Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida.

Fort Jefferson, located in Dry Tortugas National Park of Florida, is a massive former coastal fortress built on a small island, and it is a landmark piece of U.S. history. The Park presents some challenges to visit. Dry Tortugas is located about 70 miles (113 km) from Key West, the westernmost island in the Florida Keys chain. Despite the travel issues, the fort is a popular tourist destination accessible by ferry from Key West, seaplane, or private boat. I will feature a Travel Tuesday post with more details about the journey and the fort. Consider today’s post a teaser.

This behemoth fort is constructed with over 16 million bricks, making it the biggest brick structure in North and South America. Only a few other US forts, like Fort Monroe in Virginia, surpass its size. It was a significant challenge to bring building materials to the island, so it’s understandable why Fort Jefferson was never fully finished or armed despite nearly 30 years (1846-1875) of construction. I will save the rest of the history lesson for the upcoming Travel Tuesday post.

The fort’s construction involved many supporting brick walls, and accessibility from one section to the next required many openings, each supporting the roof structure above with a brick archway. Some of the archways were only wide enough for a person to use, while others allowed men and equipment easy access throughout the fort. I was presented with many opportunities to capture images featuring repeating arches.

In addition to the doorway arches, there are outlines of arches on the floor. They are the remnants of tracks used by wheels at the back end of cannons that were pointed toward the seaside gun ports. The gun ports are not visible due to the short wall arch supports on the right.

About the photo: Looking north from the east side of the hexagonal fort, the interior fort walls were mainly open and offered minimal obstruction, allowing sunlight to flood the interior along nearly the entire wall. Using my Samsung S23U, I captured the image of receding arches. After cataloging and cropping within Lightroom Classic, I exported the image to Luminar Neo. From there, I did very little processing. I lowered the highlights in the Develop module. Then, I used Enhance AI to increase the contrast and add additional light to the darker foreground due to the wall on the left in this section. You are welcome to pixel-peep at the image in 2K HD on my Flickr site by clicking on the image.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s also acceptable. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner

Everglade City, Florida.

On our 2023 Fall Trip, we headed east toward Key West, down the Gulf Coast toward Naples, and southeast on U.S. Highway 41 toward the southern tip of Florida. As we planned the trip, one of the potential activities for sightseeing in the Everglades was spotted on Google Maps.

Per their website, we reserved a tour 72 hours in advance and arrived at the dock about 40 minutes before our scheduled boarding time. We were the first guests on their schedule that morning. The dock wasn’t open yet, but within five minutes, someone showed up to open the road into the dock area.

While we waited for them to finish the process of opening for the day, we wandered around the dock and the grounds, carefully following their signage to stay off the dock until we were escorted to the airboats. The Everglades is a vast wilderness area encompassing wetlands, forests, and prairies. Everglades National Park encompasses much of the swampland, but there are private owners’ properties, of which Captain Mitch is one. We also visited the park and I will feature a post with views from that tour in a future Travel Tuesday post.

Though this area of the Everglades is mostly water, there are large areas of wetlands that appear to be fields of grass. Stepping onto the grass would be a surprise as it is truly a sea. The Everglades provide a crucial habitat for numerous species of plants and animals, including alligators, crocodiles, panthers, and hundreds of bird species.

Though we visited in September, the best time to visit the Everglades is during the dry season, which runs from December to April. The weather is mild during this time, and the mosquitoes are less of a problem. However, our mid-September experience was without the annoyance of mosquitos, and the morning air temperature was in the low 80s F.

Soon, our captain escorted us to the dock. Our party of four got settled into an airboat with plenty of room for us in two rows of bench seating. We were given foam ear protectors because the large engine and propeller are noisy. If you, like me, wear hearing aids, you should bring something to carry them in so they don’t get lost. The captain navigated us through narrow channels with mangrove islands on both sides. In only a few minutes, I concluded that it would be effortless to get lost.

