UPDATE: St. Augustine's Ryan Brennan treks 70 miles to raise awareness of the city's Menorcan culture

Update: Ryan Brennan's 70-mile trek is a huge success.

Earlier this year, we introduced you to St. Augustine's Ryan Brennan as he prepared to trek 70 miles to raise awareness and funds for Ximenez-Fatio House by spotlighting the Menorcan asylum exodus from New Smyrna, Georgia, into America's oldest city.

Update: The trek was a huge success! Brennan raised over $6,000 and will continue to campaign until the release of a mini-documentary designed to "bring the folks at home along for the hike."

“Other than a little rain no complaints,” he told the St. Augustine Record. "I hiked 20.5 miles on Day One; 17 miles on Day Two; 13 miles on Day Three; and 17.5 on the fourth and final day."

Brennan was greeted by his colleagues from the Ximenez-Fatio House along with family, friends and donors at the Bridge of Lions who joined him during the final steps to the museum where everyone enjoyed live music, refreshments and of course, Menorcan Clam Chowder.

“Overall, it was an excellent experience,” he said. “Not only did we raise money for historic preservation, we embraced the museum’s Minorcan heritage.”

Here is the original story:

St. Augustine’s Menorcan culture is one thread of many woven within the ancient city’s historical tapestry. While today the Menorcan culture is proudly relished, the journey of its descendants into America’s oldest city is one of heartbreak and courage.

Historical records show that Dr. Andrew Turnbull, a New World colonist, brought the Menorcans to America from Menorca, a Balaeric Island located in the western Mediterranean Sea, in 1768. Those recruited — mostly poor people — had agreed to work as indentured servants on Turnbull’s indigo plantation, harvesting the plant used as a coloring dye, which was at the time a lucrative cash crop. Florida’s then governor, James Grant, had awarded the Scottish physician 60,000 acres 70 miles south of St. Augustine.

Turnbull’s contract promised laborers a piece of land as their own upon completion of their nine years of servitude. The agreement also promised workers lodging, food and the ability to harvest their own garden plots during their years of labor.

According to St. Augustine’s Menorcan Cultural Society website, over 1,400 Menorcan, Greek, Italian, Corsican and French peoples, the largest single group of European settlers, migrated to Turnbull’s plantation in New Smyrna.

History describes the voyage as treacherous. Almost 200 settlers never set foot in America.

Life in the new world fared no better. The labor — seven days a week with no time to rest or work on their own garden plots — was arduous and the treatment brutal. Many died from abuse, disease and malnutrition. At the end of nine years of mistreatment and neglected contracts, three men, Francisco Pellicer, Antonio Llambias and Juan Geonoply, journeyed to St. Augustine by way of Old King’s Road seeking asylum from the city’s British governor Patrick Tonyn.

Asylum granted, the remaining colony members — less than half of the original group — walked to St. Augustine to live within the city’s walls in 1777. Welcomed to the Northwest corner — historical drawings show Charlotte Street — the Menorcans settled to become to this day, a vital component of the city’s culture, commerce and history.

St. Augustine’s Ryan Brennan will spotlight the journey traveled by these brave souls through his Hiking Through History: Retracing the Menorcan Odyssey, a four-day journey that will retrace the Menorcan’s road to freedom, via a coastline route, to raise awareness and funds for the city’s Ximenez-Fatio House Museum.

Touting a bachelor of arts degree in public history, the Flagler College graduate and Ximenez-Fatio House Museum employee is determined to help preserve the Ximenez-Fatio House Museum built for the daughter of Francisco Pellicer, one of a delegation of three sent to seek asylum in the ancient city. Noted as one of St. Augustine’s 31 remaining coquina structures, proceeds will help to preserve its coquina walls and tabby floors.

This isn't the first trek for Brennan. It is born and bred out of his love for all things history. Last year's “smashing success” garnered so much attention, the avid hiker wasted no time in partnering with the Ximenez-Fatio House Museum for trek number two scheduled for March — the month designated as Menorcan Heritage Month.

According to Brennan, his fascination for Menorcan history began with eating a Datil Pepper with Guatemalan students who “were eating it like candy.” Munching the orange delicacy turned the student’s face red and made his body drip with sweat.

“I spent the next 30 minutes with my head under the sink,” he said. “After my taste buds were extinguished, I was told I had just eaten a Datil pepper, and that it was a staple in Menorcan culture.”

Inspired to learn more, Brennan read books, spoke to historians, studied maps, visited museums and discovered that the Menorcans were part of the “backbone” of St. Augustine.

“They were fisherman, boat builders, lighthouse keepers, carpenters, writers, historians, even mayors,” he said. “When England gave Florida back to Spain in 1784 and when Florida became a United States territory in 1821, people moved away but two things always remained, coquina and Minorcans!”

The trek germinated from the idea to underscore the beauty of St. Augustine’s historical architecture along with the Menorcan culture and, of course, the odyssey of its people.

“Our historic buildings define our town,” he continued. “Without physical locations, history is just stories and memories which can easily be forgotten or misinterpreted over time. When you visit a 226-year-old building like the Ximenez-Fatio House, stories become real.”

Brennan’s training consists of 10– to 15-mile hikes donning a weighted backpack. Walking is fine as long as he ignores the blisters, a fact he defines as firsthand experience that makes you appreciate the resilience of the Menorcans.

Brennan stops along the way for subs and camps in various RV parks in the evening while trekking the Florida coastline. He also welcomes camaraderie.

“When you’re walking eight hours a day alone, finding people to talk to is a huge relief,” he said. “Last year, people were really excited about the trek."

This year’s trek begins on March 20 at the New Smyrna Beach Museum and ends with a finish line celebration on March 23, at the Ximenez-Fatio House Museum.

“The party will feature live music, drinks, food, history and, of course, Datil peppers,” he said.

Brennan is encouraging everyone to trek the journey.

“Experiencing history has a much bigger impact than reading about it, and you get to enjoy our beautiful Florida coastline in the process,” he concluded.

Click here for more details on Brennan’s journey.