on foot through the streets of the old town to engage in some touristy trolling through the area. On our way back to the MoHo we stopped by the beach to marvel at the difference in the ocean compared to the previous day. The very strong winds were blowing up huge waves and it was hard to believe that this was the same ocean we were fooling around in just 24 hours before. You can check the video I took if you’d like. The moral of the story? Don’t fool with Mother Nature. Then it was back to the MoHo for dinner, laundry and blogging. What happened to dinner and a movie?

Today’s word:

rapport \ra-POR; ruh-\, noun:
A relation, especially one characterized by sympathetic understanding, emotional affinity, or mutual trust.