Protecting Claims

Rain beat down at 8:30 a.m., as we headed south toward St. Augustine, Florida. "We haven't had rain like this since Oregon," said Andy. Little Red jolted this way and that when Andy hit the puddles on Interstate #95. I stuffed tissues in the molding along the window where Little Red leaked drops on the right armrest. Our unfortunate timing coincided with the morning rush in Jacksonville.

But south of the city rain ceased and the sky brightened.

Fort Matanzas, 14 miles from St. Augustine and the site of Pedro Menendez de Aviles's 1565 massacre of 350 French Huguenots from Fort Caroline, was actually constructed in 1740 as Spain's last effort to ward off British encroachments on St. Augustine.

We boarded the 10:30 a.m. boat to the island after walking the half-mile Nature Trail at the Visitor Center. The Matanzas Queen III ferried us across Matanzas Inlet to the fort. Here, Spanish soldiers fired warning shots after sighting enemy ships entering the harbor. The fort served its purpose in the eighteenth century. Contingents of six soldiers and an officer out of St. Augustine on duty for a month at a time never saw action, according to Ranger Chris. He climbed the tower and raised the Cross of Burgundy flag as a warning to any intruders. The red cross on a white field, recognized as the Old Spanish Flag of 1505-1785, stood for the family of Philip, Duke of Burgundy and an ardent Catholic, and Juana, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. In 1565, Frenchman Jean Ribault returned to resupply French Fort Caroline. Soon after, Spanish King Philip sent Pedro Menendez de Aviles to establish a Spanish settlement and remove the French. When Ribault's ships landed far south of Fort Caroline after a hurricane, Menendez conquered the poorly defended French fort and killed the soldiers there.

From the fort lookout we spotted a bald eagle, an osprey and four pelicans scooping the water for catches.
Beautiful live oaks draped in resurrection ferns surrounded St. Augustine Lighthouse, built in 1874.

"It's getting darker and colder," said Andy. "Let's keep moving before the rain sets in."
"I forgot about the brutality and intolerance of old religious conflicts," I said to Andy. "I guess butchery over beliefs is not new."

We read about Menendez. He found 150 stranded and exhausted Frenchmen, most without weapons, south of St. Augustine, convinced them to surrender, brought them across the inlet and ordered them killed. Two weeks later the sequence repeated with another 150. Hence, Matanzas earned its Spanish name of "slaughters." Menendez spared a few Catholics and four artisans, who were needed to build his St. Augustine settlement in 1565, the oldest permanent European settlement in the continental United States.

Nine wooden defenses protected the early St. Augustine settlement. Finally in 1672, the Spanish broke ground for Castillo de San Marcos. The fort, for many years the northernmost outpost of Spain's vast New World empire, protected the passing Spanish treasure fleets by defending the Gulf Stream route through the Bahama Channel past Florida and back to the motherland.

We read about the construction using sedimentary rock called coquina and mortar with crushed oyster shells and about the design in a hollow square with diamond-shaped corner bastions. We listened to a guide tell third graders about the sieges. In 1702, the British besieged San Marcos for 50 days and finally burned down St. Augustine before giving up. "That's when Spain erected new earthworks to protect the city," she told the children.

James Oglethorpe led British troops against the fort in 1740, bombarding the walls for 27 days without success, only this time the garrisoned city was protected. The British gave up the siege after 38 days. They had underestimated the strength of Castillo de San Marco and the courage of its Spanish defenders. As we walked through the guard rooms, storage rooms, chapel and plaza de armas and outside around the shot furnace and moat, we were impressed by the strength of this formidable bastion after 400 years. It was history come to life.

With coins in the parking meter and time on our hands, we strolled St. George's Way, a historic cobblestone shopping district.

"A tourist area," said Andy politely, after we passed shops with decorated coconut husks, sunglasses and tee shirts.
Mission Nombre de Dios, the cemetery dating back to 1565, included a statue in honor of Father Lopez, who offered the first mass on these grounds on September 8, 1565, to dedicate the mission land of St. Augustine to God and Spain. A white egret waded for fish in the estuary and several pelicans dive bombed just beyond. Farther out on the point towered a massive cross. Dedicated on September 8, 1965, it commemorated 400 years since the founding of St. Augustine. A log altar on another corner of the cemetery marked the spot where Father Lopez offered mass and Menendez celebrated the first thanksgiving feast with soldiers, townsfolk and his Timuculan Indian friends.
Rain held off until we reached the outskirts of Jacksonville.

"By the looks of the puddles, I'd say it's been pouring here all day," said Andy.

We watched the clock tick away minutes as the traffic jams inched forward. "We'll never make it to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in time," said Andy, shaking his head. "The last tour starts at 4:00 p.m.," I told him, checking the advertisement, "and the Budweiser gift store closes at 4:30."

At 3:52 p.m. we dashed between rain drops, following tour signs to the visitor entrance on Busch Drive. "The last tour has left," said an elderly greeter. "Just catch up."

We hurried into the vat room and past the brewing displays. Guide Christi welcomed us and continued her talk. "Jacksonville is the seventh largest of 12 Anheuser breweries in the U.S. and of 134 in the world," she explained. "We turn out 13 million cans and bottles a day from this plant alone. The 700 employees are each entitled to two free cases a month."

I neglected to ask if they also received health club memberships to work off the calories like Ben and Jerry's ice cream workers do.
"Now, I'll take you to the Hospitality Room," said Christi. "It closes at 4:30 p.m., but you are entitled to sample two 10-ounce glasses of anything we brew here--Amber Bock, Michelob, Budweiser, Bud Light."

Not a beer drinker, I actually liked the Bacardi Silver with Peach flavoring, and Andy and I both agreed the beer Sangria was delicious. Suppose we could find positions as beer promoters?