St. Augustine

Tuesday April 25

We left base camp and rolled south to St. Augustine to look at the old fort and roll around the downtown area.  St Augustine was the oldest city in the United States. It was strategically important for the Spanish because it guarded the Gulf Stream, which they used as a superhighway to move ships full of gold, spices and slaves from the New World to the Old.
We got free handicap parking in the city parking garage and then went for a stroll down Spanish memory lane. We passed an old cemetery where they buried those that were not Catholic and had enough money to be buried there.

Then it was in through the Old City Gates built of coquina (a sedimentary rock composed of shells) in 1808, 154 years after the city was founded and the Spanish decided that they needed a permanent wall built around the city to keep out those marauding French and English.  

The twin pillars topped with pomegranates are original and the mounds and wood are replicas of the original. 

 We strolled through downtown poking our noses into the little shops and stores until we came to the old Spanish square where we found this marker.

Becky has a wont to look at old churches and this one fell into the category. It was impressive and very ornate. I reminded her that we saw the oldest church in the Americas on our trip to the Dominican Republic when we took a tour of Santo Domingo.

 Outside we found a statue of Ponce de Leon

Docked along the piers is the replica Spanish ship El Galeon.

 From there we walked back along the water to Castillo de San Marcos. Work began on the fort in 1672 and took 23 years to complete. Built from coquina quarried locally with small axes and shipped by boat. Cement was made by burning clam shells to get ash and mixing in water and other ingredients. The fort withstood several attempts by the British to capture it and stands today as a testament to the hard work, the hard ships and the history of our world.

Entrance to the chapel.

These racks were the sleeping quarters and the sacks are filled with straw to provide some padding. The bunks would not accommodate a person over five eight. These Spaniards were short.

We left St. Augustine and headed north on the A1A. Patrick wanted to go to the beach and we found this little one just up the road.

Patrick and Becky took their first stroll along the Atlantic on this trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fish tacos and margaritas.

 After the beach, we headed north again in search of some food. We found some at The Pier Cantina and Sandbar at Jacksonville Beach. With full bellies, we returned to base camp.