#81 St. Augustine FL

#81 St. Augustine FL

 Saturday  November 9, 2019

Welcome to Florida! This impressive sign sits at the end of a bridge.  A smaller sign next to it say do not stop to take photos, go to the Visitor’s Center.

We chose Red Train tours to view the sights of St. Augustine. It was suggested that the train was easier to access for seniors.  However the trolley had padded seats, and next time I would take the trolley. Most of the trains are red, we happened to get a black one. Since we road the entire route and then did Hop/on Hop/off, we took several trips through the main attractions in town.  I hope this blog isn't too disjointed.

The Fountain of Youth attracts tourist to come inside and learn more about Ponce De Leon and his time here in St. Augustine.  The park claims to be the actual 1565 site of St. Augustine our nation’s oldest city.  It has a 4,000-year-old Native American settlement. The planetarium recreates Ponce De Leon’s 1513 journey.  It also has a 600-foot river walk, his spring and cannon firing. We passed on the option to visit both on our last visit and this one.

The Original Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum started as a winter home built in 1887 for William G. Warden, his wife and twelve children. Warden partnered with John D. Rockefeller and Henry Flagler in the Standard Oil Company.  The property stayed in the family until 1941 when Norton Baskin turned it into a hotel. Baskins wife Marjorie Rawlings authored The Yearling. Robert Ripley became a frequent visitor at the hotel and in 1950 purchased it for his first odd museum when it went on sale.

Just before entering Ponce de Leon the trolley goes down this beautiful street canopied with Spanish moss.  This is where the driver reminds you that you don’t want to take any of it home.  Nasty stuff lives in this beautiful non-parasite plant in the epiphyte family.  Also known as Tree Hair and Spanish Beard.  (may have put that in the Savannah blog)   A process by William Bartram a British naturalist in 1774 soaked the moss in water and exposed it to sun to dry out and remove the inhabitants.  Today Spanish Moss has decorative uses nad in floral arrangements.  Methods like microwaving removes any pests.

This giant Live Oak tree called “The Old Senator” may be as old as 600 years!  We though this was big until we went to Tallahassee.  (coming later)

Our trolley rides took us through Our Lady of La Leche grounds. At this spot September 8, 1565 (55 years before the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock) Pedro Menendez Aviles founded St. Augustine and the Nombre de Dias mission.  Father Francisco Lopez de Mendozo Grajales held the first Mass, after which the sailors and the native Timucuans had a feast. The 204 foot stainless steel cross commemorated the shrine’s 300th year anniversary.

This redoubt area provides a place for the soldiers to defend the old city when the city was under attack.

These old gates form the entrance to old town.  St. George Street is where only pedestrian traffic is allowed.  Lots of shops line both sides of the narrow street.  You can meet characters in costume.

The oldest Wooden School House was built before 1763 and remains as it was centuries ago. Visitors to St. George Street can go inside.

The streets of old town are very narrow for cars to pass.

The trolley is allowed to drive down St. George Street.  Otherwise only pedestrians are allowed. 

The Huguenot Cemetery located across the street from old city was established in 1821 to buried all those who were not Catholic.  The only other cemetery Tolomato was reserved for Catholics only. Huguenot is believed to be haunted and comes with lots of stories.

We passed the oldest house in the country. The Gonzalez-Alverez House believed to be built in 1723 and the oldest surviving home in St. Augustine. It shows the Spanish colonial architecture with later English modifications.  It is open for touring.

A close up of an old coquina wall.

One trolley stop allowed us to see this palm tree growing out of a live oak tree.

Interesting buildings on our trolley route. The last photo is part of the Catholic Cathedral complex.

The St. Francis Barracks were constructed of coquina stone between 1724 and 1755 by the friars of the Order of St. Francis. The friars vacated the barracks in 1763 when it was turned into a military structure by the British, after they took possession of St. Augustine.  Today it houses the state offices for the Florida National Guard.

Henry Flagler’s name appears all over down here and in the keys.  As a partner in Standard Oil he spread his fortune around Florida, especially St. Augustine.  He built the Hotel Ponce de Leon in 1887, which was a first to be constructed entirely of poured concrete using coquina stone as an aggregate. It was the first hotel in the country wired for electricity powered by generators installed by his friend, Thomas Edison. The hotel included 540 rooms; stained glass windows provided by Tiffany.  During WWII it was used for Coast Guard Training.  After the war, it returned to being a hotel.

In 1968 the hotel became the center piece of the new Flagler College. In 1976 the college embarked on restoring the hotel and other Flagler-era campus buildings to their original grandeur.  They now provide guided tours of the hotel to see where presidents stay, tiffany windows, ornate murals and the Spanish Renaissance architecture.

Franklin Smith had used the poured concrete method for his winter home Villa Zorayda. Smith, from Boston, built his home in 1883 to capture the architecture of the Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain.  This museum houses the Smith family antiques.

When Flagler completed his hotel, he paid to have the city jail moved to the edge of town away from his fancy hotel and guests.  Old town holds 3 attractions you can visit.

The Lightner Museum sits across the street from Flagler’s hotel in what used to be another Flagler hotel called Alcazar Hotel.  The round parts that protrude housed swimming pools.  Today Lightner is the collector’s collector and offers three floors of eclectic collections.

Yet another fancy hotel to help make St. Augustine a destination for the rich and famous.
This day continued on the next blog.  Busy Day!