On Sunday, we drove from Quincy, Florida, to Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine, Florida. The first landmark that caught our eye was the beautiful lighthouse. We will visit this later in the week.
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St. Augustine Lighthouse.
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Anastasia State Park is pretty. The loop we were in had tight quarters. It was like a tropical jungle. During our back in into our site, we had a couple of small mishaps, nothing major. Our 5th wheel and pickup truck barely fit.
Monday we explored St. Augustine on a 10k Volksmarch. It was wonderful! The 6.2 miles took us 4-1/2 hours. There's history galore, amazing architecture, and plenty of art. The only time we sat down all day was to have ice cream cones at Tedi's Olde Time Ice Cream on St. George Street based on a local's recommendation.
We began the walk by entering the grounds of The Shrine at Mission Nombre de Dios (Name of God) Sacred Acres and immediately passed by the Prince of Peace Catholic Church.
Toward the back of the garden area is a 208' tall steel cross. This is said to be the site of the original landing of Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles and the first Mass was said in 1565. This was 55 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock! We also saw the original chapel built in 1615. It was the first Shrine ever to be dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the New World.
Gale force winds accompanied us today. We kept a tight grip on our walk instructions. |
The grasses are leaning
sideways in the wind!
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| "America's most sacred acre." |
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This chapel is the fourth
building on this foundation.
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From Mission Nombre de Dios, we walked to see the oldest living resident of the oldest city -- The Old Senator -- an oak tree estimated to be over 600 years old. It lives in the middle of the Villa 1565 motel.
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"The Old Senator."
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Upon exiting from Villa 1565, we were on Magnolia Ave. which is designated one of the Ten Most Scenic Streets in America. This is one place to see trees draped in Spanish moss.
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Magnolia Ave.
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It was on this street that we found Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth. You can go in an drink from the Fountain of Youth (admission fee).
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Bob hangin' out with
Ponce de Leon.
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What you get with your admission.
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Pedro Menendez de Aviles
(1519-1574). |
Tropical-style homes looked so inviting on our walk through one of St. Augustine's neighborhoods. Shortly, we came to the Old Jail and Florida Heritage Museum complex with its general store and history markers. The jail was built in 1890 and used until 1953. Unfortunately, we did not have time to take the jail tour. (Admission fee.)
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This home looks very inviting.
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A funny political sign.
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| The Old Jail Museum. |
There was a staff person from the museum hanging out by the General Store who wanted us to pay for a museum tour. We read the signs they had out front and looked at their displays but just couldn't fit in a visit.
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A manure spreader.
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| The General Store. |
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| Exhibit about a cracker horse. |
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General Store at Old Town
(the Old Jail complex).
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The birds have flown the coop.
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| Cute home with petty colors. |
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| This home is huge! |
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| My very favorite door, ever! |
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This is the home with the
stained-glass entry door.
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The Chick-Inn coop!
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How's this for a swanky chicken coop?
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This fort has a moat that was used for many different purposes. It no longer has water in it.
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The moat.
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| Entry gate into the fort. |
The fort walls are made of coquina, a local limestone. Over the years, this porous material has eroded. The Spanish covered the coquina with plaster to help preserve it.
Bob and I enjoyed learning about the fort. This is not the history we learned growing up on the West Coast.
St. Augustine was built on the Matanzas River. Barrier islands protect the city from hurricanes. Now, we will walk alongside the river which is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.
As an aside, the wind was howling and the river had big whitecaps. The boats moored out in the river were rockin' and rollin'. Bob said the owners of the boats could go out today and go for a ride without even pulling up the anchor!
Next, we came to the Bridge of Lions. The Bridge of Lions was built in 1927 so Anastasia Island could be accessed without a ferry ride.
A few Halloween decorations were still out.
Halloween 2020: These people REALLY wanted to social distance with their candy chute. |
Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Augustine.
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The historic homes in this area
have cobblestone streets. |
If you love history and historic homes, you must come to St. Augustine to see these. Many homes are museums now and can be toured. The walk criss-crosses many of these older neighborhoods. NOTE: Watch your footing carefully on the cobblestone streets and sidewalks with disrupted concrete!
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| Art in a courtyard. |
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| Spanish Military Hospital Museum. |
You will exit King St. and the historic home section through the old City Archway to City Square -- the Old Market Place -- where the slave trade was very profitable at one time.
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| Aviles Street City Archway. |
In order to make today's blog a shorter length, I am breaking it into parts. This is an excellent place to stop this section because where we go next is decidedly different from what we've seen so far.
This will be continued in Part 2...
Great pictures!
ReplyDeleteThanks, John. There was great subject matter to work with!
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