In keeping with
the theme of our adventure of “firsts” what a perfect place to visit, St.
Augustine Florida, America’s first successful colony and oldest city.
In 1565, Spanish
explorer Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles arrived with 800 colonists to settle the
New World in the name of Spain. It was an ambitious attempt indeed, and on
September 8th, St. Augustine was founded.
We picked another
nearby KOA to park Chillax’n at for a couple of days. St. Augustine Beach KOA
is located about 3 miles from downtown, and has public transit available just
steps from the front entrance. Sorry Rick forgot to snap a photo of our
campsite however, we did manage to take a few pictures of the resident
wildlife.
This cool bird above
could be seen on his perch for most of each and every day, with the exception of course when
Mr. Hawk arrived below!
This colourful
fellow and his entourage regularly paid our site a visit in the hope that we
would feed them, which of course we did not. I’m sure many people do though
because they were unbelievably tame and not afraid of humans. Toby enjoyed
rolling in their poop too if you didn’t keep a watchful eye UGH!
Of course there
will always be these little critters around when there is an abundance of live oak trees.
The name "live" oak
comes from the fact that evergreen oaks remain green and "live"
throughout winter, when other oaks are dormant.
When the term live
oak is used in a specific rather than general sense, it most commonly refers to
the southern live oak, the first species so named, and an icon of the Old South.
We spent a
beautiful warm sunny afternoon walking around the downtown core where there is so
much to see and do understandably. There was everything to do from sports and
recreation, sightseeing and walking ghost tours, both fun and historic
attractions, shopping galore, art galleries, and lastly an abundance of bars
and restaurants.
The first Spanish Military Hospital now a Museum
Scarlett O'Hara's Pub
When you’re in
need of a good restaurant and/or pub who better to ask than the local constabulary...
Sangrias Tapas & Wine Bar where 1 beer + 1 glass of wine + tip equalled 20 bucks!
Of course Wee Shaemus tagged along with us!
Just to enlighten you a little - prior to entering this place we had enjoyed a fantastic dinner out at an Italtian restaurant called the Chianti Room.
Several glasses of wine, and we're not telling you just how many + 2 Caesar Salads + 1 Lasagna and 1 Veal Parm dinner equalled $49 less the tip.
Just to enlighten you a little - prior to entering this place we had enjoyed a fantastic dinner out at an Italtian restaurant called the Chianti Room.
Several glasses of wine, and we're not telling you just how many + 2 Caesar Salads + 1 Lasagna and 1 Veal Parm dinner equalled $49 less the tip.
What is up with that ???
Oh well, at least this little musical duo was worth the coin!
Oh well, at least this little musical duo was worth the coin!
But after a fantastic belated Birthday dinner / date night we waited for our
taxi in front of Tini Martini Bar all decked out in it's Christmas bling. A little over the top perhaps?
Tomorrow we will
be moving further south to the West Palm and Delray Beach areas so we can enjoy
another couple of firsts. We also have a couple of friends to hook up with
there, both who are friends of Rick’s from his pre-Sandra days.
If you ever get
the chance to visit St. Augustine please don’t hesitate and let the opportunity
pass you by. St. Augustine is most certainly a compelling narrative of
exploration, innovation and let’s not forget its enduring human spirit.
It is
marked by so many milestones such as being the first permanent European and African
settlement; the site of the first Christian mass in the Americas; the first
port to develop into a centre of trans-Atlantic trade and commerce; the site of
the first hospital; the first tavern just to mention a few.
Legacies
such as these will be celebrated next year during the 450th
Commemoration of what is known as the first colony.
Our visit definitely was a
first on so many levels!
Thanks for hanging out with us, and don't forget to catch up with Chillax'n after
our adventure of first continues on to West Palm and Delray Beach Florida.
See you all on the
flip side….
Rick, Sandra, Toby
and Wee Shaemus
