Castillo holds Regatta of Lights Boat Parade party

Historic City News readers are invited to attend on Saturday evening, December 14th, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:45 p.m., when a ceremonial cannon firing from the deck of the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument will start St Augustine’s Holiday Regatta of Lights Boat Parade in the Matanzas Bay.

The first cannon firing will be at 6:00 p.m. with additional firings at 7:30 and 8:45 p.m.

“This free event offers a chance to explore the history of the Castillo and witness night time cannon firings,” a spokesperson for the National Park Service told local reporters. “Soldiers from multiple periods of the fort’s history will be on hand to share the history of this venerable old fort.”

The Castillo de San Marcos symbolizes the clash between cultures which ultimately resulted in our uniquely unified nation. Still resonant with the struggles of an earlier time, these original walls provide tangible evidence of America’s grim but remarkable history.

And, before you arrive, or, if you are one of the poor folks buried in a Minnesota snow drift, you can still enjoy the ins-and-outs of the historic city’s most popular tourist destination with your high-speed Internet connection.

The National Park Service allowed Google Earth to do a walk-through of the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in August; with a backpack-mounted, 360-degree camera array. The link to see the results, http://goo.gl/maps/oGQ9C

Browse the seventeenth century masonry monument; built not only of stone and mortar but also of human determination and endurance.