St. Augustine, Florida - October 22, 2013

Second Read Books
St. Augustine, Florida

If I had a dollar for every time the name of Flagler is mentioned in St. Augustine, I would be a wealthy woman. Henry Flagler (1830-1913) put the city on the map in 1888 by building an elegant winter resort for the rich and bringing the railroad to the town so they could get here. He wanted his hotel to rival any of New York City's poshest hotels. He had the money to do it.

Today, this Spanish-Moorish building formerly known as the Ponce de Leon Hotel with its courtyard fountain and gardens, is Flagler College, a private, four-year liberal arts school. It opened in 1968. Twenty-five hundred students are enrolled.

The one-hour tour was led by Dan, a student of the college. We saw a lot of mosiac tiles in the entrance rotunda; painted ceilings and Tiffany stained-glass windows in the formal dining room (which is now the student dining hall); and velvet covered furniture, paintings, fireplaces, and eleven crystal chandeliers in the formal parlor where the ladies of that day gathered to chat in their bustles and feathered hats.

The day was very hot and humid. After walking around a bit, we found two bookstores and made our purchases. We were melting. We headed back to the B&B for a siesta.

I am happy with my purchases:

Second Read Books:
Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James, a Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice mystery.

Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings about her experiences in the Florida hamlet of Cross Creek, where she lived for thirteen years. I was very happy and surprised to find this one especially after discovering Ms. Rawlings' connection with St. Augustine yesterday.

Anastasia Books:
Jeeves and the Tie That Binds by P.G. Wodehouse, always a delight.

As We Were by E.F. Benson, a memoir of Victorian and Edwardian England. Mr. Benson is the author of the humorous Mapp and Lucia books.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, a lovely edition published by the Everyman's Library Children's Classics. It has color illustrations by Sibyl Tawse.

Tomorrow we leave Mr. Flagler's town and move up the coast to Savannah and more literary exploits.

St. Augustine, Florida - October 21, 2013

Castle Warden Hotel
circa 1940s

Our literary discovery of the day: 

Castle Warden, a Moorish revival mansion in St. Augustine, Florida was built in 1887 for a Philadelphia industrialist. It was bought in 1941 by author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and her hotelier husband and run as a classy hotel. The couple had an apartment on the top floor.

Ms. Rawlings was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1939 for The Yearling.  She died here in St. Augustine of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1953 and is buried next to her husband, Norton Baskin, in Island Grove, Florida.

The former hotel is now home of the first Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum of Oddities. It features displays of shrunken heads, torture devices, life-size wax figures, and unusual works of art. Hmmmm. We didn't go there.

We did take a trolley ride along the waterfront led by a Navy Seal veteran who was very knowedgable and entertaining. Later, at the bed and breakfast where we are staying, a local storyteller/historian wove the tapestry of St. Augustine's history that included Spanish, British, and Confederate occupations.

It is the oldest city in America, founded in 1565, and is still going strong. A Spanish fortress called Castillo de San Marcos sits overlooking the harbor, holding a strategic defensive vantage point. It is the oldest masonary fort in the U.S. and is made from coquina, a soft, local shell rock.The fort was declared a National Monument in 1924.

Tomorrow, we will visit Flager College with its 79 Tiffany stained glass windows; munch our way through the Whetstone Chocolate Factory; and pay a visit to Anastasia Books.

McDonough, Georgia - October 20, 2013

There is not much literary going on in McDonough, Georgia, our first stop on the Grand Southern Literary Tour 2013. It is one of those perfect little Southern towns laid out on a square. Sometimes the middle of the square holds the courthouse; however, in McDonough there is a war memorial. Civil War, of course. Or as they call it here - The Great Northern Aggression.

Rose and I walked the square which was set up with all different Halloween straw-men, straw-women, and even a straw-chef. It was a cool afternoon with cornflower blue skies and a very bright sun.

We did find one bookstore, Dawg-Eared Books, but it was closed and sadly had a Going Out of Business sign in the window. We peeked through the window and saw shelves full of books and Rose and I would have been very content to browse a while.

