Costumed volunteers offer a view of what life
was like aboard the Santa Maria.
The 45-minute-plus tour was led by a woman well-informed about Columbus and life aboard ship. She was aided in telling the story by costumed volunteers covering such topics as cooking on board, the use of weapons and the mistaken ideas Columbus and his crew had of where they were.
The cook was stirring beans and salt pork over a charcoal fire. We suspect the original crew ate lentils because beans had yet to enter the European diet. The hard tack was said to have little food value but expanded to give a full feeling when moistened. The kegs of water began to go bad after a short time, and wine was added to improve the flavor. What they didn’t know then was that wine not only covered the bad taste, the alcohol also killed some of the bacteria.
Down times on the ship were filled with games. Board games such as chess were popular, as were card games. Rats were a problem because the food supply was kept below deck in the dark. A large wooden trap had been invented, and the rats were put in a box that dragged behind the ship until they drowned.
Small ledges on the outside of the deck were the toilets. The mental image of a sailor hanging his bottom out over the ocean looked dangerous. A cord with a brush on the end served as toilet paper.
At 98 feet in length, the Santa Maria was the largest of Columbus’ three vessels, but we were still impressed with how small this ship was. We were told it was a “nao,” or cargo ship, and not very good for exploration. This was proved when it ran aground on Christmas Day in 1492 on what is now Haiti. It was taken apart for its timbers, which were used to build a fortress.
The replica ship lies across the river from the COSI, Columbus’ major science museum, and this adds to the number of people who visit the Santa Maria. The ship is also within walking distance of the state capitol. Groups of 30 or more can make arrangements to stay the night and experience more directly what life was like aboard. The next time you are traveling near Columbus, it’s worth a stop. An attraction like this can bring alive a sense of history.
Columbus’s Santa Maria in Columbus, Ohio
2. Surrounded by History
St. Augustine, Florida
The motto in St. Augustine is “Let history surround you.” And surround you it does; it’s everywhere downtown. The “old city” section of St. Augustine is small, and the city fathers have worked hard to keep it as close to the original as possible.
No McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants are allowed within its area. No new buildings, unless they look as if they were very old. The Hilton here is light pink, not very high and fits right in. No neon lights, and no colored lights in the signs. The guides are all well trained, licensed and, if they work at night, must carry a lantern.
We started our day by buying tickets to the Spanish Quarter. In original buildings from the 17th century, reenactors who are skilled craftsmen are stationed at their places of business in period costume.
Business was slow the day we were there, so we had plenty of time to talk with these skilled artisans. We met with the herbalist, who was doubling as the candlestick maker. Herbal knowledge here came from three sources: the original Spanish settlers, the local American Indians and the black slaves from Africa. The herbalist answered questions about the various dried herbs on display.
Also on duty were a blacksmith, a carpenter, a scribe, a leather worker and a gunnery officer--who just happened to be preparing his lunch in an iron pot over a charcoal fire. He started with half a pound of bacon, threw in a chopped potato and, when it was cooked, added two eggs from the hen house outside.
Our most interesting chat was with the carpenter, who showed us how he had modified a lathe by adding a special hemp cord that made the lathe more like the original. The leather worker had stacks of leather on hand and, while working with original tools, was producing objects to be sold in the attached gift shop.
The Spanish Quarter is a small operation compared to what is available for visitors in nearby Orlando. The individual attention and the authenticity more than make up for the lack of size. We found that if we were interested in a particular skill of the period, these re-enactors seemed to know answers to most of our questions.
Castillo de San Marcos
After lunch, we visited the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. Constructed in sandstone between 1672 and 1695, it was a replacement for nine wooden forts.
The Spanish were fortunate to find a stone that was easy to work with when wet and was impervious to cannonballs when it had dried for a year. It absorbed them rather than being shattered by them. The British, who attacked the fort with massive force on a number of occasions, had a hard time believing their cannon barrages were so ineffective.
The fort changed hands on a number of occasions by treaty but never because the force inside had been defeated. The Spanish gave it to Britain, who lost it to us during the Revolutionary War. We gave it back to the Spanish and then bought it back when we purchased Florida from them. The South held it during the Civil War, and the North got it back at the end of the war. It was used to hold American Indians during the Indian wars, and it served as a defensive fort for the Army during World War II.
The National Park Service has focused on the fort’s history. On the hour, a park ranger gives a tour of some aspect of the fort. Our guide talked about the construction, how it fared in battle and the different living arrangements for troops under the Spanish and the British. She also discussed the two major attempts by the British to take it.
Park rangers narrate a 20-minute movie and re-enactors, including soldiers with muskets of the period, demonstrate what life was like during various periods of its history. Like so much else in St. Augustine, the fort surrounds you with history.
Ghost Tour
We decided to take one of the “Original Ghost Tours of St. Augustine” because an ad noted they had been featured on the Discovery and Travel channels. That gave it extra credibility for us.
St. Augustine is the third most ghost infested city in America. Only Savannah, Georgia and New Orleans have more. Why so many? Our guide, Karen, felt it was because there had been so many violent deaths here and many deaths of young people from diseases like yellow fever.
Violence? An example was the beheading of 200 French soldiers by the Spanish army that captured them on an island across the bay from where we were standing. Shrimp boat crews coming into the bay in the evening report they see the heads glowing green in the water and disappearing as they get closer to them.
According to some guides ghosts are able to generate enough energy to enable them to appear in solid form and converse. For example, two children in 19th century dress and with rotten teeth often meet tourists on St. George Street, have a brief conversation and then vanish.
Whatever your beliefs about ghosts this is a worthwhile tour; you will learn a lot of history, see the old town under conditions that are not possible during
