St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach

On Thursday and Friday, Walter, Ralph and I went to St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach (across the causeway).  Ralph's friends, Steve and Cindy, are in St. Augustine Beach for a month, and graciously invited us to stay overnight.  Thursday was probably the coldest day we've had so far.  In St. Augustine, the temperature rose to 15C and didn't get much higher.  It felt weird to wear long pants and shoes and socks. By Friday, though, we were back to warmer temperatures.

St. Augustine is about 2 1/2 hours away from Kissimmeee.  The whole city has about 12,000 people, according to the latest census. Not very big, at all.  We arranged to take a tour of the old part of St. Augustine on Thursday morning.  It is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in North America, having been founded in 1565 by the Spanish.  The original city was rather small, as it was situated between the Maria Sanchez Creek and the ocean.  The city was expanded in the 19th century by Henry Flagler (a partner of John D. Rockefeller) when he bought several parcels of land and filled in the creek. Unfortunately, most of the original historical building burned over the years, and today the historic centre has mostly replicas. There are a few original buildings left, about five or so according to our tour guide.  It's an easy area to walk around, and I would go back, just to do that.  There is only so much that we can see from a trolley car, and I would like to see more of the old part.

The Spanish, who had St. Augustine for 200+ years, built a fort Castillo de San Marcos.  It changed hands several time, first Spanish, then British (who traded Cuba to the Spanish for Florida), then Spanish again, and lastly American.  Oddly enough, the fort was handed over by treaties, not because it was conquered.

 A typical street in the historic district.  The upper balconies are Spanish influence.  

 One of the many buildings built by Henry Flagler.  This one is a church, although, unfortunately I don't remember which one. He was involved in the building of several churches.

 One of the more whimsical residents of St. Augustine.

 This restaurant is in what used to be an indoor swimming pool.  The floor was leveled out and the dining area is where the pool would have been 12 feet deep. The balcony above is at street level.

 Another typical street, and another Spanish style balcony.

 The oldest wooden school house in the USA.  I think this is a replica, but I could be wrong.

 Some of the old roads are paved with bricks from Birmingham, Alabama.  It took me a while to figure out what 'BHAM, ALA" meant.

 Our friend Ralph on the board walk up to the fort.

 View from the top of the fort, overlooking the estuary.

 Walter and Ralph contemplating something about the cannon.  There were several examples of Spanish cannon, some made in Seville and brought over to St. Augustine on ships.

 The boardwalk across the sand dunes at the resort where Steve and Cindy are staying.  It just invites you to walk across and enjoy the beach.

 One of the many residents of the beach - a ring billed gull.

 A sandpiper of some kind.  I haven't identified exactly which one yet.

 Birds everywhere.  There were a few fellows out fishing for whiting.  The birds would swarm when the nets were drawn in. Gulls and pelicans - all waiting to see what they could steal from the fishermen.

 Some of the many pelicans looking for easy pickings.

 The condo complex where we stayed overnight, courtesy of Steve and Cindy, Ralph's friends.  We will definitely reciprocate at some time in the future.