St Augustine, the oldest City in the US (July 3rd – 5th)

In 1513, Juan Ponce de León, in search of the ‘Fountain of Youth & Gold’, landed on the shores of a new land which he named ‘Florida’ and claimed for Spain. About 50 years later in 1565 Spain founded the first city (St. Augustine). This beautiful coastal town has a rich heritage and is well worth visiting. We had a fantastic slip in the municipal marine adjacent to the Bridge of Lions.

We took advantage of the ‘Old Town Trolley’ to see the town as well as several tour packages (Old Jail \ Ghosts & Cemeteries \ Oldest Store \ Old Florida Museum \ Winery Tour \ Distillery Tour). At St. Augustine, we took the trolley and went to several locations. We walked around the historic downtown St. Augustine, and had a great Cajun seafood dinner. Some things we saw included the oldest house:

We went to the Fort Castillo De San Marcos and got pictures from outside since it was closed down by the National Park Service due to the Pandemic. During COVID-19, it sometimes seemed like we were the only ones at the sites.

We toured a Bourbon Distillery enjoyed several wonderful restaurants, watched fireworks from the back of the boat and

We went to the old Jail where we learned about prisoners and how they were treated. We also went to a ghost tour that included the jail(not worth it…)

Mary in the old Jail Cell – there is just enough room between the 4 bunks to stand up and that is all. No running water, no A/C, no toilet-only a bucket!

The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Augustine is “American’s First Parish” (450 years old). On Sunday, we attended Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Augustine. We walked around the historic downtown St. Augustine, and had a great Cajun seafood dinner.