We didn’t get Captain Mitch, and he introduced himself. I noted his name, but since I didn’t have a way to photograph it, of course, I don’t remember it. I do remember asking some questions about navigating the swamp. As an active pilot, I’ve been interested in navigation principles for many years. I was curious how airboat captains manage to navigate these complicated channels. Our captain said he’s been with the company for three years, and prospective captains are given a navigation test prior to being hired. They must know their way through the mangroves without getting lost before carrying passengers. They have a portable emergency radio, but he never used it on our trip.

We rounded some curves at one point, and the airboat stopped near an alligator. We were introduced to a female who lives in this area. The captain noted that he usually finds her near this particular stop on the tour.

At one point, we entered a wide area of open water, but I could see that ahead, we would again be entering a narrow channel between the mangrove trees. I asked about some of the narrowest channels and if they ever close up. The captain noted that does happen on occasion. As the mangroves are protected, they cannot reopen a channel that closes naturally. They must find an alternative path through the swamp for future tours.

In addition to the alligators we saw, iconic residents include American crocodiles, Florida panthers, manatees, and hundreds of bird species, such as roseate spoonbills, egrets, and wood storks. We saw a few birds on our airboat ride, but they were too far away to get decent photos. I wasn’t to miss out, though, as there were plenty of opportunities to capture pictures of Everglade bird life in Everglades National Park.

Our captain was knowledgeable and entertaining, and we found this airboat tour a fun way to see the Everglades up close. You can choose from many airboat tour companies and many helpful online reviews to help you decide. I can tell you that we enjoyed Captain Mitch’s tour.

Here are some things to remember from their website if you are considering booking a tour with Capt. Mitch’s Everglades Private Airboat Tours:

• Reservations are recommended online at least 72 hours in advance.
• You can call to check for same-day availability if you plan your trip at the last minute.
• Wear comfortable clothing and shoes you don’t mind getting wet, as the airboat tours have a splash factor.
• Bring sunscreen and a hat, as the airboats have no shade.

For those who would like a better view of the images in this post, you can pixel-peep on my Flickr site here. The Everglades is the largest subtropical wilderness remaining in the contiguous United States. It’s a mosaic of wetlands, including sawgrass prairies, hardwood hammocks (islands of trees), cypress swamps, and mangrove forests. This diversity provides vital habitat for a massive range of species.

Miami, Florida.

I was up early on disembarkation day. We like to pack light and take our luggage off the ship, skipping the overnight pickup and the timed departure for picking up our stuff at the pier. It’s simply easier to walk off the ship with our luggage as soon as the ship clears customs and we “walk-offs” are allowed to leave.

We got ready for one more breakfast on the ship and I stepped out on the balcony. We were already docked when I awoke and around 6:30, I captured this image of the sunrise. It was still technically the blue hour as the sun hadn’t yet broken the horizon line and the long cruise ship causeway contained many ships getting ready to disgorge their passengers and accept a new cadre of guests.

About the photo: I captured the image with my Samsung S23U in pro mode, so I had a DNG file to work with. I’ve been using pro mode on this camera much more often as it is easier to extract the DNGs from the camera than in my previous Samsung. I loaded the file into Adobe Lightroom Classic to catalog it and use the geometric straightening tools. I also cropped the right edge. A cruise ship bow and our ship’s superstructure blocked my capture of the brightest area of the sky and those details didn’t add anything to the image.

From the basic adjustments, I sent it off to Luminar Neo for final processing. First on the agenda was noise reduction in the Noiseless app. Even at a high reduction setting, the left side still exhibits some noise artifacts, but Neo’s treatment removed most of the noise. An overhang from our ship blocked the upper right corner of the sky so an application of Luminar Neo’s Gen-Erase tool removed the obstruction. It did a nice job of recreating the sky in that area. A slight difference in shading could easily be attributed to that thin cloud layer just below the area I modified with one of Neo’s latest AI tools. Only a slight tweak of the Enhanced AI tool finished the image to my satisfaction and I was ready to share it here. Click on the image above to view it in 2K HD on my Flickr site if you want to pixel peep.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, and, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner

Saint Augustine, Florida.

