Saint Augustine Florida

What a cool place! Certainly a unique part of Florida. St Augustine was the first European settlement in the US, dating from 1565.  Considering the attention that Plymouth gets, with the Pilgrims arriving in 1620, it is very surprising to us that St Aug doesn't get more recognition. As a Spanish settlement, it has a very strong Spanish theme of course, and with our love of Spain, we felt very at home here.

We arrived Saint Augustine Monday, the day before Judy's sister Wendy and spouse Craig were due to arrive.  Allowed for a good clean up day and getting prepared for guests for a week.  Wendy and Craig arrived Tuesday late afternoon, with a cool front that had arrived in Northern Florida.  We awoke Wednesday morning to 34F (2C), which was very poor timing for the forward cabin AC/heating unit to give up.  Dealt with that over the next few days but required some extra blankets for a couple of nights.

First visits were to scope out the Ponce de Leon hotel, and secure tickets for a tour the next day.  The hotel was Flagler's (see Key West post for the importance and role of Flagler to Florida) first big hotel development, completed in 1888.  He thought this would be a great location for a destination hotel on his rail system to get people from the NorthEast to travel south for the winter.  The cold front we experienced for a couple of days this week was a good example of why he eventually decided to push his hotel developments further south in Florida, and built the Breakers in Palm Beach and eventually on to Key West.  Didn't prevent them from charging the equivalent of $100k in today's money for 3 months at the hotel in the early 1900's.

The hotel was converted to a college in 1968.  Initially a women's college for teachers for the deaf
and blind, it expanded into a full faculty college, with residence accommodation.  The building has the largest collection of privately owned Tiffany stained glass and the students still dine in the beautiful main dining room of the hotel.

Across the street, is another Flagler hotel, the Alcazar, dating from 1887, that was converted into the City Hall and the Lightner museum in 1947.  This hotel for the wealthy tourist had the largest indoor pool in the world at the time. The collection is largely American guilded ages pieces, with a remarkable collection of old musical instruments, which we luckily arrived in time for the demonstration of.  To me, the most remarkable piece was a 1800 era desk, commissioned by the brother of Napoleon, that had 200 drawers, most of which were hidden.

The following day we toured the Ponce de Leon hotel (Flagler College).  After buying our tickets, we had some time to kill, so visited a local donut shop, Swillerbees.  The BEST donut I have had in probably 20+ years!

Being a working college, the areas to see are somewhat restricted, but the main dining room, the entry, and the women's reception room are part of the tour.  Too much to show here, but the rooms are remarkable.




Next stop before lunch was the Castillo de San Marcos fort, built by the Spanish from 1672 to the early 1700's, from a local stone called Coquino. Coquina is a metamorphised shell stone that when dry is very hard, and impenetrable to cannon balls.  The result is that the fort never changed hands by force.  Our arrival coincided with a Ranger giving a narrative of the history of the establishment of St Aug, the development of the fort, and role of the fort in the change of sovereignty over the years.



Afternoon was spent with Greg tending to the AC unit replacement, while Judy, Wendy and Craig toured the area a bit more, and of course, a provisioning run.

Friday we traveled back to the Hammock Beach Resort Marina, where we had spent a day the week prior on our way north, to spend the weekend, and have Tristan join us.  Also provided Wendy and Craig with some real cruising time, which included more dolphin encounters, and some great home viewing. Saturday we enjoyed the resort amenities, including the lazy river, a bike ride, and the various pools.

Sunday was back to St Augustine, to the municipal marina which is very well located to walk to the city center, so Tristan could see some of the sights as well.  Walked the streets of the old town, visiting old homes, churches, town walls, and even cemeteries.  Judy and Tristan visited the Ponce de Leon Monday am while the rest of us continued to walk some of the old streets.

Wendy and Craig are due to fly home Tuesday, so after Tristan's departure back to Augusta, we continued north to the Jacksonville area to get closer to the airport.