Lunar show a thriller at lighthouse

Jennifer Edwards - 

Once a month, St. Augustine Lighthouse volunteers lead more than two dozen people to the 219-stair tower so they can drink champagne and watch the full moon rise.

But Saturday night was the first time the volunteers ever got to treat their audience to the 'Supermoon' -- an extra-large version of that celestial body.

That night, at 7:51 p.m., the moon rose and was the brightest it will be all year and the closest it's been to the earth in 18 years.

It glowed like the Great Pumpkin -- huge, orange and rising quickly from the froth of the ocean -- amid cries of "There it is!" and "It's so orange."

Volunteer Barbara Hamel said Saturday's tour had the longest waiting list of any recent tours. At least 25 people were on the list that couldn't be accomodated, she said.

Usually, volunteers can squeeze them in.

Hamel thinks that's partly because it was a Saturday tour, and partly because of the Supermoon.

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