One Over X News

Saturday Road Trip

I just got home from a college visit with Amanda to Flagler College, a small private liberal arts college in St. Augustine, FL. Oddly I have lived in Florida on again and off again for many years. Today was the first time I have ever been to St. Augustine. I have probably violated some cardinal sin of tourism in the past but then I never visited Disneyworld and Universal until I had moved from Florida to Connecticut. Hey it happens. When you live here you always think you have all the time in the world to get around to seeing the attractions.

Anyway, I have a lot of pictures to post; I hope you like pictures. Besides going to see the college and meet some of the administration we went site seeing. We walked down the historic St. George Street, one of the oldest streets in the Spanish Quarter. We also toured the Castillo de San Marcos and Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum. It was quite a day.

Based on today even though it was chilly, windy and gloomy - toward the end it even drizzled - I had a pretty good time and would recommend St. Augustine to anyone for a must go see.

Everyone probably remembers from school that St. Augustine is the oldest city in America. It was established in 1565. It was a key location and a port of call for the Spanish during their exploration and colonization of the Caribbean, Mexico and South America.

Being in the presence of history has always impressed me. Maybe the only think I like more than science fiction and fantasy is history. That is probably a little weird but it's not like I have never been called a little weird before.

As for Flagler College, I am very impressed. First of all three students said hello and introduced themselves to Amanda and me. Of course they were on the committee to welcome the visitors but that was very nice. Then one of the administrators spotted us, came over to us and offered to show us where we were going, also very impressive. Come to find out she is in charge of student activities and their quality of life. She was a Flagler graduate.

I admit that I had never heard of the college until a year ago when Amanda started thinking of attending. Having attended two of the nation's larger universities (Purdue and Texas) I could relate to many of the benefits and virtues they were extolling for a small college learning environment. Even so they were up front in stating that Flagler may not be right tfor every student.

There are only 2000 students at the college and the average class size is 25 students. There are no teaching assistants. Students know their professors and their professors expect performance from the students.

Even though I relish my experiences at both Purdue and Texas, there were times that I have to admit that the size of the classes at times reduced the quality of the instruction I received. I would support Amanda's decision if she wants to attend Flagler.

The main building for the college is the former Ponce De Leon Hotel, built in the 1870's by Henry Flagler and first wired for electricity by Thomas A. Edison. Sorry the whole city is steeped in history and I guess that part of me that likes it so much was a bit over stimulated today.

The fort (a.k.a. Castillo de San Marcos) is probably one of the most impressive national parks I have visited. I know Yellowstone and Sequoia are awesome but there is is all about nature. Mt. Rushmore is all about the achievement of a great and partiotic sculptor. Gettysburg is about a pivotal battle in a war that no one wanted to fight. In each case, I have been there and I have been impressed. Castillo de San Marcos is unique. It is a fortress that stood for defense of St. Augustine from the 16th through much of the 19th Century. It never fell to an enemy. Six flags have flown over it but in each case it was a transition of power that was negotiated away from the field of battle. It is an impregnable fortress that the Spanish constructed in the 1500's, adding on defensive features over the years. Some of the features were extended to create a city wall in defense of the garrison in St. Augustine that later served to protect the city that grew there.

I took a lot of pictures and read a lot of plaques. I'll post the pictures. I hope you like them.

E

posted by Unknown @ 10:40 PM