I was shocked! Shocked, I tell you! Walking down Saint George Street in Saint Augustine, Florida, I felt the call of nature coming on. Fortunately, there are public restrooms on this busy and historic street. I stopped in the men’s room and was surprised by the image of a beautiful woman washing her hands. The artwork is stunning and I couldn’t help but get my cellphone out to capture her image. It got me wondering if there is a man on the tile in the women’s room. I never did find out. >grin<

About the photo: The painting on the tile was easily tweaked. I forwarded it directly to Luminar Neo and simply applied a small percentage of the Enhanced AI tool. I cropped it to square format and sent it back to Adobe Lightroom to be sized for WordPress and Flickr. It’s been a while since I’ve posted to Natalie’s #PPAC challenge. It is a wonderful example of public art.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, and, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner

Traveling U.S. 90 in the Florida panhandle.

In September 2023, when traveling through the eastern coast of Florida and Georgia, we opted to take U.S. 1 and U.S. 17 rather than the Interstate system. It’s a slower pace of travel and generally less traffic. When we left Georgia, we opted to travel across the Florida panhandle via U.S. 90 rather than I-10. It was along this rural highway we noticed something interesting about mailboxes in some areas along the route. The image above was captured between Monticello and Greenville.

At first, we didn’t understand why the mailbox doors were not facing the highway. For many years, I’ve seen mail carriers in rural areas drive slowly to the boxes, reach across the front seat, open the box, and put in the mail. In some areas, the postal employee even has a right-hand drive vehicle so that there is no need to reach across the front seats of the car.

If you look closely, you can see the grass on the other side of the mailboxes is disturbed by wheel tracks. In this area, the postal worker simply drives off the road and onto the area on the other side of the boxes. It completely removes the hazard of a slow or stopped vehicle on the side of the road and eliminates the need for a right-hand drive vehicle. In some areas, we noticed an actual dirt roadway for postal employees to use.

About the photo: I was in the back seat of the Suburban we were riding in and I set my Samsung S23U to Pro mode and 1/6000 sec. to be sure I didn’t get motion blur as we were traveling along the road at around 55 miles per hour. It was also hard to capture a mailbox as we went by so I had a wider angle shot that I cropped to square. Zooming in on the crop in editing, I could see that the phone added an almost artistic blur to the grass. I experimented with Luminar Neo and found that if I used the sharpness tool, the image came out better in that regard, but the truth is, I like the grass as originally interpreted by the camera’s software, so I left it alone. There was also some color noise in the image due to the high shutter speed but Neo’s noise reduction tool did a nice job of reducing it to a minimal level. To pixel-peep in 2K HD, click on the image where you can view it on my Flickr site. That artistic impression of the grass and trees is most noticeable when you click on the image again for an even closer view while on the Flickr site.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, and, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner

Cape Canaveral, Florida.

On April 11, 1970, Captain Jim Lovell, Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise, and Command Module Pilot Jack Swigert rocketed into space on Apollo 13, the 7th manned space mission in the Apollo series. The mission was to culminate in the third moon landing, however, a sequence of events on April 14 modified the mission and put the flight crew in serious danger for their lives.

A normally routine event went awry and an explosion in one of the oxygen tanks limited their oxygen supplies and NASA personnel started focusing on simply getting the crew back to earth alive. I won’t go into detail on the mission here, there are plenty of reliable sources on the Internet that can provide details. Wikipedia has the story here if you haven’t already seen the 1995 Tom Hanks movie, Apollo 13.

About the photo: In mid-September, we visited the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Among the many artifacts on display is the command module that brought the three Apollo 13 astronauts home safely. I captured the display with my Samsung S23U. After importing the image into Lightroom, I cropped it square and sent it off to Luminar Neo’s HDR module. Even though the image is a single JPEG originally, the sensor in the S23U has a wide dynamic range and Luminar Neo’s HDR module will take a single image and create a higher dynamic range image using the available data in the image file. The final processing was simple, I used the Enhance module to bring out more detail and added a modest amount of structure to add even more fine detail to the module’s exterior. If you’d like to pixel-peep at the photo, you’ll find it in 2K HD on my Flickr site by clicking on the image above.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, and, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner

Saint Augustine, Florida.

