St. Augustine





After leaving GA, we drove ourselves into FL to St. Augustine (that's Aug-astine for you northerners) then off the mainland to Anastasia Island.  We eventually found the Elks Club, got ourselves situated, and spent a relaxing afternoon chatting with our new neighbors and getting some touring advice.  Our nearest neighbor had bought a three day trolly ticket, used two days and called it quits.  They passed their unused ticket on to us.  The ticket entitled us to free parking while on the trolly, stops at all the hot tourist spots, and the ability to jump off, explore at will and get back on the next convenient trolly.  Good Deal!  The next day we took the bike to Ripley's Believe It or Not! to park and start our tour (since that's where the neighbor bought this particular ticket.)  This Ripley's is one of the historic buildings in St. A and the site of the original Ripley's museum.  The museum was started as a place for Ripley to display his collection of stuff.  We didn't tour the inside but walked around the parking lot while we waited for the trolley.  We walked through a redwood log that had been made into a little house,

 

 

admired this horse sculpture

 and viewed this19 foot copy of DaVinci's David.  The statue is an exact copy of the original and made from marble from the same quarry as the original, believe it or not!

 When the trolly arrived, we dicided to ride the entire route before we decided what stops we wished to explore.  We found that (like the historic town of Tombstone, AZ) almost everything worth seeing in St. A required a separate fee.  On the tour we also learned that John Flagler and Nelson Rockefeller were partners in a railroad.  Flagler decided to extend the railroad from the east coast down to the FL Keys as far as Key West to entice visitors there (via the rr of course.)  Since there was nothing there Flagler built rr stations and hotels with distinctive red roofs so they could be easily located.  This is the original Flagler Hotel and the first plaster building in St. A.  Since there was nothing else to entertain people, Flagler invented the first resort hotel by adding swimming pool, game room, spa, etc.  The hotel was only open three months each year and patrons had to pay for the entire three months no matter if they stayed only one night.  Rich people kept the place filled, of course.  The hotel is now part of Flagler University.  It takes up an entire city block and its red roofs are easily seen from any high place within several miles.

After riding the entire trolly route we decided on a few must see's then picked up the bike for a ride to Carmelo's for pizza (on the recommendation of someone at the Elks.)  After some very satisfactory pizza we reparked at Ripley's and walked down the street to the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.  This fort was for many years the northernmost outpost of Spain's New World empire.  It is the oldest masonry fort and best-preserved example of a Spanish colonial fortification in the continental United States.  It anchored East Florida's defenses, which extended northward to the St. Marys River, westward to the St. Johns, and southward to Fort Matanzas.  It protected St. Augustine from pirate raids and from Spain's major rival, Great Britain, during a time when the FL-GA-Carolina coastline was an explosive international battleground.  Our National Parks Pass got us in free and I remembered to take my passport for stamping.

 

Only entrance to the fort interior.

Re enactor in Colonial Spanish uniform.

The room everybody wants to know about but most historical places ignore.

 

Interior of the square fort.

Some history about the founding of the fort and town.

 

 

View from the top

Lots of cannon

View of the town.

The flag is the colonial Spanish flag.

One of these on each corner. (yes, that is Louise.)  If it looks kinda small it's because it it.  We were told that the average Spanish man at that time was about 4'9" tall.

Carriage rides are an alternative to the trolly.  This one is for my "pink" girls.

After touring the fort we took a walk to St. George Street to peruse the shops.  Of course our first stop was the H-D boutique.

I wanted to check out the local tea and spice shop.

View of St. George St.  They have several colonial buildings set to open in 2013 so we may arrange a return visit.

Oxymoron

Old schoolhouse, one of the oldest wooden structures in the city.

The city gates, erected after the entire town was walled.

Original cemetery

First 'strip mall'--a corner with the general store, jail, and Gator Bob's trading post.

Carousel.  We learned that Carousels go counter-clockwise and only have horses and benches.  Merry-go-rounds have circus animals and go clockwise.

Original building of the Historical School for the Deaf and Blind.  The campus now boasts 48 buildings.  Ray Charles was one distinguished alumna.

Our last stop of a long day.  We arrived too late for the free tour, but just in time for the tasting.  After a small discussion we selected a red and a white to stash in our saddlebags.

Carmelo's good NY style pizza

Another Flagler building, now a museum, across the street from the College.

We exited the city via the Lion's Bridge, one of four that connect the mainland to Anastasia Island.

Back home we put away all our stuff, put the wine in the fridge to chill and walked up to the Lodge for pasta supper and another chat with our neighbors.  After dinner we walked home to chill out, relax and rest up for the next day's tour.

Enough for now,

Louise and Duane