St. Augustine, FL

St. Augustine is a beautiful place filled with some of the earliest history of our country, Christopher Columbus set sail for the new world in 1492, under his employ on that voyage was a man named
Juan Ponce De Leon, he returned years later on his own voyage in 1513 and landed in St. Augustine, he was looking for gold and a rumored fountain of youth, he named the land La Florida. in 1565 a man named Pedro Menendez De Aviles came to found the land for the crown and secure their hold on it, he was the first Governor and named the area San Augustin, the area has gone through centuries of change and different forms of change. it has had numerous well known pirates such as Francis Drake, Robert Searle and even Blackbeard. it is the birthplace of Catholicism for this nation, being brought by the Spanish in 1513, it has been the birthplace of invention, with a Mr. Henry M. Flagler who not built the town into a booming city of wealth and prestige but but employed new comers such as Mr. Louis Comfort Tiffany, who's stained glass would become world renowned, as well as a Mr. Thomas Edison, who had one of his first power stations at one of Mr. Flaglers properties, it is one of the two main sites where Dr. Martin Luther King led his freedom rally's but also where he spoke and stayed, the same house that Dr. king stayed at later housed Jacky Robinson and his wife, he also preached a sermon at the same church as Dr. King, the whoolworths store here is where civil rights activist's sat at the soda counter stools and demanded to be served. St. Augustine has one of the oldest streets in the us, and is home to the very First Ripley's Believe it or Not museum.

Some of the first settlers to come to Florida to make their new homes, so if you ever wondered where the original "Cracker" came from, here ya go.  They where named this because of their main diet, they were farmers looking to get a better life.






The other settlers at the time where called Tin Can Tourists,  which were basically some of the first RV'ers who heard of the glamorous town and wanted to see it, several of which whom stayed.

Original City gates from the Spanish era,
also the Fort Castillo De San Marcos which was never defeated in battle, they are made of a building substance called cocina that when the fort walls were blasted in the day, they would go out at night and patch the holes so that in the morning it would appear that no damage had been done at all, 

 Beds where the soldiers would have slept, looks like a tight squeeze.

View from the top was beautiful, it was also the breeziest place in the fort, this would have been where I would have wanted to be perched for the simple reason that it wasn't as hot.

  Two Henry Flagler Churches, one was built as a memorial to his daughter and grandchild who perished on the way to come live with him.





All of the Terracotta work was done by hand.

 The Lightner Mueseum, Mr. lightner believed that everyone needed to have a hobby, his hobby was collecting everyone elses hobbies,
this building was originally Mr. Flaglers alcazar hotel, he purchased it and turned it into his museum.

 Dennis walking through the courtyard at the Lightner Museum.
 A hand carved grandfather clock and some of the original Tiffany glass windows.
Mr. Lightner had good taste, there are pieces from all around the world and many centuries.

 Aviles Street is one of the oldest streets in the us. it still holds a myriad of local restaurants and shops.

This street has Live oaks with spanish moss growing on them curving towards each other in both directions, it has been called the most beautiful street in the us.

 The Spanish Military Hospital, which were not only way ahead of their time in care but had some of the best healthcare available, their morbidity rate was around 75% in a time when most hospitals were 25%, only soldiers could be cared for here so I imagine the enlistment sheet was full.

 Amazingly their are a lot of instruments from this era that haven't changed much, I guess if its not broke.....

 Saw this at the Pirate & Treasure Museum,
this was a huge piece of my childhood so I was very excited.








Goonies Never Say Die!

 This was the site of what Ponce De Leon thought was the fountain of youth, the average person at this time only lived to 35 or 40 years old, when Juan came here he noticed that all the Timucua Indians were living to be 80 or more, they all drank from this natural spring so he assumed that this had to be the reason why.

 Some of the residents of the Fountain of youth Park.
this is a mother with her new chicks underneath following along.

 they even had this beautiful albino.

 The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, it was one of the first deaf and blind schools ever and had a student by the name of Ray Charles that attended until he was 14 years old.

 St. Augustine Distillery, only a year old and already winning awards for their Vodka & Gin.
it is in the old Ice Plant building from the late 1800's

















This is the Original Ripleys Museum.

 This ferris wheel went all the way to the 2nd story, it was massive, I couldn't get all of it into the picture.

This is a portrait that was made out of tiny legos.

Not sure who this crazy person is but I'm sure their fabulous!




Statue of David, a replica of the original, even made with the same Carrera Marble, they cover his with these tall bushes to keep car wrecks down.

 This is the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum
it has 219 stairs to climb to the top as well as going back down, best workout ever!

 this was the lighthouse keepers housing, the other side of that red building was the Lighthouse keepers assistant's housing, and the upper attic space was the 2nd keepers place, can you say cramped.

 This is the globe and Lens that allow the light to be seen from a far distance.

 the views from the top.

I can say that our stay here has been adventurous, I have learned more than I remember, and will remember more than I learned. Definitely a place we will come back to.