WARMER DAYS... on to Florida (Part 156g)

WARMER DAYS… on to Florida (Part 156g)

The parking lot was across the street. That seemed new to me but I’d never driven there so wasn’t sure. At the entrance the sign read “Tours: 10am & 2pm.” We were definitely too late for that but went in anyway. The attendant repeated what we’d read on the sign but said if we wanted to do it by ourselves she had a brochure that would self direct us. I’d been there enough times to remember a lot so paid the fee and we went on in.  As we walked away she called out to remind us we had to be out of the place by 4:45pm… and that there were no rest room facilities on the grounds and pointed to a building adjacent to the parking lot across the street.

Neither of us had given any thought to that although it had been about three hours since Elle had last gone. I looked at her to ask if she wanted to go but she said she thought she’d be OK. She mentioned that she’d not had but some orange juice at breakfast and a half glass of water with her ice cream cone. It was her call so we headed off to the lower part where the dungeon, gunpowder storage area and sleeping quarters for the men who manned the fort were located. We didn’t waste much time as I wanted to make sure we made our way to the top before time ran out on us. Upon reaching the next level we saw the 2pm tour finishing up and headed down the steps. The guide called out a reminder that we had be out of the place by 4:45pm. I also remember him calling out that we were the last people and no one else was on the top level.

In my past experiences at the fort I never paid much attention to the beautiful view from the top level. As I matured and became a home owner I began to appreciate nature’s beauty. The view from the top level of the fort was fantastic, especially when looking towards the ocean. I was enjoying the view from the top step of the stairs when I saw Elle do a bit of a curtsy and put her knees together. The move was accompanied by a by a bit of a cry. I knew immediately what was about to happen. When Elle would feel the first ’spurt’ she knew she had somewhere around 30 seconds to find a toilet. From where we were it would’ve taken close to five minutes… jogging… to have made it to the parking lot! We both knew she was in trouble.

From our location I could see the bell tower that I so loved. Even knowing that we were supposedly the only people on the top level I wanted Elle to have some protection from the eyes of anyone that might still be around. I grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the opening into the tower. She protested saying she was leaking as we quickly moved towards the tower. Arriving at the entrance I told her to get inside and to at least pull the hem of her dress up. She started to protest at which point I told her to squat down. She did and pulled her dress up to her waist. I distinctly remember looking over both my shoulders just to make sure no one was there. Satisfied, I turned my attention to Elle’s pantied crotch. Seeing her pee flowing freely from it I found myself with an instant bulge. She didn't pee for long but it was long enough for me to wish I had a camera. The puddle underneath her had run off immediately and followed some ridges in the stones that made up the floor and then over to the wall facing the water. Once there it puddled again. Elle, still squatting, asked for my handkerchief. Back in those days I had an ongoing sinus condition and always carried a handkerchief. I handed it to her and watched as she tried to wipe the pee from her her inner thighs and calfs. It was obvious that she’d started to pee before reaching the tower.
                     

When she arose she had me inspect the back other dress. There were a few damp spots but with the flowered design of the material one would’ve had to have been looking for it to have seen it. I told her she’d be fine but she wasn’t buying it… at first. I worked hard to convince her that no one would be looking to see if she’d wet herself and she finally agreed. We had about 15 to 20 minutes left and I proceeded to show her how I’d been the lookout and had rung the bell. The rope for it was no longer there which disappointed me. I boosted her up on the stone step to get the view that the lookout had when keeping watch but she didn’t appreciate it as I had. I remember her commenting that the tower “stunk”. I hadn’t noticed but when I ducked back in I could definitely smell it. (It took me a while to figure that out… with no toilet facilities inside the fort people, who’d been ‘caught short’, like Elle, used it as a urinal)

Earlier, I mentioned ruing the fact that I didn’t have a camera to record Elle peeing herself in a public place. With that behind me I was a bit upset for not having it to record our visit. Right from the time I knew we’d be coming to Florida (and without the kids) I’d envisioned getting many ‘private’ pictures. The only way Elle would allow them was with the Polaroid camera so they would be developed right away. One problem with that was it and the case took up a lot of space. Since I knew we’d be limited as far as baggage I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull it off. BUT… Elle, after talking with my mother, insisted that we were going to play tennis. I thought I put that idea to rest when told her there was no way we could pack out racquets. My mother did me in when she said we could rent them. That meant we only our tennis shoes. I’d bought a small carry case for my basketball sneakers, clothes and a towel when I was playing basketball and when I got it out of the closet I immediately thought the camera might fit in the very bottom of it. It did and the shoes, with a bit of effort, fit also. With all that had been going on since our arrival I’d forgotten about the camera. As we exited the facility I wondered if my mother still had her little Kodak Brownie camera. I knew we’d be going past St. Augustine on another day when we went to Marineland and thought I might try to stop back at the fort to get some pictures to document our visit. It was worth a try.


To be continued...