Day 1 Family Time: Night Trek

A different trek

Old City Gates of St. Agustine at Twilight. Photo by Dawna Moore

My wife and I had self-toured many places- Madrid, Valencia, Rome, Jerusalem- but now we would do it with the family. A night tour of Historic St. Augustine. If you have been to St. Augustine, one of the big draws is the night tours. They supposedly tell of all the ghosts that stay in this area. We are not believers in “ghosts”; but my middle daughter thought the idea of walking in the night was cool.

Lost or Found?

We started out trying to follow a walking tour via an app. All our other trips, we had planned out, and I just read maps and landmarks. But they were during the day, and we still had some side trips. (Even in Valencia, Spain, I found a field that reminded me of Teoc walking back to the hotel.) But the app in the dark was not a good mix. It took us about 25 minutes just to get to the starting point. Then once we got started it became interesting.

It was an app walking tour of the “haunted” places around the old city. We started about twilight. The first stop was one my wife thought would be special to me- the old school house.

Me standing in front of the Wooden school house. Who is that in the top window?

Mile marker 0 and cemeteries

It was interesting, but I have enough “memories” of classrooms. They are not my ideal vacation highlight. But my girls got a great laugh. Next we moved to first cemetery. The audio guide was a little confusing, but there were live tours that move around. My wife and I shadowed one as we listened to our guide. It was easy to move to the next place- the start point or 0 mile marker for the Spanish Trail from St. Agustine all the way to San Diego, California. For the history buff, it felt good- but that was not the original location for it.

But then we began to lose the way. Even following the tour group as challenging. Our screams and spooky noise were finished well before the “human” tour guide. But I wouldn’t trade that. Being a guy, I could never admit, I was lost. Plus, if you keep going in direction, you’re bound to find something you recognize. Gabriella was all for it. Looking in the windows of the many old homes for a glimpse of the resident specter kept her rapt. But Sofia, Michael, and my wife were not amused. I couldn’t blame them. All those stories do start to sound the same after the 5th or 6th place.

The best for last

But the highlight was saved for the last. We finally came out at the end. As we were moving to where we parked, one of the tour trolleys pulled up. The driver was dressed as a convict zombie. He parked his trolly train and moved to stand at an at-easy stance.

As we walked by, I in my true southern fashion said hello. He just stood staring. The girls stared back at him, but then they moved up quickly to me. My tired troop sped up to move to the van at that point. Sofia commented, “That was the scariest thing.” Gabriella said that was “creepy!” My wife wanted to know why he didn’t say hello.

But I couldn’t help but smile. On our way back to the hotel, I asked them was the walk worth it. After some complaining, they admitted the guy was the best part. We laughed, but it made me think. Our life follows a similar path. We go through many ordinary- repetitive things. It makes us wonder is it worth it? But as Jeremiah 29:11 says “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord.” How many times do we see His wonder and grace after persevering? He always has our Best for us when we are faithful to His plan.