Retired Nomads: St. Augustine, Florida

We had terrible internet at the last park, so I'm just now updating the blog. We arrived in Port St. Lucie this afternoon and it's nice to have fast internet again. Should get caught up tomorrow.

October 10

Another day off due to winds and rain.

October 11

Today we went to Green Cove Springs to visit our legal domicile. St Brenden’s Isle is a mail service for those of us that don’t live a “conventional” life. It gives us an address to use for credit cards, banks, driver’s licenses, voting etc. Many people that live in RVs or on boats use services like this. It enables us to read our mail online and they always just toss “junk mail” and anything we don’t want they shred. First, they scan the outside of an envelope and will shred it if we don’t want it opened. If we want it to be opened, then they scan the contents and we tell them to send or shred. It has worked well for us in Panama and as we travel around the globe we always have access to our mail.

I said to Greg "I didn't know we had a fishtank…"

When people take our address they often ask where is that? We explain it is near Jacksonville, FL. Then, they ask is it nice there? We smile and say we’ve never actually been there. Now, we can say we have been there. We grabbed some pizza for lunch, got our flu shots and stopped for Bruster’s ice cream back here in St. Augustine.

Tomorrow, we are going to take the tourist Trolley to see the sights of St. Augustine.

October 12 - St. Augustine - Day 1

St. Augustine was founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement within the borders of the continental United States.

We spent the day riding the trolley. Our first stop was the Old Jail. We got arrested and we were taken to jail. The Old Jail was designed to look like a hotel on the outside, but the inside was designed after Alcatraz. It was a fun tour that was included in the trolley ticket.

This jail served as the city from 1891-1953. With the opening of his Ponce de Leon hotel, Flagler wanted to ensure a safe and pleasant environment for his patrons by creating a secure fortress to house criminals. It was important to Flagler that the exterior appearance of this fortress wouldn’t disrupt the majestic atmosphere of the Ancient City. In order to accomplish this, it was designed with a Romanesque Revival style that gave it the distinct appearance of a Victorian house without the interior comfort and charm. It was almost unrecognizable as a jail apart from the barred windows.

The Old Jail

The sheriff arrested us and the warden took us to jail

life size statue of Henry Flagler - he was a large guy

the bird cage and the stockades

the gallows

the women's cells - there were only 2

death rown with a view of the gallows out of the window

the kitchen for the jail

the Flagler family quarters - were they stayed once in a while at the jail

We then toured the Oldest Store Museum. It was an interesting museum that had many models of washing machines (one was goat powered) through the ages and other fun stuff. It was also included in the trolley tour ticket. It re-creates the original St. Augustine general store that was operated by C.F. Hamblen in 1908.

corn sheller

butcher shop

We then checked out the St. Augustine History Museum. (also included with the ticket). It was a nice walk back through Florida’s history. It took us through the evolution of St. Augustine and Florida under Spanish and British rule.

We then got on the trolley and rode it around until lunch time and we got off at the Distillery since it was closest stop to the food truck we wanted to have lunch. It’s called Crave. I was underwhelmed. It was “healthy food” which I don’t have a problem with, but it lacked flavor. I ordered a grilled shrimp bowl which listed lots of veggies on rice. My mistake was that I thought it would be hot and cooked. The rice was warm, but everything else was cold and the veggies all raw. The dressing was weird. Greg got a shrimp wrap that had the same grilled shrimp with the same raw veggies and the only flavor was in the very bottom of the wrap where the dressing was. (the last bite) It’s very popular, but if we lived here I wouldn’t go back.

Crave Food Truck

We walked back a few blocks to Lincolnville for the colorful Colonial Houses. Always fun to see the nice new cars and the old homes.

Orange Grove Plantation home

This street is part of the Freedom Trail - MLK actually marched on this street - Bridge Street

Trinity Independent Church - St. Augustine's Oldest Congregation Est. 1821

The Lincolnville Historic District is an area of the city of St. Augustine, Florida established by freed men following the American Civil War. In the late 20th century, numerous African Americans moved from this district to newer housing in suburbs, following the postwar pattern of settlement.

We were close to the Flagler College so we walked there. It was founded in 1968 and comprises 19 acres and once was the Ponce de León Hotel, built in 1888 as a luxury hotel. The architects were John Carrere and Thomas Hastings, working for Henry Morrison Flagler, the industrialist, oil magnate and railroad pioneer. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Flagler College

Across the street is the former Alcazar Hotel built in 1888 by Henry Flagler. It now houses shops, restaurants and the Lightner Museum.

We boarded the trolley and we got off at the Whetstone Chocolate Factory since the sign said they had gelato. We had the Mud Pie gelato and it was sooo good. I needed something to get the taste of lunch out of my mouth.

real ice truck that delivered the large blocks for "ice boxes"

gelato stop

We then rode it tour our last stop of the day the Fountain of Youth. I swear when we were here many years ago, that it wasn’t such a big tourist attraction. I just remember the fountain. When we have good internet I will have to check out my old photos. We drank the water (it didn’t work last time, so not hopeful it will make either of us look younger this time….)

The legend became particularly prominent in the 16th century, when it was attached to the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, first Governor of Puerto Rico. According to an apocryphal combination of New World and Eurasian elements, Ponce de León was searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to what is now Florida in 1513.

St. Frances Barracks

LIVE OAK - over 600 years old

the entry to the Fountain of Youth

Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park - St. Augustine's oldest attraction

where the spring water comes out

is it working yet?

Then we went and watched a film about how Florida became the United States of America.

Then, we went to see them fire the cannon. We walked around the exhibits and the only thing we didn’t take in was the planetarium. (it started too late for us to catch the last trolley. (little did we know that we could have easily walked back to the trolley station)