Exploring St. Augustine

Besides the two forts, there was plenty to see in St. Augustine.

 

We spent one day checking out the beach areas.  Our first stop was Anastasia Island and the St. Augustine Lighthouse,

where we ran into another 4th grade field trip . . . or maybe it was the same one!

 

The lighthouse it self is undergoing some renovations and repairs, but it was still open for tours.  We did not tour the lighthouse, but we did wander around to get some pictures from different vantage points.

 

From the lighthouse, we continued south along A1A to the resort area of St. Augustine Beach,   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

where we came across a Farmers Market at the pier.

We walked through, and picked up a few vegetables.

The Farmers Market was pretty busy, and parking spots were at a premium . . . so why not park your Grand Marquis in the bike rack??!!

The beach, though, was pretty empty on this hot day . . . but storms were threatening in the afternoon and I guess that was keeping people away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back downtown, we entered through the ancient gates of the city,

and walked through part of the old town.

 

We did a little window-shopping,

and looked at some of the historical structures.

 

 

 

The Cathedral-Basilica

 

 

 

Ponce de Leon

The Bridge of Lions

Isn’t he a handsome fella??

We walked out to the middle of the bridge to see the marina and boats in the harbor,    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

just as the drawbridge was going up, and we were able to see the tour boat going through,

and also a fishing boat out in the harbor.

From the center of the bridge, we also had a nice view of the Castillo de San Marcos.

Leaving downtown, we drove north on A1A to look for the campground that we spent one of our favorite Thanksgivings at, many years ago on our way back to Michigan after a trip to Disney and the Kennedy Space Center.

The beach area north of town has changed considerable since then, and we didn’t recognize much.  We didn’t find the campground, but we did see a parcel of vacant land for sale that looks like it could have been the campground . . . too bad . . .

We stopped for one more look at the beach as storms were moving in and the surf was getting pretty rough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a few baby pelicans in this group that flew over our heads (or, at least some that were considerably smaller than the rest!)

With the bad weather coming, we headed back to the campground for the rest of the day . . . but we would be back again . . . there was still more to see!