St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European and African American settlement in the United States. It was claimed in 1565 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, forty-two years before the English colonized Jamestown. The large fort, Castillo de San Marcos, is the draw of this coastal city. Completed in the late seventeenth century, today it is run by the National Parks Service. Passionate rangers and local volunteers are obsessed with sharing the details of its rich military history. From the upper level we could see amazing views of the town and the sounds of people enjoying themselves as they pass by on boats.
While walking around the Historic Colonial District, we experienced the original Spanish narrow street layout and a mix between original and reconstructed balconied buildings of the colonial era. Today the historic buildings are filled with museums, restaurants and tourist shops selling grilled cheese, t-shirts and fudge. As the sun went down the ambiance of the streets came alive as musicians performed and amateur actors impersonated ghosts of people of historical importance from days gone by.
St. Augustine is proud to be a place that offered shelter to escaped slaves and is the original home to the Underground railroad. It has been a tourist town since the end of the Civil War when the railroad magnet Henry Flagler developed it as a vacation spot for the rich and famous. The original hotels towering over the skyline are beautiful examples of architecture created to mimic “Old Spain” with quarried stone of the region. Today the old hotels house Flagler College, the Casa Monica a luxury hotel, and the Lightner Museum. We prefer to stay right outside of town a bike ride over long draw bridge away at Anastasia State Park. It offers campgrounds shaded with mossy covered trees, biking, wetlands, and a seashore that extends for miles.
