Back to the 1740s

Our next stop, after eating some Mayan cuisine for lunch, was the Colonial Spanish Quarter Museum. We visited a leather worker, the home of the artillery sergeant Gallegos, the carpenter, the blacksmith and a calligrapher. Each interpreter was full of amazing knowledge of their craft, as well as the history of their city. We all soaked it up (Cora napped on my back in the Ergo.), and the boys worked hard on their I Spy/Bingo game to win a prize at the end of the tour.

The leatherworker works on a sheath for a knife.

I just thought this rooster was beautiful.

This was the kitchen (one of two rooms) of the Gallegos home.
This stove is called a fogon, a luxury stove at the time--although Senora Gallegos
would have had to haul a lot of water from outside in order to use it.

The carpintero had an outdoor shop with a palm thatch roof.
Here he shows us how to make lucet (a type of cord) on a tool that he fashioned.

The herrero had finished working for the day, but we learned about charcoal and found the huge bellows which was part of the game which the boys were doing.

The calligrapher writes his last certificate for the day.

By the way, if you are ever in St. Augustine, do give Casa Maya a try. Delicious, very fresh food. I had eggs with poblano mole sauce and they were fabulous. The smoothies sounded fabulously tasty, but I was too full to try one.