A&E briefs for September

Local boutiques start new event downtown

By Colby Eaton | gargoyle@flagler.edu

The boutiques of downtown St. Augustine are coming together to create a new event, Boutique Night, which will offer  discounts, refreshments and great shopping, starting Oct. 20.

Boutique Night will feature local boutiques including event creator, Anchor Boutique, as well as Fendi Boutique, Little Gypsy Boutique, Willow Boutique, Down the Rabbit Hole, Declaration Boutique, and the Closet.

“I think it’s really important for local business owners to work together,” Laural Baker, owner of Anchor Boutique, said. “Working together will bring about more awareness to the importance and reward of shopping local, not to mention, exposure to a wider customer base for all.”

Anchor Boutique features handcrafted jewelry designed by Baker, as well as vintage finds.

Each participating boutique, during Boutique Night, will keeps its doors open from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. every third Thursday and will offer drinks, discounts, music and, of course, great clothing.

“By having a boutique night, it helps to showcase all the great clothing you can find right in your backyard instead of having to drive up to Jacksonville or the outlet mall,” Little Gypsy Boutique owner Nicolle Quinones said. “Plus, it’s also a great opportunity to bring the community together, partake in a few drinks–if you’re legal–and have some fun!”

Little Gypsy Boutique recently opened a few months ago and offers unique vintage clothing collected by Quinones during her travels around the country and the world.

Owner of Down the Rabbit Hole, Monica Lopez, is very optimistic about this event as well. Lopez said she wants her customers to come out, feel relaxed and have a good time shopping around. She said she hopes the ladies of St. Augustine will look forward to Boutique Night as their night out away from the hustle and bustle of their lives.

Down the Rabbit Hole offers vintage clothing that Lopez describes as “funky-artsy” and  mixes “new with the old.”

Not only will beverages and snacks be offered to the customers, but also every shopper’s favorite word: “discounts.” All the boutiques will offer their own individual discounts during Boutique Night. Anchor Boutique and Down the Rabbit Hole will be offering 20 percent off and Little Gypsy Boutique is offering 15 percent on all items in the store. For more information, updates, and special discounts, visit the Boutique Night Facebook event page.

LAMP Boatworks works to educate St. Augustine

By Jaime Greco | gargoyle@flagler.edu

The St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum is hosting a project by Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP) Boatworks, where LAMP has spent the last four years, “capturing and keeping alive the traditional artistry of wood boatbuilding,” said Dr. Samuel Turner, 48, director of archaeology and founder of LAMP Boatworks in 2007.

Located on the premises of the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum, the volunteer-based program is currently working on a replica of a British Yawl, dating to the 1760s and a Chaisson Tender sailing skiff.

A “Susan” dory has been finished for the 2011 Boatworks drawing. Its “pattern is typified as a light, easy to row vessel with traditional lines and portability in mind,” according to the boat’s particulars. Drawing tickets are a $5 donation per chance or $20 for five chances. Those who enter the drawing could win the handcrafted wooden boat and help in the production and research of future projects at LAMP Boatworks.

The British Yawl is a ship’s boat. Yawls were used for transporting supplies to ships from shore, as workboats and lifeboats, and for towing. The Yawl is being built from St. Augustine-grown live oak, a very durable, rot-resistant wood.

LAMP Boatworks is building this boat in partnership with Astilleros Nereo, a traditional shipyard in Spain. Astilleros Nereo is building a replica of the Galveztown, a Revolutionary War era ship, in which a Yawl would have been the ship’s boat.

LAMP Boatworks sent live oak logs that were killed during a hurricane in Texas to Spain to support in the building of the Galveztown replica. Once completed, the replica will make its way to St. Augustine, Fla.  for a port call.

The program is a, “vehicle for civilian diplomacy” said Turner. He said the function of LAMP is to help educate the people of the St. Augustine community and its visitors about the role Spain played in America’s independence. Donations can be made at the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum. Drawing tickets to win the “Susan” are still available in the Lighthouse gift shop.