March 1, 2014
Fernandina Beach FL to St. Augustine FL

Our day started off very chilly but steadily improved.  We came in to St. Augustine City Marina in our long underwear and it was 70 degrees.  But everyone was overdressed,  including the dockhands.

Both of us had been to St. Augustine before, but didn't feel that we had a good look at the whole town, so decided to stay over an extra day.

We docked right next to the Bridge of Lions

which is right downtown.  Nice marina.

It is a beautiful, old (settled by the Spanish in 1565) city, and is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the US.  It is extremely well preserved, with beautiful 19th century Spanish Renaissance architecture.  We visited the old Spanish fort, the Castillo de San Marcos,  where volunteers dressed in Spanish uniforms (and speaking Spanish) demonstrated cannon firing.

We spent quite a bit of time at Flagler College, the site of the once luxurious but now defunct Ponce de Leon Hotel, built in 1888 by Henry Flagler, the founder of Standard Oil.  This is one of the first great hotels in Florida and really opened the state to tourism.  Prior to that time the only people who went to FL were those suffering from tuberculosis.  Flagler also built a railroad that ran from New York City to St. Augustine so tourists had a convenient way to get there.

 In the college's dining hall, once the ballroom for the hotel,  is the largest collection of Tiffany stained glass in the world.  Quite a sight.  Amazing murals and ceiling frescos are painted throughout the public areas, and it only took 18 months to build!

We are presently cruising down the Matanzas River, almost to Flagler Beach, on a beautiful, 70 degree Florida day. We are on our way to New Smyrna Beach and the Smyrna Yacht Club.