Les and Marcia's Bohemian Life: St AugustineFL – Believe in the fountain of youth

We just left St Augustine. We stayed at a nice little RV park that was perfect for our whole family. Brady had a huge field and woods to play in. We pick fresh vegetables and strawberries at the parks hydroponic farm and there was also a weekend flea market that was made complete with the “amazing little river of boiling grease doughnuts” (a family favorite {if you ever see one of these BUY THE DOUGHNUTS. They are worth every calorie}).

This is the only way to pick the fresh stuff.

Every costal town has a fort. St Augustines is Castillo De San Marcos (1672). Since this is the oldest city they claim the oldest to a lot of things. This is a pretty old fort.

Big ol' Spanish Fort

It is very easy to see St Augustine. We bought a three day ticket on the “Old Town Trolley”. You can get on and off at any stop and the driver narrates along the way.

The old Jail tour came highly recommended. The jail was built in 1891 and used up to 1953. The money to build it was a gift from Standard oil millionaire Henry Flagler. The current jail was next door to his fancy richie rich hotel and just gave off a bad atmosphere. So the jail was built outside of town. Flagler stipulated that it had to be built to be pretty. The jail also had a lovely house for the sheriff and his family on the other end. The security theory and design was used to build Alcatraz. The tour is given by a “trustee” in a prison uniform. Ours gave a very convincing presentation.

St. Augustine jail - outside

and inside - No escapes from here - power to the chain gang

Just across the hall - the sheriff and his family lived quite nicely

Our trustee guide

The light house has been completely refurbished, has great views, has 219 steps and was built in 1824. Really what else does a person need to know?

This is a beautiful area and the views from the top helps put in prospective how small the St. A is

An average side walkdown town. a little tippy but easy enough in a sandle wedge

But so pretty

One of our favorite stops was Flagler College. It started out as that Richie rich hotel built by Henry Flagler, the “Ponce De Leon Hotel”. The hotel was built in 1887 and still holds the largest collection of Tiffany glass (windows and chandlers) in the world. This was Tiffanys first decorating job and his launch. To stay here your name had to be on the New York social register, you had to stay for the whole season (Jan – Mar {this was the only three months the hotel was even open}). The cost to you in 2012 dollars would be $250,000.00. Wait a minute, I think I might have a coupon. This was one of the first hotels with electric lights. It was the job of select employees to turn on and off the lights so as not to endanger the guests. Today this building has been saved and is being used as a liberal arts college. The hotel rooms are the girls dorms and meals are served in the grand ballroom.

Tiffany windows at The Ponce De Leon Hotel (now Flagler College)

The entrance

Court yard

More windows

Chandler

The ladies sitting room

More of the sitting room

Across the street is the Alcazar hotel (also Flagler money). It has been a hotel, city hall and now the LitchnerMuseum. I must say that it is the craziest mix of collections we have seen. Winston Churchill’s Lion, a mummy, hair combs and toasters. The indoor pool was the coolest part of this hotel. No longer a pool the area is now space for shops, a café.

Alcazar not El Cabong

Hotel (now museum) koi pond

Mummies and

Lions and

toasters oh my

I thought this chair was an on display. No they are for the patrons relaxation - I still love it

This was the pool. The water went up to the top of the stairs so swimers could walk into the pool. They could dive down and swim out through the caves (doors on the bottom)

200 foot free standing stanless steal structure (second tallest in the states) This is the sight of the first Catholic Mass

Just want to say the fountain of youth water tastes pretty yucky – but I have drank yuckier things.

Water from the fountain of youth - Mixed with scotch and ice it might be ok (a lot of scotch and a lot of ice)

salvage ancor

The old city gate

There is great food, shops, popsicles and tourist attractions all over the place. This is such an easy place to have fun. We wrapped up the trip with one of my favorite things. Les dropped me off at one of the many beaches in the area and I soaked up the joy of the ocean.

Blue skys