ST. AUGUSTINE, PART DEUX

St. Augustine is a really interesting little city. It's very walkable and there are probably four, if not more, tours that will take you around and explain what you are looking at if walking is not for you. Driving can be a bit of a challenge as the historic area (that's where everyone is walking and the tour buses are going) is made up of very narrow streets with little or no parking. The few parking lots all seem to charge a flat fee of $10.00 whether you are there for an hour or for ten.

Magnolia Avenue

According to a popular legend, Ponce de León discovered Florida while searching for the Fountain of Youth. Though stories of vitality-restoring waters were known on both sides of the Atlantic long before Ponce de León, the story of his searching for them was not attached to him until after his death. There is, however, in St. Augustine a 15 acre park devoted to the fable/myth of the Fountain of Youth and it is well worth a visit. Please don't be discouraged if you look the same upon leaving as you did upon entering; remember it is fable/myth.

On the way to the Fountain of Youth, this street, Magnolia Avenue, is touted as being one of the 10 most beautiful and photographed streets in the United States. It is lined with live oaks that are covered with Spanish moss that form a canopy over the street. We were told that the native Indians of Florida said it resembled the beards of the Spaniards who claimed Florida, hence the name Spanish moss. It is neither Spanish nor is it actually a moss; but, folklore is much more interesting than facts.

Entrance to the Fountain of Youth Park

The main centre of Old St Augustine is a warren of little streets crowded with trendy eating places, specialty shops, pubs and amusements. Each street you enter is more intriguing than the street you just left with plenty to see. Interspersed with the usual tourist attractions, of which there are many and all (IMHO) are worth a peek, are the historical buildings that can be seen as you walk around or take one of the many tours offered to you.

Castillo de San Marcos, The Oldest Wooden School House, Oldest House Museum, and many others are within walking distance of each other. The Flagler College, voted in the top ten of southern colleges, is dotted about the city. Flagler features in many buildings and in the history of St. Augustine. Henry Flagler was an American industrialist who founded Standard Oil and was instrumental in the development of eastern Florida.

He was born in New York in 1830, and had very little formal education but found himself acquainted with Rockfeller.  In his rags to riches story Flagler made buckets of money, married Mary Harkness, and on the advice of his doctor went to Jacksonville, FL for the health of said Mary who, subsequently, died there. He married the woman who cared for Mary, Ida Alice Shrouds, and they visited St Augustine. While they found the quaint little city charming they also felt it had a distinct lack of proper amenities in the way of

Flagler College

transportation and hotel accommodation. A few years later he started construction on a 450 room hotel, parts of which have since been taken over as parts of Flagler College. He also built transportation systems from new York to Florida so that wealthy people could travel south in great comfort to escape the northern climate. He is credited with establishing the city of Palm Beach where such notables as the Kennedy family, Pulitzers, Trump, Wang (that would be Vera, the haute couture designer) and many other famous and infamous people either live year round or at least for part of the year.

Sample of some cool streets.

Just a downtown house

Shops in one of the side streets.

There are just so many charming and worthwhile things to see in and around St. Augustine that I can't possibly describe them all to you or post all of my pictures here in this blog. If you are truly interested in visiting St. Augustine then do yourself a favour and just do it. As we say in Canada, if you can't afford to go to Europe then visit Quebec City and you can pretend you are there. Although I don't think you can quite pretend you are in Europe while visiting St Augustine you can certainly feel as if you have been transported back in time and it really is beautiful back there.

Yes it's a Cosmo.

It's not all history and learning.

Beautiful river looking at St. Augustine on the Lions Bridge from Anastasia Island.