St. Augustine, FL

    After returning from Ireland, we headed back to Tampa and spent time at Lazydays RV getting some warranty work done. After about 10 days there, we finally got all of the repair work done that we could stand, so we left Lazydays Saturday morning and began our journey northwards. In less than thirty days we are planning on reporting in to our summer “job” in New Jersey. So the first step on that trip takes us to St. Augustine, FL. The city bills itself as the oldest continually occupied European settlement in the continental US. Meaning, since April 3, 1513 when Ponce de Leon landed in this area and took possession of the region for Spain, it has been populated by non-Native americans. Before the pilgrims thought about moving to the New World, old Ponce had started a Spanish occupation that would last until 1763, when England was ceded Florida. In 1783, in recognition of Spain’s assistance to the US during its Revolutionary War, Florida was returned to Spain. Then, in 1821, Florida became a US possession and has remained so to this day. In the Old City St. Augustine, there is still competing architectural influences of both the Spanish and English. 

    We decided to start our tour of the city by using the Old Town Trolley tour. These are a series of busses that allow you to hop on and off at 24 stops within the Old City area. The ticket is good for three days, so you aren’t pressured to try to cram it all into a day. It also allows you to get a different perspective from each of the trolley drivers as they relay interesting points of interest during the drive. Below are some of the sights, in no particular order. 

    The Castillo de San Marcos National Monument is run by the National Park Service and is the oldest masonry fort in the US. It is actually the 10th fort in this location. The other 9 were all made of wood and were burnt to the ground by those who did not wish the residents of St. Augustine any good (like Pirates, English soldiers, and Native Americans)! The fort is made from a concoction called Coquina. Coquina is a mixture of sand and mollusk shells compressed together over millennia. At first, the quarried stones were still wet and soft and required years to dry. But when dry, it forms a very unique stone. It has air bubbles throughout so when hit by a hard object, say a cannonball, the force is dissipated through the stone and the damage is minimal. In fact, the Ranger told a story about a siege by the English who bombarded the fort all through the day. Then, under the cover of darkness, the Spanish went out and plastered over the holes left by the cannonballs. The next day the English woke to find a seemingly new fort. Some of them wrote home and talked about the strange stones the Spanish had found that could “heal themselves”. 

    (Coquina stones)

    (The Fort from the outside)

    (and the inside)

    Since it is just the beginning of the season, there was some training going on for the Fort volunteers in how to properly load and fire the cannon. So instead of a couple of times during the day, they were firing the cannon about every half hour. 

    Now obviously, they don’t use real cannonballs anymore, but we were told that they do use a hard bread ball that shatters upon launch and then feed the birds and marine life down below. 

    Remember I said that architecture competes in the old city? Here is an example. The oldest house in the US is shown below. 

    It is currently showing English design that was built upon a Spanish foundation. English favored a door facing the street, glass windows, and upper floors built with wood, not stone. Here they added glass to the Spanish windows. Built a door to face the street and added a second floor of wood. Balconies, if desired, were built into the house. 

    Right next door is a more Spanish style. The entire house is stone and stucco. The balcony extends out from the second floor. The original entry is through a courtyard (under the arch at the end of the house). The English added the street facing door and glass in the windows. 

    In the city itself, there are narrow streets and lots of shops. It is fun just to walk around. 

    Smack in the middle of the city is the oldest schoolhouse in the US. It is made of cypress thus doesn’t need paint and the termites won’t eat it. Tours are available, but we didn’t take one. 

    Here is another type of cement wall. This one uses concrete mixed with clamshells. These shells are razor sharp and stick out of the concrete at all angles. Anyone trying to scale this wall had better be wearing steel underwear! 

    Let’s not forget what Ponce de Leon is known for. The Fountain of Youth! On his landing here, he came upon the native indian tribe who were all 6 1/2 feet tall or more (most Europeans of the time were around 5 feet or so) and they lived well into their 70’s (again most Europeans were lucky to live to see 55). Obviously, something must be keeping these folks healthy and it must have been the water (or so Ponce seemed to think). Here, surrounded by a diorama of his discovery, is purported to be the actual spring that was dubbed the Fountain of Youth. 

    You can take a drink of the water and I can testify, it smells vaguely of sulphur and after drinking, you will burp a wonderful egg taste. “Youth” isn’t worth that much to me!!

    Now I have a healthy skepticism that this is the “real” Fountain chronicled by Ponce, but I have no doubt that this area is the site of a Spanish settlement and a Native village. Evidence of both of these have been found and documented by archeologists. In fact, there was an active “dig” going on while we visited. Below is a marker commemorating a spot where many feel is the site where Ponce de Leon set foot in Florida. 

    So, after a couple of days enjoying St. Augustine, we are headed northwards tomorrow. After a little over three months in Florida, we will leave the state and head towards Charleston, SC.