Here are a few of the folks we met on the Square:



We spotted Scarlett O-Scare-A
and her beau Rhett Butler.



Then we came upon Vincent Van Gogh at his easel. If you look closely you will see his severed ear in his pocket.

Earlier in the day, we ate lunch at a restored train depot in Dalton, Georgia. The entire town was decorated with peacocks and we couldn't resist this one. 

And So We Prepare to Begin

Mapmaker: John Melish
1813

Tomorrow is the start of my Grand Southern Literary Tour 2013. The itinerary includes St. Augustine, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; and Chimney Rock, North Carolina with surprises along the way.

I have my list of bookstores that I want to browse through, historic homes with literary connections that I want to visit, many maps, tour books, and my charge card.

My traveling companion, Rose, will be with me again this year. She accompanied me on last year's Grand Southern Literary Tour and was a great help in navigating and spotting intriguing places to stop along the way.

Now that the U.S. government is back to work, we should be able to visit Carl Sandburg's home in Flat Rock, N.C. It is part of the national park system and was closed during the shutdown.  I have been there before but that was many, many years ago. Rose has never been to the site and we were both disappointed when we thought we would not get to visit. But now, it is definitely a planned stop.

I don't know what my blogging schedule will be, but on last year's trip I was able to post every day. Even if the entry is just a photo or two, I will do my best to keep you updated on our adventures.  

Kentucky Book Fair on My Calendar

The Kentucky Book Fair in Frankfort, which I have often attended, is coming up in a couple of weeks. This year I see that some of the regular favorites will be in attendance at this one-day event: Wendell Berry; Bobbie Ann Mason; and, the state's former and only female governor Martha Layne Collins (whom I have had the pleasure of interviewing). Sue Grafton, Louisville native and author of the alphabet mysteries featuring Kinsey Millhone, is scheduled to be there to sign her newest, W is for Wasted.

Also on the list is Duffy Brown who writes the fun mysteries set in Savannah (where I will be next week!). I met her last year, bought her first book, Iced Chiffon, and now, after reading her second, Killer in Crinolines, consider myself to be a fan of hers. 

Here is a link to author photos I took at last year's event.

Even though I am in the midst of getting ready for my Grand Southern Literary Tour 2013, I am definitely going to put this book fair on my calendar. It makes for a fun, literary day. And one that is always full of surprises.

Twelve Sights of October

My walks this month have been filled with the scents and the colors of the season's change from hot summer days to cooler autumn weather...a reward for slogging through the humid heat of the past few months.

I have spotted the following in the park as I trudge around the walking track and if you will read my little offering aloud as you would sing The Twelve Days of Christmas, you will get a glimpse of the things I have seen:

Twelve geese a flying

Eleven bees a buzzing

Ten leaves a falling

Nine asters blooming

Eight woollies crawling

Seven maples turning

Six dogs a romping

Five fluffy clouds

Four fishermen

Three grasshoppers

Two gray squirrels

and a warm sun shining on all.

Two Treasures From the Sale Table

When I was at the library recently, I plucked two gems off the sale table. I was intrigued by the subject of each and also attracted to the end-of-summer hues of both covers.

The first, The Island of Lost Maps (2000), is a true story about a fellow who went around stealing valuable maps from libraries in the U.S. and Canada. It makes me a bit sick to think about the destruction that he wreaked on rare books because not only do I love books but also have a great fondness for maps. Anyway, I am looking forward to reading what author Miles Harvey has to say on this cartographic crime.

One can never read too many books about Tuscany and this one, A Thousand Days in Tuscany (2004), looks to be a treat with chapters titled "The Gorgeous Things They're Cooking Are Zucchini Blossoms" and "Perhaps, as a Genus, Olives Know Too Much".   Author and chef Marlena de Blasi writes about life in her adopted Tuscan village along with its food and festivals and includes some mighty tasty looking recipes.

Have you picked up any bargains lately?