Visiting St. Augustine - Mary, Cindy & Mark

Steve dropped us off at the St. Augustine and St. Johns County Visitor Information Center. It is located beside a new downtown parking facility, something that was badly needed on our first visit. The visitor center has a very good display of archeological finds and historical information on the various peoples who have lived in the area for over 500 years. I bought post cards, then we headed down St. George St. into old town. We stopped at the St. Augustine Seafood Company for lunch. Cindy had a rice bowl with shrimp, Mark had chowder and a sandwich, and I had shrimp roll with fries. They were huge meals, and I struggled to finish mine.

After lunch, we saw a display showing how the buildings from the early 20th century have been removed and replaced with historically accurate buildings in the area of original settlement across from the fort. Then we walked over to Castillo de San Marcos National Monument to tour the fort. Mark’s National Park pass got free entrance. The fort and town were both busy with people enjoying the sunny day and with school groups in matching T-shirts. As we passed various groups, we’d catch a bit of history from the tour guides that supplemented the signage and park interpreters.

Memorial Presbyterian Church

When we finished walking through the fort, we went back to St. George Street to view Henry Flagler’s hotels: the Ponce de Leon, now part of Flagler College, and Alcazar Hotel now a museum and city offices. It was so crowded that we turned and walked down Spanish Street instead, which still had shops and historic buildings but less people. After viewing the hotels, we went to a post office to mail something for Cindy, which was when I discovered that I had lost the postcards I bought. We walked back up Sevilla St. to see the Memorial Presbyterian Church where Flagler’s wife and daughter are buried.

After making our way back to the visitors center to buy postcards again, we walked up San Marco Ave for a block or two. It was so noisy with traffic, that we turned towards the river and walked up Water Street as far as the mission grounds. The architecture is quite interesting and varied on the side streets. We made our way to the Days Inn to check in and wait for Steve. The check-in clerk was competent, but the people trying to get rooms all had problems.