GREETINGS FROM ST. EFFENSTINE

Back in the 1990s, I dated a woman whose father owned a house right on the ocean, just south of St. Augustine. We used to spend weekends there when we could. Her young daughter would usually invite one of her classmates to come with us and it was always a fun time. We’d leave on Friday after work, grab some grub, and settle in to watch movies rented from Blockbuster. The next day, we’d cross the Bridge of Lions into the oldest city in the country, where we never ran out of things to see and do.

One particular Saturday, we decided to go to the Lightner Museum. Generally speaking, children don’t want to do that. They want to go to the Castillo de San Marcos National Park, the St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoological Park, or Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Things like that. Nope, not this time. This time we’re going to the museum. Kids need their culture, too, you know.

There’s not much I remember about our trip to the museum that day except for when we were just about ready to leave. That’s when we stopped at the gift shop. While moseying around, her daughter called me over to the postcard rack; you know, the kind that spins around. Of course, being the adult and all, I tried to ignore her while acknowledging her at the same time.

“Dave! Dave!” she insisted, “Come here. You need to see this!”

I hesitated, but finally relented.

“OK,” I responded. “What are you trying to show me?”

“A postcard. You’ve got to see it!” Slowly, I shuffled my way over to her. “Look!”

She thrust the postcard into my hand. Hmmm… I studied and studied it and saw nothing unusual.

“Look closely. Look at the girl in the back seat. You’ll see it.”

Suddenly, it hit me and I couldn’t believe what I saw.

“WOW” I exclaimed. “This is quite a find.”

Speaking of finds, I was going through my closet last week, looking for suits and jackets to get rid of. I went through the pockets, not knowing if there was anything in them or not. Then, I found this…

A genuine St. Augustine promotional postcard! It’s so long ago, I don’t remember buying it, but there it was, back in my hands, some 25 years later.