Prolog: This is the last post of my experiments with ChatGPT just to see what it could do. For my final experiment of this series, I thought it would be fun to have ChatGPT write a short story to accompany some of my photos from Saint Augustine. This post is a lot longer than my normal submission, after all, it is a “novella.”

WARNING: If you are considering experiments with ChatGPT or Bard, Google’s equivalent AI tool, please read my cautionary tale in the epilog before you begin.

Part three of my experiments in blogging with AI began when I had ChatGPT write a few short stories in the style of different genres and have been amazed at its prowess if not its accuracy. In part one, I asked for a blog post on sightseeing in Barcelona. Last week, I asked for a poem.

Here’s the initial prompt that I gave the program:

Write a novelette about the history of Saint Augustine, Florida for teens 13-18 years.
Six Characters:
Twin brothers aged 17
Siblings, brother 14, sister 17
Siblings, brother 18, sister 16
All siblings are cousins
The oldest brother drives a Volkswagen van he named “Van-tastic”
There are six chapters
The Lighthouse Museum
St George Street
Fort Matanzas
Fountain of Youth
Castillo de San Marcos
The Old Senator tree

For this larger project assignment, ChatGPT needed a couple of tries and several continuations as it stopped writing mid-paragraph, but it always restarted from where it left off when asked. I also acted as editor, asking for rewrites of a couple of chapters to include information about photos I wanted to use. For example, I captured a photo of a mother dolphin and two calves in the water on the ferry ride to Fort Matanzas. ChatGPT rewrote the chapter to include the dolphin sighting, and did it quite masterfully, I think.

When the story was done, I asked the author to provide the title of the short story. I adopted that title as the title of the blog.

Without further comment, I present to you
Echoes of History – Exploring the Treasures of Saint Augustine
Story by ChatGPT
Illustrations by PhotoByJohnbo

Chapter 1: The Lighthouse Museum

The twin brothers, Alex and Ben, along with their cousins, Jack, Katie, Emily, and Jake, were all excited to spend their summer exploring the historic city of Saint Augustine, Florida. As they rode in the back of the Volkswagen van, which they had affectionately named “Van-tastic,” they couldn’t wait to see all the sights the city had to offer.

Their first stop was the Lighthouse Museum. The group climbed the stairs to the top of the lighthouse, taking in the stunning views of the city and the Atlantic Ocean. The lighthouse keeper gave them a tour of the museum, telling them about the history of the lighthouse and the importance it had in guiding ships safely to shore.

As they left the museum, Alex and Ben couldn’t help but wonder what other historical treasures Saint Augustine had in store for them.

Chapter 2: St. George Street

The next day, the group explored St. George Street, a pedestrian-only thoroughfare lined with shops, restaurants, and historic buildings. They wandered in and out of stores, admiring the handmade crafts and souvenirs.

Katie and Emily were fascinated by the old buildings, while Jack was more interested in the food. They stopped at a restaurant and enjoyed some delicious seafood, including fresh shrimp and fish caught that day.

While strolling along the street, they came across the oldest wooden schoolhouse in the United States. Intrigued by its rich history, they stepped inside and learned about the early education system and the challenges students faced during that time. It was a fascinating glimpse into the past, adding another layer to their adventure in Saint Augustine.

After lunch, they continued exploring, coming across a street performer playing Spanish guitar. The music was enchanting, and they stopped to listen for a while.

As they walked back towards their van, they couldn’t help but feel like they had stepped back in time. They eagerly anticipated the new marvels and discoveries that awaited them in the historic city of Saint Augustine.

Chapter 3: Fort Matanzas

The next day, the teens embarked on an exciting journey to Fort Matanzas, a remarkable historic fort nestled on a small island. Constructed by the Spanish in the 18th century as a defense against potential enemy attacks, the fort stood as a testament to the city’s rich history. They hopped aboard a ferry that glided across the shimmering waters, accompanied by a gentle breeze. To their sheer delight, a pod of playful dolphins emerged, gracefully leaping and frolicking alongside the boat, adding an enchanting touch to their voyage.

