Why St. Augustine, Florida is the Perfect Kinky Gazpacho Family Getaway

Hello Dear Readers,

For the first time ever, I’m sending two of my three children away for summer camp. Yes, son #1 and son #2 are going to turn 17 and 14 this summer, but for reasons both cultural and financial, we’ve never sent them away for camp. But this year, son #1 is going to an art program in Detroit and son #2 is going to a military-style camp in Indiana. Yeah, they’re polar opposites.

So, that leaves el esposo and I alone with babygirl for almost a month so we figured it would be a perfect opportunity to take a little vacation. We very rarely take vacations, most of our travel is centered around work opportunities or visiting el esposo‘s family in Spain. Just fantasizing about all the places we could go, made me giddy. Costa Rica, Ghana, and Portugal all came up on my wish list. And then reality and Uncle Sam smacked me in the face and reminded me that I didn’t have the cash to spend on a vacation abroad. When I really sat down and looked at our finances, I realized I needed to find a vacation spot that wasn’t going to break the bank. Still, I wanted to be near a beach. I wanted to explore an area I’d never been before. And, if possible, I wanted to find a location that both el esposo and I would find culturally stimulating. And that’s when I remembered, St. Augustine, Florida.

BLACK AND SPANISH IN AMERICA
St. Augustine, Florida has been on my radar for awhile now, ever since my parents passed through there a few years ago while on a road trip. They brought me back a couple of books and pamphlets that explained the city’s exciting history. St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish in 1565, making it the oldest “permanent European settlement” in North America. Yes, that means before the British made it to Plymouth Rock or even Jamestown, Virginia, the Spanish were making a home in Florida. But it wasn’t only the Spanish who were settling in St. Augustine. St. Augustine was also the home to several free Black Africans who sailed with the Spanish from Europe and they eventually founded the first legally recognized community for Free Blacks – Fort Mose – in the United States. Now, while I wish I could say it was because the Spanish were so progressive that they lived side-by-side with Free Black people, the truth of course is something different. The Spanish were happy to use Fort Mose as a strategic barrier for St. Augustine. When the British would attack from the North, they had to get past the armed Blacks in Fort Mose first. In other words, the Spanish were basically using their Black neighbors as human shields. Still, the Spanish let it be known to all the enslaved Africans in British territories, that if they could run and make it to St. Augustine, they would immediately be freed and given a gun to protect themselves and of course the people of St. Augustine. Basically, by promising freedom to Britain’s slaves, Spain found a way to destabilize the British economy and just piss the British off. History ain’t pretty, but it sure is fascinating.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

So, I’ve put my grandiose dreams of jetting off to Costa Rica on hold, and instead am trying to plan a trip to St. Augustine, where I can dip my toes into the blue waters of the Atlantic ocean, but also immerse myself in a relatively unknown part of history that I’m dying to learn more about. Ever since I wrote my memoir, Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love & Spain (Wsp Readers Club), I am always looking for more historical evidence of Black and Spanish cultural co-existence. I know there are museums and tours highlighting St. Augustine’s Black and Spanish history so, I want to look into those opportunities. I also need to find some fun stuff for babygirl to do, although I’m sure my daughter will be pretty happy with a swimming pool and a beach. She’s six, she has low expectations. Of course, now that Baldwin is in our life, I’ll have to find a doggie vacation spot for him too, in Philly, not Florida.

Have any of you, dear readers, been to St. Augustine? What did you think? Do you have any suggestions about places to stay or things to do with a Kinky Gazpacho flair? I’m totally listening and taking notes.

Thanks!

Peace!