A few days after I arrived in Florida, my sister, Marilou T. Eplite, told me during our dinner: “We will be going to St. Augustine tomorrow.” It is, she added, the oldest city in North America. Really? I thought to myself.
So, before going to bed, I did some research on the place. It all started in 1513 when Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain. At that time, some Spanish explorers found gold and silver in Mexico and Peru. The treasures were sent back to Spain in ships sailing in the Gulf Stream.
“Spanish settlements needed to be built in Florida to protect the Spanish treasure fleets. King Philip II of Spain sent Pedro Menendez de Aviles to settle Florida and drive out French garrisons recently established there,” the tourist magazine said.
In September 1565, Menendez along with 700 soldiers and colonists landed in what is now known as St. Augustine. As such, it became “the oldest continually occupied European settlement in North America.”
Now, that’s very interesting indeed. After traveling for almost two hours from Deltona, we arrived in the city. But first, we had to find a parking area. My brother-in-law, David Eplite, decided to park near the Welcome Information Center.
To know what to see in the city, I took a sightseeing tour map which was free. Looking at the areas to visit, I was totally overwhelmed. It has a quaint feel and boasts a big appeal. It’s understandable why people stroll along the brick-lined streets and delight in the city’s European flavor, with centuries-old buildings, horse-drawn carriages, and hidden courtyards.
There are too many to see in the historic downtown alone. But David had good news. We can explore the historical places through a trolley, a 23-stop fully narrated tour by expert conductors-cum-drivers. He bought a ticket in the form of a round sticker, which we placed on our shirts.
“You can hop in and hop out at designated areas,” David said.
There is an interesting story on how the city, which used to be the capital of Florida, got its name. According to Wikipedia, it was de Aviles who named the place San Agustin “as his ships bearing settlers, troops, and supplies from Spain had first sighted land in Florida eleven days earlier on August 28, the feast day of St. Augustine.”
Augustine, if you don’t know it yet, is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Communion. His memorial is celebrated on 28 August, the day of his death.
Before we did our sightseeing tour, we went to the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument first since it was just a walking distance from the information center. After paying the entrance fee, we had our self-guided walking tour.
The monument – which sits on more than 10 hectare-park – is home to the oldest surviving masonry fortress in the United States. The massive fortification includes 30-foot-high walls composed of coquina blocks (a material made from cemented seashells) and four imposing bastions.
For many years, Castillo de San Marcos was the northernmost outpost of Spain’s vast New World empire. The fort protected St. Augustine from pirate raids and from Spain’s major rival, Great Britain.
“You have entered one of the most extraordinary places in the United States, incorporating over 345 years of history and culture,” the brochure stated. “Construction of the Castillo de San Marcos began in 1672, making it one of the oldest standing structures in North America.”
The construction of the fort was finished in 1695.
If you want to know what it looks like, here’s the brochure described: “Engineer Ignacio Daza designed a fortress using a bastion system. The star-like outline of the Castillo is formed by diamond shaped projections, called bastions, on each corner of the fort. This design eliminates blind spots for the guards in the garitas, or sentry boxes, at each bastion point and increases the fort’s firepower by allowing multiple cannons to fire on the same target, creating a crossfire effect.”
After visiting the fortress, we had our sightseeing tour. It was fun and eye-opening. One of those that caught my interest was the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park, site of America’s first colony. Imagine stepping into the area first explored by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513 and settled by Pedro Menendez de Aviles in 1565. It was also in this place where the first documented Thanksgiving feast between Europeans and Native Americans took place.
“There’s no place like home,” so goes a popular saying. That’s why houses fascinate me. One of the homes that I found interesting was the Gonzalez-Alvarez House, touted to be the oldest Spanish built home in the United States. With a construction history dating to about 1723, it is also a living example of the city’s Spanish colonial architectural style (although it was later modified by its English owners).
Not far from the said house was what touted as the oldest wooden school building in the United States. The exact date of construction is unknown, but it first appeared on tax records in 1716. History records showed there were no extant wooden buildings in St. Augustine built it prior to 1702 when the British burned the city.
The Potter’s Wax Museum had you come face-to-face with the past, present, and future. It is touted to be America’s first wax museum; it is home to more than 160 different wax figures – from stars to singers, from professional athletes to political figures. Too bad, there was no wax figure of Harry Potter. Actually, it was George L. Potter who established the collection in 1948.
Since I am based in Davao City (the Chocolate Capital of the Philippines), I was totally mesmerized by the Original Chocolate Tour led by Whetstone Chocolatiers. I got to know the history and the making of chocolate in this part of the world. The walk through the factory is something for a chocoholic who has a discriminating palate searching for the subtleties that define artisan chocolates.
If Davao City has Crocodile Park, St. Augustine has Crocodile Crossing. What makes it very exciting is that you zip over all of the world’s 23 living species of crocodilian species. Another challenge: zip across the lagoon with adult American alligators right under your toes.
Another thing Davao City has is a replica of Michelangelo’s famous David. Displayed at Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum, the statue is an exact replica of Michelangelo’s famous nude sculpture of David. It stands 18 feet tall and is hand-carved from marble, weighing a hefty 9,071.8474 kilograms.
Made in 1963 for the World’s Fair in New York City, the statue was moved to Buena Park, California in 1965 where it stood for 42 years. Acquired by Ripley in 2007, it was transferred to St. Augustine in its present location.
There were so many other things to visit but we were tired already. So, we decided to have our lunch at George Street, part of the original walled city. This place is full of old buildings with historic markers. Actually, most of the buildings sell clothing, gifts, and jewelry – or offer a comfortable restaurant or pub.
After eating, we returned to the parking area and went to the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum. It was here that I had to conquer my fear of heights. To go up, you had to climb the 219 stairs or about 14 stories. At first, I didn’t want to go but David pushed me to do it.
I did it. But still when taking pictures, I still had to hold tightly in the fences – it was as if I was going to fall. From the top, I was able to take breathtaking photos of the old city and see the Atlantic Ocean.
It was already five in the afternoon when we went down from the lighthouse. It was time to return to Deltona.
“Thanks for bringing me to St. Augustine,” I told the Eplite couple. “It was a memorable experience!”
