Quick, name the location and year of the first Thanksgiving among European settlers in the United States. If you guessed that the Pilgrims celebrated the first harvest festival in Plymouth in 1621, you’d be wrong.

In 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and 800 Spanish settlers founded the city of St. Augustine in Spanish La Florida. As soon as they were ashore, the landing party celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving.
First pizza, now Thanksgiving. Always the Yankees stealing culinary credit.

These are other intriguing factoids are shared by Captain Jimmy Hill aboard his Adventure Boat Tours sunset and holiday lights excursions, currently cruising in St. Augustine, Florida.

He shares these facts nightly when St. Augustine celebrates its Nights of Lights Festival. The city flips on its lights every November.

Riding the Storm Out

There is even more for which to begrateful this year for the businesses and residents who have repeatedly bounced back after a challenging storm season. Florida’s Historic Coast was flooded by Hurricane Ian in late September and followed by Tropical Storm Nicole just last Thursday, November 10. While there was some coastline erosion and flooding in both storms, the waters receded quickly, and residents and the business community immediately got to work to reopen and return to business as usual.

Florida’s Historic Coast

“We reopened on Saturday with all but one exhibit intact… we thank our grounds crew and everyone who helped us toquickly and safely reopen the park,” said John Fraser, owner of Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Archeological Park.

Charlie Robles, General Manager, The Collector Luxury Inn and Gardens said, “I will never cease to be amazed at the resiliency of St. Augustine. Within 24 hours after Nicole, the local hotels, shops and restaurants were up and running as if there was no storm at all!”

In the aftermath of Tropical Storm Nicole, the City of St. Augustine worked quickly clearing debris and checking lights to ensure all was safe and ready to go for the 29th Annual Nights of Lights Light Up Night.

“With support from Heath Electric and Angels in the Architecture, city staff will have worked hundreds of man hours tore-hang and rewire the Plaza in preparation for Light-Up Night and the kickoff to Nights of Lights,” said Melissa Wissel, Communications Director for the City of St. Augustine.

Nights of Lights has been listed among the top 10 holiday light displays in the world by National Geographic. During this festival of lights, downtown St. Augustine glows with holiday magic – from the ground to the rooftops, millions of tiny white lights create a festive holiday season atmosphere in the Nation’s Oldest City, and it’s free of charge.

“We are grateful for the actions of the businesses and the city and county governments following the storm to make our destination ready for the Holiday Season,” said Richard Goldman, President and CEO of St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra and The Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Nearly all tourism businesses on Florida’s Historic Coast are fully operational. To make planning for visits to Florida’s Historic Coast, the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau has published a list of open businesses. All scheduled events on Florida’s Historic Coast are also on track to take place.

Aboard the Adventure Boat

The flip-on is often a half-hour late. Aboard the Adventure Boat tour, guests don’t mind because First Mate Della Hill’s commentary is humorous and fascinating. She’s knowledgeable about the original residents of St. Augustine, the Timucua, a group of Native Americans. “The Spaniards were only five-foot-two to five-foot-four in height,” she explains. By contrast, the Timucua who greeted them were often 6’4 or even taller. What made them so tall?

“Oysters,” Captain Jimmy Hill explains. “They were raised eating oysters daily and it’s a growth stimulant.” Don’t worry, parents. Captain Hill is enlightening but refrains from sharing that other alleged benefit of oysters. Adventure Boat tours include a trip by the site of that first Thanksgiving. Dolphins and rare shorebirds often make an appearance.

Located midway between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville, Florida’s Historic Coast includes historic St. Augustine, the outstanding golf and seaside elegance of Ponte Vedra, and 42 miles of pristine Atlantic beaches.

For more information on events, activities, holiday getaways and vacation opportunities in St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches, go to the Visitors and Convention Bureau website at www.FloridasHistoricCoast.com or call 800-653-2489. For more information about Adventure Boat Tours, contact 904-759-2758 or visit www.adventureboat.tours.

Video by Darrell Scatterwood

The post Lighting Up St. Augustine on Adventure Boat Tours appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Such is one of the many highlights at the Dolphin Academy, one of several up-front-and-personal animal encounters available at the Sea Aquarium on the Caribbean island of Curacao.

Now I don’t usually like watching animals perform tricks that are alien to their DNA for the amusement of tourists, but at the Dolphin Academy, the residents are treated with such loving care, I swam alongside them with minimal guilt. According to trainer Yvette, the dolphins are the first priority. “They are on a very light work schedule and every day, it varies. Like humans, they react better when their life is not all that predictable. And if for any reason they don’t want to perform – perhaps they’re preoccupied with a personal family situation (I didn’t pursue that) – the program is called off.”

As if on cue, a participant related a past experience in which dolphins used to give rides to people holding on to their fins. Nope, not any more – although it doesn’t harm the dolphin (although some disagree), they got a lot of criticism in the past and clearly the dolphins didn’t like, it so it was stopped years ago. I nodded; point well taken… score one for the dolphins.

Prior to the snorkel, Yvette instructed us on how to proceed: be patient; let them come to you; stroke them along their flanks. She taught us how to encourage the dolphin to come alongside and then free dive in unison. Romeo and I shared a number of shallow dives together and in parting he gave me a kiss. Okay, so he did it because he got a fish but still I thought he was actually smiling at me at the time.

Dafne Greeven, a dive instructor from The Hague, Netherlands, said she had seen dolphin in the ocean, but had never interacted with them. “Most animal encounters are much more commercial,” she observed. “Snorkeling with them was a very special, personal experience. It was wonderful to see how well they treat the dolphins here and encourage us to be relaxed so that the dolphins will be.”

And it was only the start of my very personal connection with sea life in Curacao. My next encounter took me even further underwater.  I’ve been snorkeling before – but never in the past did the fish swarm to me rather than my having to swim out to them. But then again I don’t usually carry a supply of squiggly little sardines with me when I go, while at the same time making meaningful eye contact. Well, meaningful to me anyway.

But at the Dolphin Academy experience, getting up close and personal with a variety of denizens of the deep is the whole purpose. So there I was co-mingling with tarpon, common snook, French grunts, permit fish, horse-eyed jack and so many sting rays that I felt covered most of the time by a soft lightweight blanket caressing my body – only this blanket wanted to be fed fish which it ate with its underbelly.

I wasn’t really surprised to find the huge loggerhead turtles and sharks behind a Plexiglas shield and fed through small holes in the glass. Still, the shark didn’t look any less menacing for being behind protective covering. I carefully followed the instructions on when to feed them directly and when to take better care of my fingers. There’s not always a second chance to do that with a shark…

Ah so many fish, so little time – I fed as many as I could in the 35-minute feeding frenzy and came away with a new respect for the difference between just snorkeling – and actually swimming with the fishes…

Back on land, my next animal rendezvous was of a more playful nature. I got to meet and greet Snapper, the sea lion. I learned the difference between sea lions and seals and watched Snapper do a seal imitation as he flopped along on his belly. Sea lions are much more genteel when they move – they walk on all fours. Using flippers, of course, but still…

Snapper had a bit to say during our tete-a-tete  but his vocalization unfortunately resembled  a very loud, deep belch that tended to continue long after it was socially acceptable to do so. But still he was very cute – and, like Romeo, very affectionate. Yup, I got another kiss. Between the two, I got more action that weekend than I remember occurring at the height of my dating career.

And, of course, although all these activities are outside, all COVID protocols are being followed: mask wearing is required (the dolphins are exempt; not sure about Snapper….) and social distancing is maintained.

For more information visit Dolphin Academy.

Get more information about Curaçao Sea Aquarium.

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