Upon reaching the island, they were greeted by their enthusiastic tour guide, who led them through the fort’s intriguing past. They listened attentively as the guide recounted tales of daring battles and the fort’s strategic significance in defending Saint Augustine.

The group explored the nooks and crannies of the fort, climbing up the watchtower to take in breathtaking views of the surrounding landscape. They imagined what life was like for the soldiers who once stood guard within these very walls.

After the tour, they couldn’t resist taking a leisurely stroll along the pristine sandy beach nearby, collecting seashells and relishing the salty ocean breeze. The sight of the dolphins and the fort’s historical richness made their visit to Fort Matanzas an unforgettable experience.

Chapter 4: Fountain of Youth

The next day, the group eagerly ventured into the legendary Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. The park was steeped in history, with tales of the mystical spring said to grant eternal youth to those who drank from its waters. Alex and Ben tried the water from the Fountain of Youth, hoping to gain eternal youthfulness. While they didn’t feel any different, they had a fun time trying it out.

As they explored the park, they immersed themselves in the captivating ambiance of the Timucuan Village, gaining insights into the vibrant culture and traditions of the native Timucuan people who inhabited the region long ago. They marveled at the Spanish Watchtower, standing tall and proud, and admired the Discovery Globe, tracing the intrepid paths of renowned explorers like Christopher Columbus and Juan Ponce de León.

The highlight of their visit came when they gathered near the fort’s courtyard, where a skilled reenactor demonstrated the use of historic weapons. The reverberating boom of a cannon firing echoed through the air, eliciting a mixture of excitement and awe from the group. They watched in amazement as the reenactors showcased crossbows, swords, and other period weaponry, skillfully illustrating the challenges faced by soldiers of yesteryear.

Enthralled by the demonstration, the group couldn’t help but feel a deep appreciation for the sacrifices and bravery displayed by those who came before them. It was an unforgettable experience that brought history to life in a dynamic and tangible way.

Chapter 5: Castillo de San Marcos

The next day, the group visited the Castillo de San Marcos, a massive Spanish fort built in the 17th century. The fort was designed to withstand enemy attacks and was an important part of Saint Augustine’s defenses.

As they toured the fort, they saw the thick walls and towers, the barracks, and the many cannons. They learned about the history of the fort and the battles that took place there.

At the end of the tour, they watched a cannon firing demonstration, which was a highlight of their visit. The loud noise and smoke from the cannon were exhilarating, and they felt like they had traveled back in time.

Chapter 6: The Old Senator Tree

On their final day in Saint Augustine, the group visited the Old Senator Tree, a massive live oak tree estimated to be over 600 years old. The tree is named to honor a Florida senator who helped save it from being cut down in the 1920s.

The group marveled at the size and beauty of the tree, taking plenty of photos and even climbing on the branches. They felt a sense of awe and respect for the tree and the history it represented.

As they left the Old Senator Tree, the group couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia for the city they had grown to love over the past week. They piled into Van-tastic and drove down the streets they had come to know so well.

Alex and Ben reminisced about the forts and museums, while Jack and Emily chatted about the delicious food they had eaten. Katie and Jake were quiet, lost in thought as they took in the beauty of the city one last time.

As they drove out of Saint Augustine, they knew that they had experienced something special. They had learned about the rich history of the city and had created memories that would last a lifetime. They would always remember their summer adventure in Saint Augustine, Florida.

The End.

I asked ChatGPT to provide additional information about each of the places visited after the short story was finished. I found a couple of factual errors marked with an editor’s note.

Here is that appendix.

Chapter 1: The Lighthouse Museum

The Lighthouse Museum is located on Anastasia Island, just south of St. Augustine. The lighthouse is 165 feet tall and was built in 1874. The museum features exhibits on the history of the lighthouse, including its keepers and their families. Visitors can climb to the top of the lighthouse and enjoy a panoramic view of the surrounding area.

