The oldest city in the U.S., a college, a fort, and another fort

We drove down a barrier island to a place that really didn't feel like America.  St. Augustine, founded in 1565, is the oldest port in the U.S. Spanish architecture and mosaics dominate the city's buildings and squares.  We walked through ornate stone arches below embellished bell towers near carp-filled fountains.  We gawked at the hotel ponce de leon's

courtyard and wondered at Flagler College's atrium.

Railroad barren, Henry Flagler built numerous hotels in Florida to bring his wealthy yankee friends to on his RR. Clever huh? The atrium of his school's foyer is filled with sunlight and brushed with gold.  The glimpse I got of the dinning hall reminded me of Cambridge. 

We circumvented the 16th century fort, Castillo de San Marcos, too.  We walked in what used to be a moat and sized up the cannons.  Twas yet another reason I didn't feel like we were in America.

As dusk approached, thousands of little white Christmas lights flipped on.  The trees were doused in them and the buildings were lined with them and the wet cobblestone street glowed because of them!  We stopped for Cider and Yuengling at a colonial tavern.  The room was lantern-lit, the beer came from a barrel, and colonial garbed employees were quite entertaining.

Thanksgiving, we toured Ft.Clinch, a Union-held Civil War fort on the Georgia border.  Then we ate our feast at Cracker Barrel because our hotel hasn't an oven.





I just love driving down roads like this.