Touring St. Augustine first day - Yr 1, Day 210

St. Augustine, FL

We got an early start (8:00 for breakfast, left the hotel at about 9:00) and drove 10 mins into the downtown area.  We purchased a combo ticket with Old Town Trolley, which included admission to the History Museum, Fountain of Youth, Oldest Store and Old Jail.  Unfortunately, although I took lots of photos from the camera on my phone, I left the cable which I use to upload those photos to the computer in the CoW, so you won't get to see anything for at least 2 weeks.  Sorry about that.

We started out by sitting for the entire 90 minute trolley tour through the historic district.  We learned that if it weren't for the British, America really should have been a Spanish country, as the Spaniards were here first; having landed in St. Augustine.  Ponce de Leon and Don Pedro Menendez were the founders in the 1500s.

Another big name in this area is Henry Flagler, the 2nd richest man in America next to his partner John D. Rockefeller.  He was an oil, railroad and real estate tycoon and pretty much took St. Augustine from rags to riches.


Fountain of Youth.  The first stop we made after the tour was to this famous landmark (placeholder for photos).  It is actually an archeological park and native Indians were here first.  It has gorgeous landscaping and lots of peafowl roam the grounds (more photos).  We did drink from the famous fountain (paper cups provided).  It is actually a mineral spring and I think it tasted pretty awful.  But I suspect the reason people who drank from it perhaps did live a little longer is because of the health benefits of the minerals (probably like taking a daily multi-vitamin).  There were several "shows" there, among which we got to watch a cannon being shot (more like lit -- no balls were used).

Old Jail.  The next stop was the original jailhouse, built by Flagler in the late 1800s and closed down in the early 1950s.  The tour guide was a character actor, dressed and acting like an inmate.  I'd like to say it was fun, but learning about the conditions the inmates had to live (and mostly die) through was pretty upsetting.  I did get to stay inside a cell for a few minutes (photo).

Oldest Store.  Next stop was to a place called The Oldest Store, owned by a Mr. Hanlin.  Not a place we could buy things at now - it was more of a museum, again with costumed actors. The place was originally a store in the early 1900s, so there was a lot of turn of the century merchandise from a store of the period (soaps, lotions, candy, ointments, etc).  Then there was the huge warehouse behind it.  They sold everything from Victrolas, washing machines (like they had in 1900), bicycles, sewing machines, old fashioned typewriters, kitchen appliances, and lots more.  The largest client of his, of course, was Henry Flager, who purchased all kinds of stuff for his hotels and luxury railroad cars.  What I found most interesting was that when Hanlin died in 1920, all the stuff in the warehouse just sat there until the 1960s when his children decided to remove and throw everything out.  Fortunately, a historian somehow got involved and refused to allow them to discard anything - thus they created a museum.  So none of this stuff are replicas - they are the actual items left unsold at the turn of the century!  (the actors pretended to be salesmen)

After this, we found a local (hole in the wall) Mexican restaurant.  I had a vegetarian fajita with lots of leftovers.  The food was ok and the service had something to be desired, but I suspected they were probably very short staffed

Fort.  The Castillo de San Marcos, now a National park, is one of the earliest Spanish forts.  Twila was feeling very out of sorts by now, and there was nowhere to park, so we decided to forego this as the walking and climbing were too ambitous.

Chocolate tour.  We decided, instead, to visit the Whetstone chocolate factory.  This particular location only makes artisanal chocolate and sells to St. Augustine and online.  They do have other, much larger factories that supply the rest of the world.  What I found truly amazing is that for a long time (until a few years ago when they decided to downsize) they were subcontractors to Nestles, Hersheys and Mars.  So no - those big brands did NOT make all their own chocolate!  Of course we learned the history of chocolate, how it is made, and there were free tastings (yum) and we bought a bunch of stuff in the gift shop.

It was about 4:30 when we were done, so we headed back to the hotel to take a little rest.  I did some work, got to have a video chat with Jess, Griffin and Ellie, and then we met for dinner around 7.  We ended up at Ruby Tuesdays around the corner.

Plans for tomorrow have changed a bit.  First originally we were going to check out and return to Jacksonville (Fred/Twila to Lynn Haven).  Second original plans were that we were going to head a bit south to Daytona Beach so Fred could visit an old friend.  We'd stay in a hotel down there and return on Wednesday.  However, we learned that (1) the trolley tickets we bought are good for 3 days and (2) the trolley company offers a free shuttle to/from all the area hotels.  We decided that while Fred & Twila visit their friend, we would stay here in St. Augustine and try to visit some of the places we missed today, such as the Fort, the Colonial Quarter, the oldest school house, maybe get a tour of Flagler College (the original Ponce de Leon hotel), the pirate museum, as well as the distillery and winery tours.  Then Fred & Twila will pick us up on the way back up north.

So... off to another early start tomorrow.  Did I mention how much I really enjoy St. Augustine?  It is just so very different from all the other cities we've visited; such a different "flavor."