America's Source

Where the Atlantic caresses the shores
like a mother's heartbeat older than time,
amongst the saw palmettos,
and beneath the southern pines...

Where the noble panther once roamed,
and the feisty bobcat still hunts for his needs,
the salt-tinged breeze across Anastasia,
whispers ancient secrets directly to your dreams.

From the timeless coquina of Castillo de San Marcos,
where centuries of hands have traced this jagged stone-
there's something profound that calls to everyone:
both America's Source, and its very first home.

And from generation to generation,
so many others have felt it,
from the days when Osceola
stood amongst the trees alone and tall;

to the early part of the twentieth century,
when Henry Flagler brought the railroad,
with its promise of new life
and prosperity for all.

From the energy of the New World,
to the birth of new nations,
St. Augustine has remained as stalwart
as the Castillo’s walls-

and from the ascension of modern Florida,
to the struggles for civil rights,
with the ideals of freedom
and equality for all.

Her growth has often been painful,
yet always she stands:
wisdom and hope,
and pride, soul and strength...

And even for those,
whose visits are short,
they'll find that when they leave,
a part of their heart shall remain.

Because when the evening falls
to the song of the green tree frogs,
and the haunting notes
of the whip-poor-will,

somewhere across those countless years,
outside of history itself,
for just a moment you swear
you can hear the cry of the panther still.

And you realize the true magic of St. Augustine
is not in buildings or attractions,
or the fleeting pleasures
that daylight might bring,

but rather, the greatest gift offered by America's Source,
is something as simple and as profound,
as the hopes and dreams
for better things.