Touring St. Augustine on Foot

 We arrived in St. Augustine, Florida on May 23. We spent the first night on the boat after two long days getting there from Titusville. We were up early on May 24th to head to the marina to pay out tab, get access to the on shore facilities and begin our walking tour of St. Augustine. 

We left the marina and crossed over Cathedral Street that goes over the Bridge of Lions and then walked up the waterfront right by the boat.

Here is one of the lions that stand guard on the bridge and just to the left is SHIFT on a mooring ball.

Looking up Cathedral street, you can see many of the iconic buildings

The North Mooring field. SHIFT in the middle and Valhalla just to the right. The sad news is that we hard from Randy and Gina. Valhalla ran aground in Fernandina Beach and did some damage to her props. Not sure how bad yet. 

From the waterfront we walked down to the Castillo. This is the oldest fort in the oldest city in North America. We were able to get in free using our National Parks pass. The fort is managed and preserved by the National Parks Service. 

You have to take a picture of the sign

The old guy looking over the mooring field. Always checking on the boat.

It was a hot overcast day. There are many interior rooms that have exhibits. The interpretive signs were excellent at telling the history of the fort and the history of the town of St. Augustine. We spent over 2 hours touring the fort and really enjoyed it. 

Kim loves history and she enjoyed the self guided tour.

I have been warned to not get in front of the cannon while she is on the other side. I will heed that warning.

The preservation of the old fort is impressive.

From the Castillo, we walked through the city. There are many streets that are closed to car traffic and are full of small shops and restaurants. 

We spent lots of time going into shops to look at the wares and to get in the air conditioning. It was HOT and humid!

Lots of oldest stuff. 

A building in Flagler University. This is the same Flagler that we learned about in the keys who built the original railroad that later became the road to access the keys for the first time. The university is impressive. 

This is a city government building that has been turned into a museum

I liked the old car and the building behind. 

We then walked by the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine. They welcomed anyone in to see the church. We decided to go in and spend some time in meditation and air conditioning. It is a very impressive church.

The alter was very ornate

Beautiful stained glass windows

I really liked the choir loft

From the Basilica, we found a place to eat. It turned out to be a little taco place that was very good. Then back to the boat to rest and get ready for the next day. I got 10 gallons of diesel and we took long showers in the marina. We were planning another long offshore passage to Charleston the next two days. I will write all about how that trip went in my next entry. I will end this tour with what St. Augustine is known for. That is the beautiful lights along the waterfront. 

I really like this shot.

They light up the Castillo at night.

Come back to see how the next big sail goes. I will tell you now, it did not go as planned.