HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We ended 2015 by going to St. Augustine, the oldest US city, with relatives. We took the tour, walked through the narrow streets filled with small stores and generally enjoyed ourselves. We've been before but playing tourist is always more fun with people you enjoy, isn't it?

This is the oldest schoolhouse in the US. You can barely see it, but the guy on the right is leaning against a huge anchor. A chain comes from it, goes up to the schoolhouse corner and wraps around the structure, which is slightly leaning forward. Maybe the chain is to keep it standing. I must admit, I felt uneasy standing in front of it.

And this is looking down one of the streets with the shops on either side. There were blocks like this!

Can't go to St. Augustine without going to the fort! Especially on a day just right for strolling and sightseeing! Isn't the view from the top marvelous?

Here's one of the rangers giving some kind of demonstration. They had one making a fire with flint, one telling about what the garrison soldiers ate (hardtack, dried beans, etc.) and some doing other stuff.

Overall, a lovely way to say goodbye to 2015! Here's hoping 2016 will be a great year for everyone!

ALLIGATOR FARM

Yep, we went back down to the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine for the thousandth time.

My guy wanted to shoot the birds in the rookery. Er, photograph the birds. And there were gobs of them. Due to our move, we weren't able to go every week as he would have preferred so we missed most of the baby birds and saw only gawky adolescents. More babies are coming though, because there was lots of courting going on, so I suspect we'll be back down there before the end of the season. If, that is, we can find time between running back and forth to north Georgia. A family reunion's coming up next weekend so we'll be hitting the road again.

Anyway, a neighbor went down with us this time because she'd never been before. I believe she was suitably awed. By the albino alligators if nothing else! Here she is sitting on the greeter alligator. And yes, it's statue, in case some of you are wondering how timid Marsha dared!

THE ALLIGATOR FARM

My guy is a photographer so we visit The Alligator Farm in St. Augustine FL frequently during their rookery season of April, May and June. Yesterday we went down for the first time this year. The birds were already there. Some were so close you could reach out and touch them.

  This first picture shows one of the trees with its birds.

This is an egret displaying. For those of you who, like me, are non-birders, I believe it means he's puffing up his feathers, trying to make himself as attractive as possible to the opposite sex so he can nab a mate. Good luck with that, fellow!

And here's a favorite. I've never seen such vivid colors on a roseate spoonbill. A couple of them were nesting in a tree about ten feet from us. Beautiful!

We couldn't leave without a picture of alligators. These are American albinos. They looked like statues when I first went by, then one finally moved and stepped on the other's snout. Thought I was gonna see a battle but they both went back to sleep.

We'll be going back in a few weeks. My guy likes to catch the birds nesting, then see the little babies pop out of the nests, then follow them as teenagers. He'll be busy till probably the first part of June.