Gallivanting Geismom: Rainy Day Fun in St. Augustine

Our morning began once again with a lovely breakfast at our B&B, in the company of our good friends, Jennifer and Howard.

I thought I'd treat you to a photo of our delectable morning fare.

Are you drooling yet?

We had such a delightful time with our friends, but it was time for them to return home, so we bid them fond farewell and went about planning our last day here in St. Augustine.

Since the weather forecast looked bleak, and rain clouds were on the horizon, we decided that it was best to view some inside sights today. So, we started off at the Dow Museum of Historic Houses. Thanks to the generous benefactor, Kenneth Dow, this museum features nine historic houses, from various years in St. Augustine history, the oldest being the original house from 1790 and the newest dating from 1906. Not all of the houses were open for viewing, but we still managed to really enjoy the tour. Not only are the houses restored to the time period in which they were originally built, but they contain many items from the personal collection of Kenneth Dow, who traveled around the world seeking rare and unusual treasures.

The first house on the tour was the 1840 house built by Antonio Canova.

The interior featured furnishing from the time period

and some unusual items , including a full size confessional by the front door, which certainly seemed out of place, and several porcelain items that ranged from Bonaparte

to porcelain dogs.

There was also a set of little porcelain monkeys dressed up as various professions, but I'll spare you that find.

Heading out the door, we found ourselves walking through a lovely outdoor garden, on the way to the next house.

A quick peek around the back and we spotted a pond filled with Koy across from this very interesting sign.

We were confused, as no mention of a tavern is made on the walking tour. As luck would have it, one of the curators came walking by and he was excited to tell us the story of the sign.

According to this man, Jesse Fish lived in St. Augustine when it became under British control. At this time, the Spaniards emigrated to Cuba, but Fish stayed behind, telling the story that he was a Spanish Ambassador and that he was responsible for collecting the money for the houses that were abandoned by the Spaniards.

Well, the scheme managed to make a huge profit for Fish who never delivered any monies to the rightful owners.

The curator claimed that the familiar phrase "Fishy Story"came from the circumstances surrounding Jesse Fish, and that Dow was so amused by the story that he had the tavern sign made up as a reminder.

This, of course, could be a Fishy Story in itself, as I could not find any documentation of Fish posing as an ambassador, but, either way, you get the point, right?

The next house on the tour was built in 1839 and is one of a few wood houses that has survived from this period. It is built from straight sawn heart pine lumber, with wide floor boards and an exquisite yellow interior.

We walked out the front door and headed down the path to the oldest house in the museum, built in 1790 and once lived in by Dow, himself.

In the spring of 1824, Charles Louis Napolean Achille Murat, nephew of Napolean, arrived in St. Augustine and stayed in this house. He was considered to be quite the oddball by the townspeople, and he ended up marrying George Washington's grandniece, Catherine, and moving to Tallahassee.

One added feature to the Murat house, as it was called, is that Ralph Waldo Emerson once vacationed here in this house.

This next house may appear a bit out of sorts.

Apparently this "Carpenter's "House separated from the foundation, resulting in the pronounced lean. Needless to say, the interior was off limits, for safety reasons.

Across the plaza stands the Emancipation bell,

which was rung in January of 1863, announcing the freedom of all slaves in the state of Florida.

My favorite house was the Worcester house, built in 1906. Something about it really appealed to me. I don't know if it was the arched windows, letting in so much light,

or the striking staircase

which featured a gorgeous stained glass window on the first landing

The house just seemed to exude character, and Marty and I both enjoyed this one the best.

We'd been walking through houses for nearly 2 hours, and we decided that it was time to move onto something else, so we headed to Aviles street to the Father Miguel O'Reilly Museum.

As soon as we entered the door, we were greeted by an extremely friendly nun, Sister Patrice, who was excited to give us a tour and tell us the history of the house.

She began by telling us that excavations had been done on the house in 2000, which determined that this property was actually the oldest house in St. Augustine.

Now, I'm not quite sure how the proprietors of the "Oldest House in St. Augustine", located a few blocks away, are handling this competition. We had spotted it the day we arrived.

But here's how I see it:

The official "Oldest House"charges $8.50 per person admission.

The O'Reilly Museum is free.

This is a no-brainer for me. Plus, I'm sticking with the nun's story. Wouldn't you?

Ok…you don't need to answer that.

Let me just say that this place was Awesome! We learned that in 1862 Florida became property to the North and in January of 1863, all slaves in Florida were set free. Father O'Reilly brought the Sisters of St. Joseph from France to St. Augustine, where they were responsible for educating the poor freed slave children.

We were amazed to see a harp and violin as well as Chemistry beakers and flasks, astronomy tools and a miniature microscope. Students were taught ribbon weaving and how to paint on porcelain as well as fabric. In addition, the religious icons and Catholic vessel collection were much to be admired. All of this history on the second floor of this Oldest House in the Old Town. Truly amazing.

While the tour was winding down, the rain was becoming torrential, and despite adequate rain gear, we found ourselves quickly getting soaked as we ran down the road seeking shelter. We popped into a small restaurant that featured Greek and Polish food.

Quite an unusual combination, I'll admit. But more entertaining that I could have ever imagined.

Marty ordered mushroom/sauerkraut pierogies which were complimented by a pint of Polish Beer.

I ordered a Greek platter, which was quite yummy, but the best part of the experience was the entertaining conversation with the owner as we compared Polish and Slovak languages. She was definitely quite a hoot!

After the rain finally let up, we headed back outside and decided to tour the Ximenez-Fatio House Museum. The house is made of coquina stone, like so many of the other structures and dates back to 1798. It was a boarding house, changing owners several times over the years.

We were able to catch the last tour at 3:00, (which was only us), and we learned a great deal of life over the years in this boarding house. It is decorated in period of the last owner, Miss Louise Fatio, although the history of all of the owners was discussed as we walked through the extensive sets of rooms. One famous boarder was Caldecott, the artist, who, unfortunately, died in St. Augustine quite unexpectedly. He is buried in the local cemetery.

After the tour was complete, we headed back down the block to catch a glimpse of the Basilica. The doors were still open, so we popped in to take a peek. The first thing that I noticed was the unusual ceiling