St. Augustine, FL

We only had a half-day to spend in St. Augustine, Florida, and unfortunately, we did not spend it at Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth. Probably could have used some of that magical elixir, but if it did any real good, I’m sure it would have been all used up by the large numbers of aging snow birds that are now tanning on the beaches of Florida.

St. Augustine was established in 1565 by Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, becoming the oldest permanent European settlement in the continental United States. 




For 235 years it was the political, military and religious capital of the Province of Florida from which Spain exercised jurisdiction over a vast geographical region. The town’s principal value, though, was as a military base for the protection of Spain’s colonial trade and commerce.

Considering our lack of faith in old Ponce’s discovery, we instead spent our time at the Castillo de San Marcos.

The Spaniards built Castillo de San Marcos, finishing it in 1695. It was amazing to me that a structure over 400 years old was not only still standing, but in pretty good condition, as well.

Aerial view of Castillio de San Marcos.

 

Castillo de San Marcos was for many years the northernmost outpost of Spain’s vast New World empire. It is the oldest masonry fort and the best-preserved example of a Spanish colonial fortification in the continental Untied States.

The Castillo protected St. Augustine from pirate raids and from Spain’s major rival, Great Britain, during a time when the Florida-Georgia-Carolina coastline was an explosive international battleground.

The Castillo’s baptism of fire came in 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession, when the English occupied St. Augustine and unsuccessfully besieged the fort for 50 days.




The English burned the town before they left, but the Castillo emerged unscathed, thereby making it a symbolic link between the old St. Augustine of 1565 and the new city that rose from the ashes.

This is the first fort we have ever seen with a drawbridge and a moat that one has to navigate in order to enter. There was no water in the moat when we were there, but my thought was that water and alligators would certainly have added to defenses of the structure.

Drawbridge into the fort.

A modern-day Spaniard guards the drawbridge.

Moat around the fort.

The fort itself is a hollow square with diamond-shaped bastions at each corner, with only one way in or out. The fort is constructed out of a sedimentary material called Coquina, which is loaded with small seashells and is amazingly strong.




The inside walls are covered in a fairly soft material on which the soldiers from centuries gone by, carved pictures of ships and wrote names and notes that while faint, are still visible today.

Coquina building material.

Soldier's Bunk's.

There were large rooms in the fort for storage, business of the soldiers, sleeping and eating quarters and a dungeon, which looked to me like someplace you would definitely NOT want to spend time.

Door to the Dungeon.

Inside the Dungeon.

Apparently the Spaniards were an art-y bunch, and many of the canons had beautiful designs on them that I found quite fascinating.

Decorative Canons.

The Castillo of course sits right on the water and now, some 400 years later, over looks homes, a modern draw bridge and the city of St. Augustine.

Mortar with the city in the background.

After our time at the fort, we walked across the street to the, “The Colonial Spanish Quarter,” where there were supposed to be era craftsmen. 




This type of thing is always of interest to us, so we headed off. However, although the Colonial Spanish Quarter seemed to go on forever, we found it to be extremely commercialized with no unique craftsmen there at all.

We did spot the oldest “Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse,” which is one of the oldest structures in the city. I also saw it had heavy chains fastened all around it. It's always important to keep old wooden schoolhouses from running away I guess...One would think the anchor would have been enough...

Charleston, SC

Charleston, South Carolina, which hosted the opening shots of the Civil War, was an amazing place. In addition to all the Civil War history here, the beauty of the antebellum homes was everywhere.

Don and I took a walk around downtown. We discovered that we were walking right past “Rainbow Row.” A street full of multi-colored row houses, all on the historic register.

Rainbow Row

Then we wandered on down to the waterfront. From there, even through the fog (another rainy day) we could look out and see Fort Sumter in the distance with a flag flying above it.




There was a wildly colored Greenpeace ship in the foreground. I have no idea what it was doing there however it was rather ironic for a Greenpeace ship to be sitting in front of this iconic symbol of a great war.

Greenpeace ship with Fort Sumter in the background.

We also walked through Battery Park that overlooked the waterfront. It was from here that the city attempted to protect themselves from the Union armies assault at the beginning of the Civil War.

Battery Park Monuments

From there, our walk took us past numerous unbelievable mansions. They were everywhere, and I photographed just a few of them.

One of the mansions we walked past was open for tours, so in we went. This was the Calhoun Mansion, an amazing place. Of course I could not photograph inside, but here is a sampling of the outside and gardens.

Peeking through the gate at Calhoun Mansion.

Side yard of Calhoun Mansion

Calhoun Mansion Gardens

The Calhoun Mansion was built in 1876 and has 35 rooms filled, no jammed full, of antiques from all over the world.


It is still the largest single-family home in Charleston. The house has had several uses since the original owner died in 1903. George Williams was a blockade runner during the Civil War, a dangerous but extremely lucrative profession. His daughter, Sarah married Patrick Calhoun, therefore the name of the home. They lost their fortune in the stock market collapse in 1929.

In 1930 Gedney Howe III brought the mansion for only $220,000 and restored it. It then was used as a B&B and a luxury hotel. It was also used by the Navy for boarding. The current owner, who actually lives there part time, owns all the amazing antiques.



Sculptured Gardens

Reflecting Pools

Garden Statuary

Fort Sumter:

It was 1861 and South Carolina had seceded from the Union, yet Union forces still occupied Fort Sumter at the entrance of Charleston Harbor. 


The South demanded that Fort Sumter be vacated. The North refused. Finally on April 12, 1861, South Carolina Confederate troops from nearby Fort Johnson fired on the fort, the start of a two-day bombardment that resulted in the surrender of Fort Sumter by Union troops.

With the North’s withdrawal, the South held the fort until it was finally evacuated on February 17, 1865.




During that time, the fort experienced one of the longest sieges in modern warfare. For almost two years, 46,000 shells, estimated at more that seven million pounds of metal, were fired at Fort Sumter.




For these reasons and more, Fort Sumter remains on of the most significant historic monuments in the United States.

Fort Sumter is situated on a small island a couple miles out in the Charleston Harbor, so tours begin with a 30-minute boat ride. We wandered around the Fort, looking at a lot of the canons that are still there. Also there are some cannon balls still stuck in the walls here and there from the siege.

Our boat to Fort Sumter

The Waterfront

Approaching Fort Sumter

For those unsure of where they landed...

Ready...Aim...

BOOM!

Canons...Canons

...and more canons...EVERYWHERE!!

Old Glory Still Flies!

Our last stop was at Boone Hall Plantation. This plantation is considered to be the most photographed plantation in America. It is also one of the oldest working, living plantations, continuously growing and producing crops for 320 years.

The world-famous ¾ mile long “Avenue of Oaks,” greet you as you drive onto the property.

The Famous "Avenue of the Oaks."

During warmer weather, there are live performances depicting life on the plantation during the “Old South” era. There are also gardens that are beautiful in other seasons of the year. We did take a ride with a guide around the 720-acre plantation and a tour of the inside of the house.

Road on the Plantation.

Front of Main House

Camellias on the front porch of the house.

Back of the Main House.

The oldest building on the property was the smoke house that was 250 years old. There was also an enormous Southern Live Oak tree that was 600 years old.

Six Hundred Year Old Smoke House.

Six Hundred Year Old Southern Live Oak.

"Slave Street"

Slave Church

Depiction of a slave family's house.

Another interesting area was “Slave Street.” There were several original brick slave houses still standing. They had displays and recordings in them telling about various aspects of slave life on the plantation. While extremely interesting, the difficult living conditions and life situations the slaves endured made some of it was very hard to listen to.

Overlooking the river next to the plantation house.