Friday, December 02, 2005
Rain in St. Augustine
St Augustine in the Rain (11/28-9)
We arrived yesterday ahead of a terrific rain and thunderstorm. Our first impressions of St. Augustine were not great—it’s a fine little historical city surrounded by tourist insanity. We had chosen to stay at a state park here—the site we were fist assigned didn’t work for us—in fact it took a long time to find a spot we could get into. After all that driving around we were lucky to get settled barely before the downpour began. Anastasia State Park reminds us a lot of our favorite Oregon Coast state parks—but even in a downpour, the temperature was in the 70’s.
Today we crossed the intercoastal waterway into historical St. Augustine. Rather than pay big bucks for the trolley tour, we did a walking in the rain tour. (not much rain). It’s much more up close and personal that way. One of the best investments we made was our National Parks Pass which got us into the fort here—Castillo de San Marcos. This fort had a very interesting history. It was built by the Spanish for protection from pirates, held by the British for a time, and in the Civil War by both Confederate and Union soldiers. Later, it was also the prison for Indians from the west and plains—including the family of Geronimo.
This afternoon I finally got a walk on the beach. For awhile, I had this fine Florida beach all to myself but as the afternoon cleared, others came out.
We arrived yesterday ahead of a terrific rain and thunderstorm. Our first impressions of St. Augustine were not great—it’s a fine little historical city surrounded by tourist insanity. We had chosen to stay at a state park here—the site we were fist assigned didn’t work for us—in fact it took a long time to find a spot we could get into. After all that driving around we were lucky to get settled barely before the downpour began. Anastasia State Park reminds us a lot of our favorite Oregon Coast state parks—but even in a downpour, the temperature was in the 70’s.
Today we crossed the intercoastal waterway into historical St. Augustine. Rather than pay big bucks for the trolley tour, we did a walking in the rain tour. (not much rain). It’s much more up close and personal that way. One of the best investments we made was our National Parks Pass which got us into the fort here—Castillo de San Marcos. This fort had a very interesting history. It was built by the Spanish for protection from pirates, held by the British for a time, and in the Civil War by both Confederate and Union soldiers. Later, it was also the prison for Indians from the west and plains—including the family of Geronimo.
This afternoon I finally got a walk on the beach. For awhile, I had this fine Florida beach all to myself but as the afternoon cleared, others came out.
# posted by Carol Harma @ 5:20 AM 
