St. Augustine

'The Old Senator' - over 600 years old

Today we took the opportunity to visit St. Augustine – the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States.  We were able to walk into town from the marina and stroll through the city.  It was humid and uncomfortable! 

Another view of Old Senator

We decided it would be best to take a tour and save our feet.  This was a great idea as we were able to get an overview of the town and decide where we may want to spend longer.  

Flagler College

All of the major buildings have been restored and are stunning.  One of the first residents who made his mark and built many of the buildings and churches in town was Henry Flagler, an oil and railroad magnate.  Students at Flagler College benefit from the repurposing of the original Ponce de Leon Hotel that Flagler built and their cafeteria is in a rotunda that still has the original Tiffany stained glass windows!

Castillo de San Marcos

Fortunately it cooled off a bit so we took the opportunity to visit Castillo de San Marcos.  This fort was built with coquina stone quarried from the nearby islands.  It is a soft stone unique to the area that was able to absorb the percussion of the cannon fire without cracking. 

The fort was never taken by force but only changed occupation when ceded by treaty.  It is a National Park and the attendants dress in period costume.

Armaments 

Lots of cannon-fire capability!

Fort walls: 30 feet high and 14 feet thick

The Lightner Museum

We also visited the Lightner Museum filled with a collection of items from the late 1800s.  

Courtyard and fountain

This was also originally a hotel and had the largest indoor swimming pool in the U.S. at that time as well as a retractable roof – quite an achievement for that period.  

View of the 'pool' from the ballroom level

It was also surrounded by a ballroom on an upper level from where you could look down at the swimmers.  The pool is now drained and is used as a café (with a still sloping floor from the shallow end to the deep end).

While walking around the town, we observed that much of the town, which is located between 2 water sources had suffered from flooding.  Quite a few shops were still closed as they cleaned up but most of the town was business-as-usual.

Bridge of Lions