Keith and I left Amelia Island around 10 AM Sat. We could not leave any earlier as it was VERY shallow in the marina and we had to wait until some tide came in. Here is Pengi at low tide around 8 AM.
Pengi says no water, no floatie.
The day was beautiful and all went well on the trip. The only unusual place was in Jacksonville where the channel had changed and no longer followed the charts. Floating buoys were in place, however, our chart plotter looked like we were hiking across land. Our boating followers will appreciate this oddity.
We got into St. Augustine around 4 PM after covering about 59 miles.
St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied settlement
of European origin in the US. It was
founded by Spanish admiral, Pedro Menendez de Aviles in 1565. The Spanish were faced with hostilities from
not only Native Americans of the region but also the English which were
settling areas to the north in Georgia and the Carolinas. As an aid to protecting its holdings in the
region, the Spanish began building the fortification Castillo de San Marcos in
1672. Its completion took 25 years with
many additions and modifications, bit it stands today as the oldest fort in the
US.
The fort is open to the public and has reenactments and tours daily.
Just south of the Castillo de San Marcos is the Bridge of
Lions, a double leaf bascule bridge spanning the ICW. It is part of highway A1A and connects St.
Augustine to Anastasia Island. Built in
1927 by Henry Rodenbaugh, VP and bridge expert of Florida East Coast Railway,
the bridge replaced the old wooden structure which had become terribly
outdated. The bridge gets its name from
the two marble Medici Lion statues that guard the entrance onto the
bridge. The lions were a gift from Dr.
Andrew Anderson who had them made by the Romanelli Studios in Florence,
Italy. They are copies of those found in
the Loggia dei Lanzi also in Florence. This picture is of the bridge from Southern Style's cockpit.
The Medici Lions for which the Bridge gets its name.
The Ponce de Leon Hotel was an exclusive luxury hotel built
by millionaire developer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry Flagler.
Completed in 1888 by world renowned NY
architectural firm Carrere and Hastings, the 540 room hotel was the first of
its kind constructed of poured concrete using local coquina as aggregate. It was also one of the first buildings in the
country wired for electricity. The power
was supplied by DC generators installed by Flagler’s friend Thomas Edison. Because electricity was so new, most guests
had no experience with it. Hotel employees often had to turn lights on and off
for guests who were too afraid of touching the light switches for fear of being
shocked.
Many famous designers were involved in the interior
décor. Most notable was Louis Comfort
Tiffany who provided the stained-glass windows for the hotel dining room.
During WW II the hotel was taken over by the federal
government and used as a Coast Guard training center. It housed up to 2,500 trainees at a
time. After the war it was deactivated
by the Coast Guard and returned to operation as a hotel. Over time however it saw declining visitor
numbers and in 1967 it was closed. The
following year the hotel became the centerpiece of Flagler College. This is a private 4-year liberal arts college
in St. Augustine. Students now provide
guided historic tours of the hotel. It
is on the US National Register of Historic Places.
Fountain in the courtyard of the hotel.
Me at the fountain of the Ponce courtyard.
The Lightner Museum was originally The Hotel Alcazar
commissioned also by Henry Flagler.
Built in 1887 this hotel was across the street from the Ponce De Leon
and had amenities such as a steam room, massage parlor, sulfur baths,
gymnasium, 3 story ball room, and the world’s largest indoor swimming
pool. It, like the Ponce de Leon, spent
years as a popular retreat for the wealthy but began declining around WW
II. In 1947 Chicago publisher Otto C. Lightner
purchased the building to house his extensive collection of Victorian era
pieces. He turned it over to the city of
St. Augustine and today it is a museum housing his eclectic pieces and
additional Victorian collections.
Named by CNN and USA Today as one of the religious wonders
of the US is the Memorial Presbyterian Church.
It is also said to be one of the most beautiful Protestant churches of
the world. It was built in 1889 by Henry
Flagler and dedicated to his daughter Jennie Louise Benedict who died following
complications of childbirth while at sea.
Upon Flagler’s death in 1913, he was interred in a marble mausoleum
within the church beside his daughter Jennie, her infant Marjorie, and his
first wife Mary Harkness Flagler.
Originally established in 1565 and rebuilt in the 18th
century, Cathedral Basilica of St Augustine is the oldest church in
Florida. The Roman Catholic Church was
an integral part of the Spanish monarchy, and with Spain’s explorations and
settlements in FL; the Catholic church was very important. The Spanish influence is characterized by the
mission bells and gables on the front.
Tomorrow we leave for our final destination Hammock Beach Marina in Palm Coast, FL.
