Fort Mose Historic State Park ~ St. Augustine, Florida

St. Augustine is well known for being the oldest city in the U.S and a popular field trip destination for all 4th graders in the state of Florida. Most defined by its Spanish architecture tourist to St. Augustine often spend time visiting landmarks such as Castillo de Marcos, the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, St Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth, its distillery, and may I mention St. Augustine's ghost tours, but less is known about Fort Mose Historic State Park, the first legally sanctioned free African American settlement in the U.S. The history of this site dates back to 1688 when Negro slaves from the English colonies in the Carolina found refuge in the Spanish St. Augustine close to the site of a Spanish mission for the "Indians" (Native Americans) left homeless after Queen Anne's war. In 1693, Spain's King Charles II proclaimed that any English slave who reached Spanish Florida would be granted freedom upon conversion to Catholicism. Originally named Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, on March 15, 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano freed over 100 slaves in the name of the Spanish king in this religious sanctuary. It has been noted by several to be the precursor site to the National Underground Railroad Network for these slaves who would cultivate the land and learn Catholicism. For their security and protection a moated earthwork of a community was erected as a defense outpost two miles north of St. Augustine called Fort Mose. FORT MOSE I ~ A multicultural community, the inhabitants of Fort Mose were originally from West and Central Africa as well as some Native Americans. In 1759, militiamen at Fort Mose self identified as belonging to four distinct African ethnic groups: the Mandinga, Carabali*,Congo and Mina groups. Perhaps the most popular resident of Fort Mose, Francisco Menendez was a literate Mandinga who fought in the Yamasee War of 1715-16 against the English of the Carolina/Georgia. Another survivor of that war and resident of Fort Mose was Francisco Garzia…

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Limbe, Cameroon – A stroll along the coast!

In writing this post I feel this post is incomplete. After 13 years, we revisited the coastal city of Limbe in Cameroon and a day trip did not do it justice. With the ongoing COVID pandemic, travel is not what it used to be and with Cameroon hosting the African Cup of Nations in a few days from our visit, there was much preparation with road construction between Douala and Limbe. Between the road detours and increased traffic after the Christmas holidays, a day trip was not enough time to revisit all those places Mark and I had enjoyed so many years ago. After hiring a driver and vehicle, we loaded up the van with all the kids and left Douala on a 90minute drive for an afternoon in Limbe visiting the beach and family. The drive was visually stunning particularly for the children as we drove past rubber plantations, palm nut farms, with the rolling hills in the shadow of Mount Cameroon and views of the coastline on the other side of the road. It was a great opportunity to talk about the processes involved in rubber and palm oil manufacturing. We went through Limbe town to the closest beach, down beach. Down beach is most popular for the outdoor restaurants where fresh fish is grilled along the shores accompanied by roasted plantains. We stopped here for a quick look around before meeting family for lunch at Hot Spot Restaurant which is located in the Limbe Botanical Gardens. This two minute mini vlog from our you tube channel brings these scenes to life. https://youtu.be/WIlITCKY3uc Day Trip To Limbe! LIMBE BOTANICAL GARDEN This botanical garden is home to a variety of plants and beautiful flowers. It is designed more like a park one can walk through. 13years ago Mark and I stayed at a lodge on the property which has since expanded to include a swimming pool and restaurant. We did choose to dine at Hot Spot where we would have a clear view of the Atlantic coast while we…

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TRAVEL Poll

Travel Destination 2021 The beginning of the year is always a great time to plan travel. Its a great time to budget and explore destination options. It is always fun to get the kids input and initial impressions because it gives us an opportunity to do some research. Traveling can sometimes confirm those impressions or we find out quite differently. Kids Travel Map 2021 - Colored = "Visited with Mom and Dad"; Circled or underlined = "Mom and Dad have been here and we want to go with them next time". The kid’s are reviewing the travel map for 2021. Their bucket list is long and ever-growing 😊. Help us plan our next trip by taking the poll. Click on the poll block above to edit it directly in this post. Add a question, and multiple answers and even change the styling of the block using the sidebar controls. Add new poll blocks by searching for "poll" or type "/poll" in a new block.

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Coming home – douala 2020

Aerial View Douala (Bonapriso) "Bonne anne! Bonne anne! Happy new year!" We were awakened on the flight from Casablanca to Douala to these phrases ringing through the plane. Festive passengers toasting champagne flutes and wine glasses aboard our flight cheering and ringing in a new year, 2020. Air hostesses skirted up and down the aisle at steady pace making sure the rousing travelers aboard this Royal Air Maroc flight were satisfied with the refreshments being served. Our four kids who had never seen such merry making on an airplane before were turning their heads trying to understand the shouts and laughter that carried through the air vessel. The older girls kept asking “What did he say?” “Mama, what’s going on?” as most conversations and interactions were conducted in French, the language communicated in by most in Cameroon. Soon enough the pilot announced over the intercom, “We would like to wish all passengers a happy and prosperous new year in 2020. We should be landing in Douala in approximately 90 minutes.” Our previous trip to Cameroon was in 2016 and so this homecoming was well overdue. Mark and I have both made numerous trips to Cameroon; both of our fathers were born and raised in Bamenda which is where most of our families used to live. It had been four years since we visited Bamenda and the conflict and political turmoil has rendered the area less safe. Because of the insecurity and various other reasons, several relatives of ours now live in nearby cities such as Yaounde and Douala. This visit would be less than a weeklong, it would take a lot of planning to get family together from different towns and cities, but this was Cameroon where most will candidly say in a tongue and cheek fashion “almost everything is negotiable”.     We landed in Douala International Airport and after the routine checkpoints with immigration and health screening (yellow fever card check point), we picked up our luggage and headed out to our meet our ride. The Douala airport is…

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