I ask only for the strength to defend my people.

Pirates Part Two
( 2004-05-28 @ 12:49 a.m. )

Whew! Sorry for the lack of updating, I have been busy! Argh! I do so apologize!

First of all I want to thank Jo for the lovley gifties she sent me, even if the bookmarks mysteriously didnt make it....LOL1 The secret window bootleg, and all of the LOTR/POTC stuff completley made my day!~Huge hugs~

Also thanks to Alix for my lovley package of goodies! I *LUFF* my picture, and have allready hung it up! SQUEEEEE!

Also to Kate {whom I would link but I odnt know which diary to use} for the phone call, all the 4 hours of complete insanity, you kept me from going nuts luv!~Hugs~ I adore you!

Ok, basically I am re-doing this entry, because the one I did a day ago was rushed, hurried and not very good or descriptive, and I abhor bad writing. Now, like I said last entry I find it amusing and such how when your younger let's say 12 or so that something can seem so trite and boring, but when your older like oh....23 all of a sudden the same thing isnt so boring?

I have been absolutley devouring books on pirates, you name it, I have attempted to get my hands on it. "Under the Black Flag", "Encyclopedia of Pirates", "The History of The Pirates" and so on into infinity. I have raided Barne's N Nobles, and also the library........I have become rather proud of myself to know the difference between a privateer and a bucanner, a sloop and a galleon and to be able to accuratley point out the mizzenmast on a ship! So my boyfriend and myself decided to take a day trip to St. Augustine, it's a hour or so from me, and just mess about all day since it has a pirate history.

To put this in perspective St Augustine is the oldest city in the U.S., ancient actually by our standards, it was founded by the Spanish in 1565. it is home to Castillo De San Marcos, the oldest and largest stone fort in the continental U.S., it is also home to legends of Pirates, and privateers, and ghosts, and such things. The last time I went there, I was 11....I was bored, only interested in the candy shop, and I wanted to go HOME.

Basically, you have to picture yourself driving into these huge old ancient stone gates and seeing the river directly across from you, on the left the ancient stone fort, to the right the "Bridge of Lions" a gorgeous bridge that leads to Anastasia island that has dozens of white lion statues perched upon it. Then once you get out and start walking around, well basically, and I kid you not you have stumbled into something directly between Port Royal and Tortuga! No, I'm not kidding, you see there are pirates.......EVERYWHERE! You cannot round a corner without running into one, literally, and if it isnt a pirate, it's a Spanish or a British soldier! All in era-accurate garb mind you. Granted it's a bit disconcerting at first, but once your used to the speech and hearing pirates in the bar singing sea shanties it's fine! Besides, having remembered this a bit from when I was a kid, I went in my pirate-wenchy finest so I fit right in! That was the best part, NO ONE thought I was nuts! It's a beautiful place, all mysterious smells, period houses and architecture, and secret gardens everywhere!

It was a lovley day, and I walked about having rock candy, and candied apples.......very good! I sang songs with the pirates and danced around in a ridiculous manner until I got dizzy and fell over.....shops of everything you can think of, weapons, period clothes, candy, cookies, pastries, flowers......art galleries.......just stuff, stuff and MORE stuff evrywhere. One could literally get lost, and NOT give a damn! We did several times, and I didnt care at all......I just kept singing "Yo Ho..." over and over, and being downright silly.

The best bit however was the ghost tour, my boyfriend surprised me with the tickets as I was smelling soap in a adjoining shop {damn good soap to, homemade it was} and then, a few hours later at 7:45 he pulsl me over to this pavillion and hands the woman our tickets, I'm still not sure what's going on but then two guys rounded the corner dressed in very authentic pirate garb carrying period lanterns, so of course I screamed "PIRATES" and ran over to them to have my picture taken, they obliged and we all had a good giggle! Then for basically a hour and a half, the younger of the two pirates {near my age} took us on a walking tour of the ENTIRE historic district, in the dark with only the lantern, stopping at various points to tell the stories which are all rooted in fact. One of the first stories was told about this lovley secret garden and the bar across from it, this being the bar where all the pirates sing their sea shanties. Well one night one of the guys and his friends were cleaninh up after the night, and his friends got done quicker than he did, so they went outside and through this garden to take out their trash. Well the slower guy finally got all his trash and raced across the garden to catch up with his friends. Only halfway through he saw a woman in a long, flowing spanish gown, now period garb is common so he figured her another re-enactor so he waved and said "Hello1" he got no response. Well that wasnt odd either, the Florida school for the blind and deaf was only a bit away and they do plays as well, so he thought perhaps she was blind or deaf.....so he went right next to her as she was hanging her laundry on a bush and waved in her face.......

Once again, nothing. At this point he realized she was NOT alive, and screamed all the way down the alley to his friends. He told them, and of course they didnt believe him, so he took them back to the garden, determined to find her. He then spotted her heading down a adjoining alley, so he called to his three friends. They follwoed and two of them ran to catch up with the woman, as they reached her however, she dissapeared.

That my friends is the ghost of the spanish launderess.

