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For this blog:

This blog is about our short trip to St. Augustine and Amelia Island in Florida.  St. Augustine is the oldest city in North American, being founded by the Spanish in 1565.

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Buildings

Gates

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January 3 - St. Augustine and Castillo De San Marcos

We are visiting St. Augustine and Amelia Island in advance of a family trip to Disney World in Orlando.  St. Augustine is considered to be the oldest city established by Europeans in North America (the indigenous people of the continent founded cities much older).  It was founded in 1565 by the Spanish.  

There are a lot of old interesting buildings and little windy streets and alleyways.  

The buildings date from many periods of the cities history so it was very interesting to explore and see what one could find.  

The old homes were beautiful.

The city also has the oldest masonry fort in the country, Castillo de San Marcos.  It was built by the Spanish from 1672 - 1695 and is now a National Monument.  We spent some time wandering the grounds.  It is very impressive and is in really good repair. 

St. Augustine also has a pretty impressive lighthouse. 

Looking down the spiral stairs 

Looking up the spiral stairs

We climbed the stairs to the top where we had great views of the city and surrounding waterways.  

It is just after Christmas and many of the decorations...  

and holiday lights are still up.  St. Augustine is known for their wonderful Christmas light displays.  

January 4 - Matanzas River

St. Augustine straddles the Matanzas River so there are a lot of views of the river.  

We had lunch at a restaurant right on the river and were greeted by many, MANY seagulls.

And we also saw a pelican.

Later we stopped at the Lightner Museum (originally the Alcazar Hotel, built in 1888)...

and the Dow Museum of Historical Homes.  The Dow was a treasure trove of old gates, 

buildings,

courtyards,

gardens,

artifacts,

and interiors 

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More photos of the Dow Museum

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That evening we went out again to enjoy more Christmas lights.