Chapter 2: St. George Street

St. George Street is a pedestrian-only street in the heart of the historic district of St. Augustine. It is lined with unique shops, restaurants, and historic buildings. Visitors can explore the area on foot or by taking a horse-drawn carriage tour. The street performers include musicians, magicians, and street artists who add to the vibrant atmosphere.

Chapter 3: Fort Matanzas

Fort Matanzas is located on Rattlesnake Island, which can only be accessed by taking a free ferry ride. The fort was built in 1740 by the Spanish to protect St. Augustine from enemy attacks. The site includes a visitor center, nature trail, and picnic area. Visitors can explore the fort’s gun deck, barracks, and kitchen. (ed. The National Park Service website notes the fort was completed in 1742. It could be that the reference to 1740 was the year construction started.)

Chapter 4: Fountain of Youth

The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park is a 15-acre park that includes a spring that was believed by the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon to have healing powers. The park features gardens, a planetarium, a Timucuan village, and a reconstructed Spanish lookout tower. Visitors can drink from the fountain and learn about the park’s history.

Chapter 5: Castillo de San Marcos

Castillo de San Marcos is a fort built by the Spanish in the late 1600s. It is located on the shore of Matanzas Bay and is the oldest masonry fort in the United States. The fort has served as a military outpost and prison throughout its history. Visitors can explore the fort’s gun decks, bastions, and dungeons.

Chapter 6: The Old Senator Tree

The Old Senator tree is located in the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. It is a live oak tree that is estimated to be over 600 years old. The tree is 67 feet tall and has a circumference of 25 feet. It has survived numerous hurricanes and has been a symbol of strength and resilience for the people of St. Augustine. Visitors can take a guided tour of the tree and learn about its history. (ed. The tree is not located in the Fountain of Youth Park. It is in the courtyard of Villa 1565, a nearby hotel on San Marco Avenue.)

For those who like to pixel peep, 2K HD versions of the images in this post can be found in my Flickr album here.

My cautionary tale: I started with my experiments by using ChatGPT for research. When I started reading about inaccurate query results with ChatGPT, I saw a story about Bard, Google’s AI tool. It didn’t take me long to discover that, even though it’s powered by the company that makes the Google Search Engine, the Bard AI tool doesn’t appear to be any more accurate than ChatGPT. Near the cruise port in Saint John New Brunswick, Canada, a Celtic Cross memorializes the over 2000 immigrants who died during a typhus epidemic in 1847. The memorial also references Dr. James Patrick Collins, a young physician who caught the disease and died as a young man as he tried to treat the sick.

I didn’t remember the name of the Doctor on the memorial, so I asked Bard. The program got it wrong, saying it was Dr. James Barry, a pioneering female surgeon who was born in Ireland and served in the British Army. I noted the association with the female reference and the name James and leaving Bard, I found using more conventional web searching, Dr. James Barry was indeed a female who hid her gender for over 50 years. Born at a time when females couldn’t become doctors, she lived her life as a man and died in 1865 in Scotland.

This was all very interesting information, but it wasn’t Dr. James Barry being honored on the monument, it was Dr. James Patrick Collins, also born in Ireland. I didn’t notice the discrepancy until after I’d done a bunch of fascinating reading about Dr. Barry. I started writing about the surgeon in my post and even cited the reference I found. My further interest in Dr. Barry led me to read on. In that bio, I found no references to Saint John or even Canada. Dr. Barry spent much of her life in Africa. I ended up backtracking and rewriting the information about that Celtic Cross. The finished article on Saint John NB is scheduled to be published in August.

At this point, in my opinion, neither AI tool is ready for prime time as a research tool. My experiment is over and ChatGPT gets an A for creative writing, but an F for accuracy. Use it at your own risk. I’m not even going to explore Bard any further, at least not anytime soon.

John Steiner

Saint Augustine, Florida.

I featured a Cellpic Sunday photo of the Saint Augustine Lighthouse circular staircase in a February 2022 post here. That post will give you a lot of detail about the lighthouse and its reason for construction. I won’t duplicate that information here. In a future Travel Tuesday post, I’ll feature the entire lighthouse museum and its various buildings and exhibits. We found the museum so interesting, we visited it three times in the month we stayed at Saint Augustine. In the meantime, this Cellpic Sunday image is all for fun.

