Simply Millennial

On Friday, Dad and I took a drive to St. Augustine. For those who aren’t history buffs, this is said to be the place where Ponce de Leon landed in 1513. The city was actually established in 1565 by the Spanish Conquistadors. Throughout the years, the city has been under the control of the Spanish, the French, and the British. It’s made for a unique blending of style, architecture and culture within one little spot. Today, St. Augustine is a popular tourist destination. By day the little shops and museums thrive on out-of-towners. By night, however, many Floridians trek here for the popular nightlife scene. Apparently, the town is full of ghosts and it seemed that every time I turned around I would see a sign to promote ghost tours. Even during the day I felt a slight eeriness. Good times!

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Statue of Ponce de Leon. This is said to be the approximate spot where he landed in 1513.

 

Old entrance into the city. Parts of the old barricade still stand on each side of these towers. 

 

The oldest wood schoolhouse of the USA. The puppet in the window freaked me out.

 

Thought this was a cool pub name.

 

These signs were EVERYWHERE!

 

The fort.

 

 

The haunted lighthouse. If any of you watch the show “Ghosthunters,” on the SCI-FI channel, you’ll probably recognize this. They’ve done two episodes here and have found lots of paranormal activity! 

 

Cathedral of St. Augustine. The oldest Catholic parish within the present day U.S.

 

City Hall

 

City Hall courtyard

 

Flagler College 

 

Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles. Governor and Captain General, Conquistador.

Founded St. Augustine in September of 1565.

 

Inside the lobby of the old Alcazar Hotel. Now it’s a museum.

 

The Cubans are everywhere! Here’s a Cuban restaurant set up like the old-time Havana hangouts.

 

Cool painting of Cuban dancers! 

 

Total Southern style architecture. This is a restaurant with a great upstairs porch/balcony.

 

A fuel efficient way to get around town!