Tag: Gilded Age

History, Random Rants, Travel, tutto e niente

Lightner Museum in St. Augustine: Through the Looking Glass and into a Wonderland?

Tina Stewart Brakebill

Looking to escape the worst of a summer that will not end, we decided to head north; hoping that four hours of drive time would translate into at least twice that much in degree difference. Spoiler alert: It didn’t! Hit with a short-span heat wave that coincided directly with our trip, it was sweltering. Ugh.

It also was a holiday Monday and I had mixed feelings about being in St. Augustine on that day. What holiday, you ask? The one that Florida denotes as “Columbus Day” but that I (and many like-minded souls) honor as Indigenous People Day.

The day wasn’t chosen deliberately. Our hotel was unavailable on the day we wanted so we had to push the trip back a day. (Or should that be “push the trip up a day”? I always confuse those two.)

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NOT our hotel but oh to have danced back in the day!

Anyway, we left a day later than planned and there we were—landing in St. Augustine on “Columbus Day” surrounded by families with lots of kids “celebrating” the triumph of Columbus’ legacy. For those who may not know, St. Augustine was founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers. It is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement within the borders of the continental United States. (Which is a really benign way to say that the Spanish came, killed, enslaved, and stole from the indigenous peoples with a passion that Columbus, no doubt, would have found inspiring.)

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Plus, apparently autumn is NEVER coming to Florida. Did I mention it was HOT!

So long story short(ish), as non-kid-having trying-to-be-culturally-woke folk, we felt a bit out of our element. BUT, we do love museums and (ironically) the ostentatiousness of the Gilded Age, so the Lightner Museum saved the day!

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Housed in the former Alcazar Hotel (built in 1888 by super rich guy named Henry Flagler), the museum is home of one of the premier collections of fine and decorative art in the country. Seriously, Lightner collected everything! Between the hotel itself and the collections on display, it really was like stepping through the Looking Glass into a different world.

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Through the Looking Glass …
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“I don’t think — ” “Then you shouldn’t talk.”
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“Off with their heads!”
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In a Wonderland they lie, Dreaming as the days go by, Dreaming as the summers die: Ever drifting down the stream — Lingering in the golden gleam — Life, what is it but a dream?
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How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour, And gather honey all the day From every opening flower!
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“Curiouser and curiouser!”
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“We’re all mad here.”
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“Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!”
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“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” (Yes. I was hungry and yes I was thinking  about EGGS!)
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“It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”
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Thus grew the tale of Wonderland: Thus slowly, one by one, Its quaint events were hammered out — And now our tale is done And home we steer, a merry crew, Beneath the setting sun.

 

Thanks and credit to Lewis Carroll for taking us to a Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. And thanks to Wander Essence for the inspiration and the reminder that I like to write about my travels!

Looking at our photos (all made by myself or my husband) and thinking about Cathy’s travel writing suggestions led me to Alice. Thus the Carroll quotes as captions. Hope y’all enjoy!