Saint Augustine

Overview

St. Augustine, the oldest continually occupied European settlement in the United States, was founded in 1565, some 42 years before the English attempted to colonize Jamestown. St. Augustine is sometimes a little more touristy than it should be, but it must not be bypassed. A new multistory parking garage opened in July, 2006, just west of the Visitor Information Center, and is convenient to the area of colonial restoration.

Start with the Castillo de San Marcos, the fort that dominates the northern edge of the city. Tours are inexpensive and quite interesting, and a good view of town can be had from the gundeck. This fort is built of a popular local building material, coquina stone. Coquina are tiny clams that burrow in the sand of the area's beaches. Building up in layers on the ancient sea bottom, they were compacted, and cemented by minerals in the seawater, forming a porous stone that is capable of simply absorbing any cannonballs fired at it from ships in Matanzas Bay (although this has not been tested recently). Leaving the castillo, make your way to St. George Street, where among other things you can tour the Oldest Schoolhouse and a number of other Oldest Things. There are a number of good restaurants and bars along St. George Street and the surrounding area (last call for alcohol is 12:30 a.m.).  You can tour the San Sebastian winery, which sits on an unassuming plot of ground near the headquarters of the Florida East Coast railroad, inland a ways from St. George St. Free tours...more

History