What was old is new again-or-nothing new under the sun

Our Baby Steps Camino™️ is growing…up! Originally conceived as a new local taste of pilgrimage close to home, we have come to learn that our 30 mile beach walk is not so new or original. It is but a small segment of a network of pilgrim routes dating back over four centuries. Pilgrim paths from all over Florida and beyond converge on St. Augustine, Florida; from this embarkation point, next stop was Spain.

In our reawakening to our Spanish Catholic heritage, we have celebrated the 450th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine in 2015, then the Papal Canonical Coronation of Our Lady of La Leche in 2021. On July 25, 2023, another landmark was observed, as the Cathedral de Santiago, and the Camino de Santiago International Tourist Office formally recognized the Cathedral of St. Augustine, Our Lady of La Leche National Shrine at Mission Nombre de Dios, and our Baby Steps Camino™️, as officially part of the Camino de Santiago, under the title of “Camino De La Unidad.” New pilgrim credentials have been created for these sites, and walking the Baby Steps Camino™️ will now count toward the requisite miles walked in Spain to obtain the celebrated pilgrim Compostela. Even if you don’t go to Spain, you will receive our official pilgrim stamps in your official passport, and will be presented a Compostela memorializing completion of our Camino.

Be that all as it may, official or not, our Baby Steps Camino™️ pilgrimage is still your personal passage to solace and sanctity, fidelity and fellowship, in the present day, right here on the age-old footpaths trod by our forbears in the Faith. Come walk with them.