St. Augustine

We are not big fans of Florida.  The place is littered with abandoned boat (often making for crowded anchorages) and the boaters fly past us with large wakes that send objects flying in the boat if we haven't stowed everything.  St. Augustine is the exception and well worth a visit.  

It is the oldest continuously occupied city in the US and has a fascinating history. The whole area was "discovered" by Ponce de Leon in the early 1500s (unfortunately we, like he, did not find the fountain of youth).  He claimed the land for Spain.  Of course the French didn't think that was a good idea and by the mid 1500s were also settling in the area. The Spanish began to build fortifications and the town of St. Augustine was born. Poor St. Augustine had a rough few hundred years after that.  In 1566 the local native tribes burned it to the ground. They couldn't hold the town, and the Spanish rebuilt. In 1586 Sir Francis Drake attacked and burned it to the ground.  He couldn't hold the town and the Spanish rebuilt. After another raid by another Brit in 1666 the Spanish finally decided that perhaps a more robust structure was in order and over the next 25 years or so they built a stone fort which still stands.  

In 1763,  as part of the treaty ending the 7 years war, Spain gave Florida to the British in exchange for Cuba (much like trading baseball cards). Shortly after that the American Revolution began.  Spain sides with the Americans and as part of the treaty that ends the Revolution in 1783, Britain trades their Florida territories back to Spain in exchange for the Bahamas (unlike baseball cards, apparently trade-backs are allowed in international treaties). The Americans are not pleased about this and fight with the Spanish for the next 40 years or so.  The Seminole, the French, and some Haitians all get involved.  Finally in  1819 Spain sells their territory in Florida to the Americans for 5 million dollars.

With all this history, tours of the town and the fort are well worth the time.

Now, for the photos:

This was in my St. Augustine photo folder.  Because I've been so lazy about blogging I no longer have a clue when or where it was taken or even if it is a sunrise or sunset (likely a sunset since I'm rarely up that early) but isn't it pretty?

On the way into St. Augustine - another damaged and abandoned sailboat. I'm amazed some level of government can't get the owners to remove them.

We had our first meal out since returning to the US in St. Augustine. After the lack of fresh produce in the Bahamas we were all overwhelmed by the choices.

Just out riding around town with a parrot on the handlebars as one does.

Magnolia Avenue.  They are actually 100 year-old oak trees - the magnolias all died in a cold snap.

After looking like scruffy pirates in the Bahamas the boys went to an old fashioned barber shop to clean up which included neck shaves and scalp vacuums:

The plaque with the context wasn't installed yet. I'm curious what it will say.

Souvenir shopping (no, we didn't buy it).  They also had a t-shirt depicting Abraham Lincoln riding a bear holding the US Constitution and a rifle.

The oldest wooden schoolhouse in the US. The closest Riley has come to attending school since last June.  

One of the jewels of St. Augustine is Flagler College built as a 5 star hotel by one of the founders of Standard Oil.  It opened in 1888 and became a college in 1968.

Sundial in the courtyard. The frogs tell the time and the turtles the season.

The lobby:

The dining hall complete with the larges installation of Tiffany glass in the world.  A little fancier than those at the University of Waterloo:

The fort, Castillo de San Marcos:

Not sure how they can paint this prat as a good guy

Can you imagine a military these days going to so much effort and expense to make their killing machines so beautiful?

The civil engineering exhibits are always the best part of any historical tour

The fort was built with coquina quarried from nearby Anastasia Island. Coquina is a limestone of broken shells.  It is so elastic that the fort could apparently withstand a cannon ball strike at close range. 

The St. Augustine mooring field as seen from the fort. Can you spot Binary?

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