The day in St. Augustine started out dreary, with passing drizzle and smoky cloud cover, but with the polar vortex finally loosening its grip on the Midwest, and the California coastline bracing for epic rain and mud, the local weather seemed well within the bounds of “I can’t complain” conditions for a Florida weekend.

Nevertheless, taking a chance on an outdoor activity seemed risky. So Leah and I hedged our bets and we traveled to St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, where $12.95 will buy a St. Johns County resident general admission for one year. We figured that we could always duck the rain…

by browsing the Keeper’s house,

and following the marble tiles to the landing anchorage.

Then it’s 219 steps to the top.

Congress authorized new construction in 1870 to replace the fading “Old Spanish Watchtower” by the shoreline, that’s evolved since the late 1500’s.

$100,000 funded three years of construction.

Tourists have been climbing the corkscrew stairs since 1910. The Philadelphia iron works…

hug the walls of the 165 foot Alabama brick structure,

occasionally interrupted by keyhole glimpses of life…

until the stairs reach an opening…

to a 360-degree lookout… 

that’s capped by 370 hand-cut glass prisms arranged in a beehive shape towering twelve feet tall and six feet in diameter.

The original lens was restored in 1992 because of vandals, 

and re-lit by a 1000-watt bulb the following year.

Today, the tower represents the oldest brick structure in St. Augustine, and shines a bright light on a community that preserves its heritage, protects through its presence, and invests in its future.