Friday, 19th October, 2018
This morning we woke up to another day of bright sunshine and although the temperatures were in the low sixties by the time we had had breakfast, sorted out our luggage and were ready to hit the road again, it was already 75*F. We started driving at 10.30 and while at first there was heavy Friday traffic, we finally could cruise pleasantly free of traffic along the Interstate 95 South. Our drive from Savannah to St. Augustine was calculated by our GPS at being 175 miles taking us 2.5 hours.
As we had had a good breakfast (complimentary) at the hotel, we didn’t really need to stop on the way except to fill up the car with gasoline. This meant we had an early arrival ( 1.30 pm) at our Best Western destination which was located a few miles out of down town St. Augustine. I knew we were very early to check in but I just wanted to ask if the reception had a local map for us.
Well we were checked in straight away so after settling down and freshening up we drove down to the old town centre. As we missed the first turning, we drove down to the St. Augustine Inlet and watched the boats which were going out fishing. A really peaceful spot where far out we could see the waves of the Atlantic crashing against a reef.
Well we made it back to the old town centre and parked our car behind Lightner Museum and City Hall and went on our walk about. We walked toward the sea front and came to the Bridge of Lions – a bridge guarded by lions. Along the sea front we also spotted the Castillo San Marco, a historic fort built by the Spanish to defend their settlement over the years
We made our way to the the fort where we were given quite some interesting information. It is the oldest masonry fort on Continental United States and was constructed in 1672, more than 100 years after the city was founded by the Spanish Conquistador Pedro Menendez de Avilas. This fort changed hands many a time – Britain gained control of East Florida and named St. Augustine as it’s capital in 1763 but returned to Spain in 1783 only to be transferred to the United States in 1821…..
The views from the ramparts are extraordinary and of course in the old days this was perfect to see where the attackers came from and send for help in Mexico or Cuba.
We then continued our stroll back into town by passing the City Gates in St. George Street
On the way, we stopped at a bikers shop fully of Harley Davidson memorabilia – of course Gerry had to go in, thinking of his motorbike crazy older brother. Anyway he came out with a biker’s T shirt which he hopes to give to his brother Rob. We’ve met many bikers doing the same type of trip we are doing and they come from all over the world. But these ones we met here are truly deep Americans……
Our last stop in the city was to admire the City Hall and Lightner Museum – it was already gone past closing time so we had to admire it from just across the road. Also worth mentioning is the Flagler College – a majestic building housing a privately run liberal arts college. Of course we could not miss the Cathedral as well as the market place which is still used
After all the sightseeing, it was time to pick up our car and cross the Bridge of the Lions and make our way to the Atlantic Ocean – is it because we are somewhat homesick to cross the pond in a couple of days and get back home for a few days before heading out to Malta and Greece? Who knows…….
We strolled over the fishing pier and watched the sunset behind the beach and kids swimming and riding the waves – we also witnessed the making of a rainbow which was spectacular…….
Finally, on recommendation , we ended up at the Sunset Grille for a really exquisite meal of seafood – broiled oysters with a lobster sauce and cream to share, for me the Lovers Trio:blackened shrimps, scallops and sole while Gerry took the catch of the day: grilled grouper. An interesting note is that we had to cross the A1A road to reach the restaurant and at every crossing we found a stack of orange flags which you could use to help pedestrians cross over. So of course we did that too – and the cars screeched to a stop…….
We spent a beautiful day and I guess St Augustine is one of the best places we have visited as it’s filled with history being the oldest city of the US nation…… tomorrow heading back to Orlando where the following day we fly back to the Netherlands….
