Fun Weekend in America’s Oldest City.

A few weeks ago we spent a long weekend in America’s oldest city . . . St. Augustine, FL.  I had visited St. Augustine years ago but Lisa had never been there.  There were some things I remembered from before but most was new and fun.

We stayed on a key just a mile or so north of St. Augustine called Vilano Beach at a very nice campground on Highway A1A just across from the ocean. 

We met up with some friends there (actually they invited us to join them for a long “camping” weekend so we accepted).  The first day we all met in the old section of St. Augustine for sightseeing, shopping and lunch.

When we got back to the campground, even though it was kind of a chilly and windy day for FL we took the “Kids” (Tessy & Tucker) across the street to the beach.  Neither of them had seen the ocean before (Tessy has been to the Gulf of Mexico) and let them run and explore.

 That evening we all got together at Stef and Trevor’s campsite and enjoyed a “Shrimp Boil” that Genia’s husband Tony (with help) prepared in a large boiling kettle.  Shrimp, Sausage, Potatoes . . . and I don’t remember what else ( we were also enjoying some beer and cocktails :-)).  It was delicious !!!!  Was too busy having a good time we never got any pics of feast :-(. 

The next day Lisa and I went off on our own to explore more of the old section of town.  First, we visited “Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park” ( http://www.fountainofyouthflorida.com/ ).  The weather was a bit nicer so wandering the grounds, buildings and exhibits was a lot of fun . . . and we learned stuff too!

We each had a drink from the fountain . . . not sure if it will help “-).

Lots of cool exhibits . . .

Saw some demonstrations of some of the old world weapons like a crossbow and a cannon . .

Watched as the cannon was loaded and of course fired 🙂

Wandering around the grounds there was a lot of things to see . . . of course a statue of the man himself Ponce de Leon . . .

A pair of old cannons . . . and if you look close Florida domesticated “wildlife”. . . a Peahen.

And couldn’t have a Peahen without a Peacock strutting his stuff.

and from the “rear”

After the Fountain of Youth we went back into the old section of town for more shopping and lunch.  After lunch we walked a few blocks and took a tour of the Castillo De San Marcos National Monument . . . an old Spanish fort.  http://www.nps.gov/casa/index.htm

The drawbridge entrance.

Inside the walls.

Cannons on the upper walls between the bastions.

An exhibition of troops firing a cannon.

A couple of pics from up on the walls.

All in all the Castillo De San Marcos National Monument was a pretty cool place to see . . . especially since I finally got a Lifetime Seniors (which I can now :-)) pass for all National parks for $10 . . . can bring in 3 other people with me into any park. . . . Cool !

After exploring Old St. Augustine all day we made our way back to the campground and hooked up with our friends again . . . and more cocktails . . . and beer.  That evening we all went to the campgrounds on-site restaurant “Aunt Kate’s” for dinner ( http://www.aunt-kates.com/ ).  Some looked to have had a little more “fun” than others . . . of course it was Trevor’s birthday.

Come Monday we bid adieu to our friends and headed back towards Orlando where we were going to drop Homey off at the dealers for some warranty work.  We stayed the next four nights in a cottage at Tropical Palms until we picked Homey up after the repairs.

We want to Thank our friends Trevor and Stef for inviting us for a fun weekend.  We had a blast with all . . . Stef, Trevor, Nate, Genia and Tony . . . Thanks guys, hope to see you soon!!