St. Augustine FL

2014 December 5

by Greg & Lyn

The oldest continuously occupied settlement in the United States. St Augustine has so much history. We had planned to spend several days here to see the city and it’s a good thing because there was a dense fog the day we came in so we didn’t see very much. The next day the fog cleared by midmorning and we walked and walked…then fog rolled in again today, so we walked in the fog!

Here are some of the things we’ve seen….

Alcazar Hotel built by Henry Flagler in 1888 was modeled after a palace in Southern Spain, then sold and converted to a museum in 1947 and the City Hall in 1973.

Flagler College

Fort Castillo De San Marcos built in 1565 to protect the Spanish city from the English.

A wall surrounded the city with this gate, opened in 1739, providing the only access through the defense line on the north side of Spanish St Augustine.

Cathedral of St Augustine. The parish of St Augustine, which dates from the celebration of a mass on Sept 8, 1565 by the Spaniard Pedro Menendez and his men, is the oldest Catholic parish within the present day United States. The first building was destroyed and this one was constructed in 1793.