St. Augustine, FL

Friday, 12/18/15 - A long travel day to St. Augustine, FL (about 279 miles).  About 1/2 hour out, we blew a left rear tire on the Jeep on the freeway.  We pulled into the beginning of an offramp with extra room, and Tom changed the tire on the freeway.  It looked like we must have hit something, as it blew a 2" round hole in the sidewall of the tire.  Then we had to find a tire shop and buy a new tire.  That little incident cost us 1 1/2 hours, and put us into our next campground at dark, around 6:13 (just 12 minutes before closing).

Saturday, 12/19/15 - Tom and I headed into St. Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied city in the U.S.

Entering St Augustine over the Lions Bridge

 It was founded in 1564, 43 years before Jamestown, and 56 years before the pilgrims sailed on the Mayflower and landed in Plymouth.  Of course, "In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue", but the fact is he never landed in what is now the U.S.--he landed in San Salvador in the Bahamas.  The residents of St. Augustine are very protective of their "oldest city" title.

We headed to Ripley's Believe or Not where we boarded the Little Red Train for a tour of the city.  First stop were the city gates.  Here they are.

Gate opened in 1739

City Gate Pillars

The pillars that remain were the supports for the drawbridge that was the single entrance to the city.  Beside the pillars, a wall of logs standing end to end surrounded the town and strectched to the fort.  Outside the pillars ran a moat that stretched from the Castillo (fort) westward to the San Sebastian River.  Each night the guards closed the gates which were not opened again until the following morning.

Gate with log wall to Fort in background

Wood wall extended to the Fort

It turns out that this city was on the route from South America, up through the Caribbean Islands and the Florida Coast, then across the Atlantic to the Old World.  When gold and silver and precious gems and spices were discovered in South America, the route to and from the Old World became a hotbed of pirates.  Also, the British wanted St. Augustine and the surrounding lands for themselves, so they continuously attacked St. Augustine in efforts to take it away from the Spanish.  The Brits burned the city and the forts down twice over a period of 150  years until the founding settlers and the Spanish military decided to put up a stone fort to protect the city.  The walls are built of coquina (shells compacted over time  by the earth and compressed into hard ground (similar to granite).

Coquina blocks for a wall

coquina in the wall

The coquina came from the quarries at Anastasia island  (where our campground is located), just outside St Augustine.  It worked.  Over many battles both by the English and the French, this territory remained Spanish and the walls were never breached.  A cannon ball could only dent it, and during the night the defenders would patch it and repaint it white so that the invaders would see that there was no damage.  Spain finally gave up the Florida territory to the independent American colonies on July 10, 1821  by treaty.





We crossed the street and walked through the fort--Castillo De San Marcos (the castle of San Marcos).

The fort is the most imposing structure in St. Augustine.

panorama shot of the Fort - Notice the cannons on the wall

 Here is the inside drawbridge.

inside drawbridge

 Inside we saw the guard quarters and a Spanish medical man showing the tools of the trade.

Guard quarters

Spanish Medic and his tools

Across the bay we watched a pirate ship coming in.

pirate ship

After the fort, we re-boarded the red train for more of the town.  Pretty soon, we came across the most beautiful church - the Presbyterian Church built by Henry Flagler in honor of his deceased daughter.

Flagler church

Another side of the Flagler Presbyterian Church

Inside the Flagler Church

Flagler came to St. Augustine in the early 1800's and fell in love with the city.  He brought his great wealth to Florida (he made it in the oil boom times--Standard Oil).   He built churches, hotels, and a railroad that eventually ran all the way to Key West (now replaced by Highways).    Here is his first hotel, the Ponce De Leon Hotel - now a college; and his second hotel, the Alcazar Hotel - now City Hall and a museum.

Ponce De Leon Hotel-
now a college

Alcazar Hotel-
now City Hall and museum

Back on the train to see more.  We almost ran out of time, as the train stops running at 3:00.  We had to get off and take a shuttle back to our car.  We will come back tomorrow to see more.  I really love this quaint city.


Sunday, 12/20/15 -Tom and I are back to St. Augustine, this time for shopping and good food.  We parked the car and walked about 3 blocks to the City Gates and through to St. George street, a walking street with lots of shops of good, and restaurants and taverns.  Bought a couple of items and had a great hamburger.  We walked for quite a long time, and I ran out of gas.  My back was done, so we had to head back to the car. Drove to the Old Jail , and the Fountain of Youth (the purpose of the voyage of Ponce De Leon in 1513), but both were tourist traps, and nothing but junk stores.  I caught a picture of an old cannon outside that I liked.

old cannon

That is all for St. Augustine.  Back to the RV.

Monday, 12/21/15 - A catch up day.  I needed a day to gather documents for the purpose of buying the new house.  I also needed to catch up this blog.  Tom and Mom went to the lab and had Mom's lab work done.  Mom is doing very well, and her labs are coming in very well.  Then Tom ran errands to the hardware store.  Tonight, of course, we will watch "Miracle on 34th Street".