About the photo: The lighthouse compound has a brick fence around much of the grounds. As we were leaving the compound, I spotted a convex mirror mounted low to the ground and angled up. It only took me a moment to realize that its only purpose is to aid in the creation of selfie images. As you can see by the image, the mirror is mounted to make it easy to get a photo of anyone standing in front of the lighthouse.

Processing for this image was pretty easy. I used the crop function in Lightroom to make it a square image, then I shipped it off to Luminar Neo for the usual basic enhancements. By the way, the dark areas in the sky are darker clouds. While I was processing, I first thought they were smudges on the mirror. It was an overcast day at the time of this visit.

As we are in the last few days of our cruise to Barcelona, my Internet access is limited. Feel free to link and comment with your own Cellpic Sunday posts. I will be catching up on connecting with your posts when we return to North Dakota later this week.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, and, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner

Saint Augustine, Florida.

As we rode the trolley train into the parking lot at the Villa 1565 hotel in Saint Augustine, the tour guide/driver pointed out a large live oak tree in the center of the property. As we drove around the tree, we were told the tree is named The Old Senator and core tests have indicated that its age is 600+ years old. It is one of the largest trees in the area and the sign by the tree notes the tree was a silent witness to Juan Ponce de Leon’s discovery of the Fountain of Youth just a short distance from here.

The year was 1513 and Ponce de Leon, then governor of Puerto Rico led an expedition in search of gold and the mythical fountain of youth rumored then to be on the island of Bimini. He landed on the mainland coast of North America near what is now Saint Augustine. Though he never found that fabled fountain, he did discover the Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current that would be used to return Spanish ships to Spain more quickly.

There is some controversy as to the age of the tree, core sample notwithstanding. An article online at staugustine.com, mentions that Spanish authorities forbade the planting of large trees within 1,500 yards north of the Castillo de San Marcos. This was done to avoid giving cover to an enemy approaching the fort from the north. If the age of the tree is correct, it would not have been planted then but would have already been there, much smaller than it is today. It could have been cut down by the soldiers, but at that time, it was likely small enough to not be considered a threat to observers at the fort. Whether or not the age of the tree is accurate, it is worth a stop to visit one of the oldest and largest trees in the area.

About the photo: I captured the image with my Samsung S20U on a beautiful day in Saint Augustine. After cropping and straightening in Adobe Lightroom, I exported it to Luminar Neo, applied noise reduction, and applied just a touch of Enhance AI. That’s about it for adjustments.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, and, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner

Saint Augustine Florida.

Our first visit to Saint Augustine, Florida, allowed me to enjoy many new venues for exciting photos. This year we are spending almost the entire month of January in a rented condo, so the image above features a view of the Saint Augustine Fish Camp Restaurant and the boat Lady Helen docked in the San Sebastian River right next to the restaurant.

My sister from Albuquerque came for a visit and during her stay, she connected with a couple of friends of hers from New Mexico that have since moved to Saint Augustine. They recommended a meeting at the restaurant and made a reservation. My sister’s friends knew that a reservation would be required, and they were right. The place was busy on a Saturday at noon. We learned why. Their seafood is spectacular. I enjoyed my first taste of gator tail as an appetizer, and my main course was grilled cod, fabulous fried baby potatoes, and zucchini. We will be visiting the restaurant, which is quite near the old city center, again.

About the photo: We went out the back door after we finished eating so we could get a better look at the river scenery. I was pleasantly surprised to see the boat Lady Helen docked there. I captured the scene using two photographs to be sure that I got all of the restaurant and the boat. I used Lightroom to merge the two images into a single panorama and then cropped out the parking lot on the left and other extraneous buildings on the right.

I sent the image to Luminar Neo, applied noise reduction, and did some final tweaking before exporting it for final display here and on my Flickr site. If you click on the image, you can view it in 2K HD there.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, and, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner