Day 105 - 20 March

We went to sleep with the wind howling and gusting and Windreka rocking and rolling in our slip at the St. Augustine City Marina. We woke up again at 4:30 AM to a heavy rain. After shutting ports and hatches and side curtains, we went back to sleep and woke up once again at sunrise to overcast skies and cool weather. After a quick breakfast, the sun came out and we put on our jackets and headed "downtown." As we do any place the Old Town Trolley runs, we signed up to take the tour and take advantage of the ability to get on or off the trolley at any of their stops. All the sights we wanted to see were included on the tour and since we allowed ourself only one day to "do the town," we had our plan and we executed.

One of the major stops was the Castillo de San Marcos where we walked around this historic US National Park. The Castillo is a Spanish built fort located in St. Augustine. It was known as Fort Marion from 1821 until 1942, and Fort St. Mark from 1763 until 1784 while under British control. The Castillo is a masonry star fort made of a stone called "coquina", literally "little shells", made of ancient shells that have bonded together to form a type of stone similar to limestone. Workers were brought in from Cuba to construct the fort and the coquina was quarried from Anastasia Island across the bay from the Castillo, and ferried across to the construction site. Construction lasted twenty-three years, being completed in 1695. For a detailed history of the Castillo, look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_San_Marcos.



Flagler College and Hotel

St. Augustine Lighthouse and the 219 steos to the top not climbed!

Mission Nombre de Dios is the location where the first Catholic Mass was said in the United States. The mission was one of the first Spanish missions to the Indians of Florida and was established soon after the founding of St. Augustine in 1565. Due to the hostility of the Indians, the Jesuits withdrew from the mission in 1572. In 1573 the Franciscans began missionary work along the Atlantic coast. The mission system collapsed at the beginning of the 18th century after raids by soldiers and their Indian allies.

Lynn Hershfeld and Coyote, Gulfstar 50

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