I wont put every story here, but a few of the best ones.

The next one concerned the Casablanca Inn. A older woman here in her 60's or so ran the inn around the first of the century. Her inn prospered because it was said that she had wild parties there where the liquor flowed freely, then her worst enemy happened. Prohibition. The inn languished, until one day two men on a boat docked across the street and then requested a room. They payed, then spent the rest of their day on the boat. The woman noticed people coming and going and leaving with packages. She then realized what these men were, rumrunners. So being ingenuitive, she went outside and up to them and said "I will offer the room in back of my inn rent free, for a discount on your wares" the rumrunenrs agreed, there they would be safe from authorities. All was well for a time, and the wild parties returned until oen day she learned that the authorities were comign to Florida to check to see that prohibition laws were being upheld, once again being ingenuitive she went to the train station to meet them and said "I may be a feeble old woman, but I want to help my country, I would liek to offer you a room free at my inn whenever you are in town. Only I ask that you call ahead first to let me know your ocming so I can have your room ready." They agreed, and now she knew whenever they would be in town.

Where does the ghost come in? Well you see, the woman used to go to the top of her inn every night, and swing a lantern if the authorities werent there, this signalled the rumrunenrs comign through the river that it was fien to dock and sell goods, when they were there however, no lantern....well the woman passed on, but now the shrimping fleets and boats say that to this day they see a lantern from the top of the casablanca inn.....

Another ocncerned a old house. A older man lived there with his aging grandmother. He had several shops downstairs and their apartment upstairs, this to was at the turn of the century. He got so busy with his shops that he soon realized he hadnt the time to care for her as needed. He then decided to hire a live in nurse. Well as fate would have it on the day that Agnes, the nurse was meant to arrive the weather caused a ruckus, wind and sheets of blinding rain. Well the man was a ham radio enthusiast so he soon found out indeed a huricane was blowing through. He dutifully bolted up all but one side door and then went to wait for the nurse. Well sure enough, at the worst of the storm, a knock came on the door. He opened it, and there was Agnes, lookign a bit worse for wear. He ushered her in, and quickly boarded up the door from the inside, they were safe to ride out the storm. He then told the young woman to head upstairs, change into dry clothes and make herself sone tea, and make some tea for his grandmother to and bring it down. Agnes did so, and brought the tray downstairs and into her room where she saw the old woman praying the rosary, with a nun beside her bed. Well this wasnt odd, The Sisters of St Margeruite were down the road. She was abut to ask the nun if she would like some tea when she suddenly realized the nun was....TRANSPARENT...so she did what anyone would, dropepd the tea and ran screaming to the man saying "A ghostly nun..." but before she oculd finish he calmly said "Oh, you have seen the nun." He then explained that all of the women in his family, in times of trouble had a nun appear to them and pray the rosary. The young woman balked, she had not bragained on workign with ghosts, but was connvinced to stay. Well, several years later she had made the grandmother her dinenr and had taken it to her when she heard heavy, booted footsteps following behind........suddenly appeared a Spanish Soldier in full garb, once again she dropped her tray this time ocntaining broth and went running to the man saying "I have now seen a Spanish Soldier!" well he took off running and screaming to his Grandmother's room, Agens tried to keep up and when she found him he was cradling his Grandmother saying "WHY? Why did he have to come tonight?" When Agnes finally asked he said that his Grandmother had always told him, when it was her time to go a Spanish soldier would coem to escort her to heaven, and indeed the woman had passed away. Apparently this has to do with Greek/Minorcan descent for they all believe if you lead a good life, a Spanish soldier will escort you to heaven.

Let's see another perhaps. There was a young man, in the 1920's who everyday after work would coem to the sewall and walk it's length liek a balance beam to clear hsi head and mind. Well oen day as any other he was doing this when suddenly a dense fog rolled in. He oculd not see his hand in front of his face and was trying to feel his way off the seawall when he heard singing. He then looked up and saw a woman walkign towards him in spanish dress. Well they began talking, and soon he realized two things, she was not of this world, and he was in love with her. He asked her name and she said "Lirianna" and then, slowly the fog began to roll out and she said she had to go, but she was staying at the fort. He nearly laughed because he knew no one had stayed there since the civil war. However infatuated he begged her to stay, she said she could not, but would return the next night. So he came back, and once again the fog roleld in and he heard her singing, they talked for hours until once again she said she had to go. This continued for 4 nights until she said she oculd not return...he beeged her to stay but to no avail, the fog left and so did she.

Two years passed, and he spent every night waiting......then one night, after two years the fog rolled back in, eye-witnesses heard a woman's lovley voise, and the young man walked off into the fog, and quite simply dissapeared.

So there you have it! Our storyteller was amazing, so well spoken and wel versed, I was so jealous, I wanted to grab him and say I WANT YOUR JOB! I mean come on, this guy gets paid to wear pirate's garb, and walk about with a lantern to spooky inns, graveyards and such and tell people ghost stories! Lucky Bastard!

So yes, I suggest re-visting things you once found boring....it may no longer be so.

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