Florida

FLORIDA

Once we finalized plans to do the New York City rally, we decided to spend the winter in Florida instead of wintering in Baja, Mexico, as we have been doing since February, 2005.  There are three Thousand Trails RV Parks in Florida and we will be staying at all three after a short stay in St. Augustine, Florida.  St. Augustine is another beautiful old city.  I have been captivated by so many places on the east coast, it would be difficult to pick a favorite.  I think our timing has had a lot to do with it though, had we been here during peak tourist season, I don't believe I would have liked a lot of the places we have visited nearly as much.

We arrived in Florida on November 25, 2013.  Boy, time flies when you're having fun because here it is, already January, and I've been sitting on this blog for a long time!  And we've discovered we've been gypped!  The sign says "The Sunshine State" and we've had several weeks of cloudy, rainy weather.  At least for the most part it hasn't been too cold.

I'm glad Florida is open for business!

Okay, the sign says "The Sunshine State" - where's the sun?

St. Augustine, the nation's oldest city, was founded by the Spanish in 1565.  In the Historic Colonial District,  the streets are narrow and there are less than three dozen original buildings.  There are a number of reconstructed buildings so the 'flavor' of the city remains, one that is ancient, at least by American standards.  Debates continue as to whether or not the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in St. Augustine.

The historic district of St. Augustine, aka "The Tourist Trap"

The Bridge of Lions over the Matanzas River - when the bridge opens to let boat traffic through it really creates a traffic jam in St. Augustine.

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument - construction was started in 1672 and completed in 1695.  It was built to replace previous fortifications on Matanzas Bay for protecting St. Augustine.

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

This is a cannon from 1595! Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

I decided to let the signs explain Nombre de Dios Mission in St. Augustine

Nombre de Dios Mission

Nombre de Dios Mission

Our Lady of La Leche Chapel, this is the fourth building on the same foundation.  The first building was built in 1615.  Over the years the buildings have been destroyed by war, pirates and/or storms.  The current building was begun in 1918.

The old city gates to St. Augustine; at one time St. Augustine was a walled city.

The oldest wooden schoolhouse in the USA, the date of construction is unknown but it did appear on the tax records in 1716.

St. George Street, St. Augustine

Flagler College

The Ponce de León Hotel was an exclusive hotel in St. Augustine, built by millionaire developer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler and completed in 1888.  It is now part of Flagler College.

Alcazar Hotel was opened by Henry Flagler on December 25, 1888.  It is currently the St. Augustine City Hall.

Cathedral Basilica of Saint Augustine, this is the entrance to the cathedral and is only a small part of the church.

The Dow Museum of Historic Houses has nine historic houses and gardens in a city block area built between 1790 and 1910.  This was all owned by one man, Kenneth Worcester Dow, who started buying the properties in the 1930's when he decided to make St. Augustine his permanent home.  He donated the entire block to the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach in 1989.  We probably would not have even visited if it hadn't been for a chance encounter with some other tourists we met on the street who had been there and told us about it.  Well worth the visit. 

The Dow Museum of Historic Houses

Although this house looks like it is ready to fall down, it has been reinforced so it won't.  The belief is that it was damaged by a hurricane/flood in 1944 and was detached from its foundation.  The Dow Museum of Historic Houses

One of the lions at the entrance to Bridge of Lions, St. Augustine

We've been to a lot of places where I would have liked to have spent more time, St. Augustine being one of them, but our reservations at Orlando Thousand Trails awaited us.  But, I suppose that was quite obvious since I let the 'cat out of the bag' by already posting the pictures from Disney World!  We arrived at Orlando TT the day before Thanksgiving and not knowing what to expect, I had bought a turkey and all the fixings to make dinner in the coach.  I managed to find a 10-lb. turkey that fit in the oven so I was a happy camper!  I must say it's much easier to cook a big dinner at home!  We spent three weeks in Orlando and other than having lunch with some dear friends who live in Florida, and having the kids and grandkids visit, we took it easy.  Being a member of Thousand Trails is really great.  We've met some really nice people and as we've traveled south, we have run into them more than once.  So it's always fun to compare notes on our travels.

The lake at Orlando Thousand Trails

I've been playing with a new app that I got to make collages and this is one that I've done.  There's still a lot for me to learn, like composition, framing, etc. but I think it's going to be fun.

Our next stop is Peace River Thousand Trails in Wauchula, Florida.  We'll be there until February 1, 2014.