Ticket Information

Tour Highlights

Join Us in Sunny Florida!

y 1492 the last Muslims fleeing the Inquisition left the coasts of Iberia, setting off a train of events unforeseen by any but the God of Providence, Lord of the Earth. The House of Aragon and the House of Castile had earlier united in the marriage of cousins, 17-year-old King Ferdinand and 18-year-old Queen Isabella, combining the kingdoms that eventually led to the modern nation called Spain. In 1492 they gave approval for a skilled navigator, designated “Admiral of the Oceans,” Christopher Columbus, to seek a sea route to the Far East by sailing westward across the Atlantic Ocean.

While the 16th Century would become the era of the Reformation, Europe would also witness the rise of the mighty empire of Spain that would encircle the globe, conquer ancient civilizations, and brook no successful challengers to its professional, arrogant, and rapacious armies. The explorers launched out into the oceans, closely followed by the conquistadors and the missionary priests of the Roman Catholic Church, baptizing the conquered peoples and leaving a cultural influence that continues to thrive in South America, Central America, and the American southwest.

The legacy of Spanish conquest still lies embedded in the oldest continuously inhabited place in the continental United States, St. Augustine. Founded on “St. Augustine’s Day” in the liturgical calendar, a great fortress known as Castillo de San Marcos (The Castle of St. Mark) arose, to tower over the settlement both as a protection for the Spaniards defending the frontiers, as well as a potential launching pad for the further conquest of North America.

Join historian Bill Potter as we explore the ancient sites of northeastern Florida, redolent with the sea breezes of the Atlantic and steeped in a providential history that helped create the English civilization that became embedded north of Florida and brought about the abandonment of the outposts of Spain’s Empire in North America. We will tell the stories on site of the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine and the French Huguenot colony at Jacksonville, Ft. Caroline. We will remember the courageous Reformed settlers who brought the Gospel to the natives of the region and their subsequent extermination by the Spanish for the capitol crime of rejecting the Catholic Church and following the Calvinist Reformation. We will examine the lives and times of fearless conquistadors, superstitious explorers seeking the fountain of youth, the ferocious no-holds-barred Scots-Irish General Andrew Jackson who seized Florida and would not give it back, and the natives who suffered through all the invasions and fought a war with the United States that was never concluded!

We will also attend one of the most interesting Civil War reenactments at the scene of the largest battle fought in Florida. A Confederate victory in a strange place of palm trees and swamp grass, the Battle of Olustee took place hundreds of miles from the main theaters of action. The army of Georgia and Florida Regiments routed an army of New York, Massachusetts and Colored troops—for the Union, the second bloodiest battle of the war per number of troops engaged.

Event Schedule

Note: Times are subject to change.

Other Considerations

Meals

There are no meals included in the tour so you have great flexibility for your family’s dining experience. We have allotted a moderate amount of time for lunch each day and have chosen locations where you are able to bring in your own food, purchase food from the venue, or travel out to lunch. You are welcome to bring your lunch to the mid-day lectures on Friday and Saturday if you choose to combine lunch and instruction! A picnic cloth may come in handy as there are a limited number of tables available.

Clothing

Touring clothing is up to the individual. It is likely to be warm during the day, (mid 60s), but a sweater or light jacket may be welcome in the evening. The most common attire that we see on these trips is sometimes termed business casual, with casual slacks and sometimes nice shorts with a polo shirt or similar for the men while many of the ladies are in a casual dress or skirt and a blouse. This will be an active trip in terms of walking, therefore good walking shoes are important. These are all merely recommendations and you ultimately need to decide on your wardrobe. Our desire is to communicate charity and respect to those around us by dressing modestly in coverage and fit wherever we are.

You may consider bringing…

• Water bottles
• Notebook and pen
• Portable camp chair
• Umbrella
• Hat / Sunglasses / Sunscreen

Accommodations

The opening lecture Thursday evening will be held in the meeting room of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites, as will the Saturday morning lecture.

Please note: Our choice of hotels is limited to properties that have a meeting space adequate to accommodate our group. However, guests are free to stay wherever best meets their facility needs and budget.

Study Preparation

The historic works connected with the subjects we will teach and discuss is vast and impossible to cover in a few or even short books. Nonetheless, there are some books that will be helpful in both the short and long run for study of the historical artifacts of our tour, both intellectual and material. As usual, there is much on the internet that is very helpful for learning about the actual monuments and memorials we will visit, but their meaning, purpose, and relevance is at the real heart of our tour.

Bibliography / Recommended Reading List

• Pirates, Puritans, and the Perils of the High Seas, by Captain Charles Johnson and Puritan John Flavel, Edited by R. A. Sheats
• Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates, by David Cordingly
• Spain in America, by Charles Gibson
• Londonniere & Fort Caroline, by Charles E. Bennett
• Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun, by Charles Hudson
• Confederate Florida: The Road to Olustee, by William H. Nulty