 Step
back in time to St. Augustine,
America’s oldest continually settled municipality, and feel as
if you are caught in a delicious time warp. The town dates back
to the Spanish conquistadores of the sixteenth century.
Ponce de Leon himself landed here, looking for a sip of youth,
they say, and by 1565, soldiers, their families and merchants
were busily building a community of coquina rock, mortar and
cypress wood. Colonial Spanish Quarter recreates the time, circa
1740. Costumed re-enactors authentically demonstrate cooking
techniques, blacksmithing, candle-making and other crafts.
At Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth park, you can see the
excavation of the actual stone cross Ponce de Leon and his men
laid out in the sand upon reaching Florida shores. Have a sip of
"youth" while you’re at it. Can’t hurt – look what it’s done for
preserving this town. Nearby, Nombre de Dios marks the first
Spanish Catholic Mass and mission on American soil. Massive
Castillo de San Marcos fort has warded off enemies for 300-plus
years. Spanish soldier re-enactors still shoot off its cannons.
Despite fires and hurricanes, much of the original walled city
remains in the restoration district. "Old" is highly revered
here, where you can visit The Oldest House (1720), The Oldest
Wooden School House in the USA (1763), The Oldest Store (1840),
and the Old Jail (1891), mostly within the Old Gates of the Old
City. Narrow, uneven streets in the 144-block Restoration Area
lead to colonial architectural treasures holding gift boutiques,
restaurants, pubs, ice cream shops, antiques shops, bed and
breakfast inns and historic attractions. To tour it all, hop on
a horse-drawn carriage, trolley or miniature train. Or walk the
streets at night to experience the ghostly side of this spirited
city. Other specialized tours explain St. Augustine’s rich
architectural heritage. It reflects the town’s eras of
occupation by later the British and colonial America. Railroad
mogul Henry Flagler exerted the strongest architectural
influence when he built magnificent hotels for his passengers to
paradise.
The Lightner Museum, formerly Flagler’s Hotel Alcazar, displays
one man’s collection of turn-of-last-century treasures,
including Tiffany and other works of art glass. An antiques mall
makes a splash in the hotel’s remarkable old indoor swimming
pool, a wonder in its day. Flagler’s building boom also resulted
in glorious churches demonstrating the Gilded Age-era
predilection for imitation with exotic arches, towers, Byzantine
spires, elaborate gold capitols and Mediterranean bell towers.
 Other
attractions around the Old City balance the historic with the
modern in the form of contemporary theater, opera, art
galleries, Potter’s Wax Museum, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Museum and a chocolate factory. Restaurants range from a Spanish
bakery that uses heirloom recipes to a modern microbrewery.
Festivals celebrate the multi-faceted aspects of St. Augustine’s
past and present, including monthly art walk nights and annual
costumed torchlight re-enactments of British occupation.
Outside the Old City walls, you will still encounter historic
sites, along with St. Augustine’s natural treasures and renowned
golf resorts. Across the Intracoastal Waterway on
St. Augustine Beach,
St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park is the state’s
oldest (circa 1893) and a fun place to take the family. Then
climb the 219 steps to the top of a 120-year-old black-and-white
spiral striped lighthouse and visit its museum and have a picnic
in the park nearby. The beach is home to Anastasia State Park,
where beachers, fishermen and surfers gather. Fort ruins and
putt-putt golf centers round out the attractions along this
stretch of wide, hard-packed sand.
Scenic & Historic A1A Scenic Highway runs northward, bringing
you to serious golfing territory. For decades, the resorts of
Ponte Vedra Beach have
given the area its reputation for professional and amateur golf.
Ponte Vedra Beach Inn & Club was among Florida’s first fine golf
resorts, since 1928. The Marriott at Sawgrass is the official
hotel of the Tournament Players Club and home of The Players
Championship; it also hosts professional tennis. Mecca for the
obsessed golfer (is there any other kind?), World Golf Village
has it all –World Golf Hall of Fame, two celebrity-corroborated
(Palmer and Nicklaus, Snead and Sarazen) championship courses,
PGA Tour Golf Academy, an IMAX theater and a Renaissance Resort
with its own virtual reality golf simulator. |
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