Saturday, February 12, 2022
Historic Downtown St. Augustine
Founded in 1565 by Spanish conquistadors, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the United States. As such, the city is replete with historic buildings, museums, and other landmarks, largely concentrated in a reasonably walkable downtown historic district - though your feet will feel it by the end of the day.
The iconic Bridge of Lions over the Matanzas Bay connects downtown St. Augustine with Anastasia Island. The bridge is named for Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon, who, according to legend, landed in what is now St. Augustine in 1513, in search of the Fountain of Youth.
Guardians of the Bridge of Lions
Bridge of Lions
St. Augustine Seawall
Fortress on the Matanzas Bay
The stone fortress of Castillo de San Marcos was constructed beginning in 1672 to defend Spanish St. Augustine from encroachment by the British Colonies. Over the next century, the fort fended off numerous attacks by British troops, and when the Spanish ultimately ceded Florida to the British in 1763, it was by negotiation, not by force.
Castillo de San Marcos
Defending St. Augustine
Sentry box and bastion
Some of St. Augustine's downtown attractions and shops are very touristy (for example, Ripley's Believe it or Not and Potter's Wax Museum), but overall, the local historical society has done a nice job preserving its dozens of historic structures.
Shiver me timbers!
Busy St. George Street
Father Lopez and The Great Cross (208 feet tall)
Old City Gate
The main building of Flagler College, built in 1887, was once the grand Ponce de Leon Hotel, a posh hotel built in the heyday of the Gilded Age by Henry Flagler, railroad magnate and co-founder of Standard Oil. The public is welcome to enter the courtyard and main rotunda to look around.
Flagler College, formerly the Ponce de Leon Hotel
Inside the main entrance
College courtyard
Gilded Age rotunda
Across the street from Flagler College is the Lightner Museum, housed in the former Alcazar Hotel, another Gilded Age hotel built by tycoon Henry Flagler. Being in the train biz, Flagler was a big developer along the east coast of Florida, and there is no shortage of streets, buildings, and beaches bearing his name.
Lightner Museum, formerly the Alcazar Hotel
Modeled after the Alcazar Palace in Spain
Lightner Museum from the central courtyard
Jana in the museum courtyard
The bulk of our day was a whirlwind of wandering through the pedestrian-friendly streets of the historic district, past numerous churches and historic buildings galore. We spent over five hours taking in the sights, walking close to six miles in the process, and that's without even entering any of the plentiful museums. We definitely should come here again!
Ancient City Baptist Church
Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church
Oldest wooden schoolhouse in the U.S.
Government House
The Oldest House in Florida, 1723
On the way back to the Funny Farm, we swung by a few more quick sights on the edge of downtown that we hadn't quite reached on foot. The Old Senator live oak tree is well over 600 years old. Unfortunately, it's surrounded by a hotel parking lot. Fortunately, at least they kept the tree!
Chain gang at the Old Jail
The Old Senator, here before Ponce de Leon
The Fountain of Youth, of course, is a mythical spring alleged to restore youth to anyone who drinks of its waters. Ponce de Leon was supposedly searching for this spring when he traveled to Florida in 1513 and landed in what later became St. Augustine. Did he find the fountain here? Some say yes. But the local water smells vaguely of sulfur, so Tom and I didn't imbibe. Yuck. We'd rather be old.
Found it!
We had a big lunch downtown earlier in the day at Borrillo's Pizza & Subs, and since we'd walked our feet to stumps, this evening we opted to rustle up some light grub in our apartment kitchen rather than going back out.
|