This charming city is older than Jamestown, has Lions on its Bridge, a Castle with a moat, a haunted lighthouse, a restaurant in a swimming pool, 11 historic churches, a once posh resort turned college, a fountain of youth, a replica of Michaelangelo’s David, and many other significant landmarks and history, you can’t help but be impressed. We spent four nights here and were glad we did. Actually got a bonus night due to the high winds and small craft advisory. We had a slip at the city marina in the heart of the historic downtown right by the Bridge of Lions. It was Race Week, which is a premiere sailing event featuring multiple sailing races. But we enjoyed the live music and food right at the marina. We loved this stop and took advantage of all the city had to offer, great sites, great food, great shopping, and great local people.
These marble copies of the Medici Lions guard the Bridge and were a gift to the city of St. Augustine from the mayor. The bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places and ranks 4th in the nation’s top ten bridges. Can you spot Flying Colors in the background? The Hop on, Hop off Trolley is a great tour if you just have a short amount of time in the city. This trolley tour included 22 stops and we found the tour guides to be particularly engaging and knowledgeable. It also included a trolley to the beach, where the haunted lighthouse is, but we ran out of time for that. This is the Castillo De San Marcos, it’s the oldest fort in the US, dates back to 1695! The fort is made of Coquina stone, which is said to be the reason the Fort is still standing after all these years. It is now a National Monument and a National Park. At one point it did have a water-filled moat but now is dry. There are plenty of cannons, cannon balls and cannon ball holes found in this fort. Kind of interesting to think that this is the main fortress that protected the city. The Gates to the City were the only access into the city and were also made of Coquina stone. This unique stone is a sedimentary rock that is almost entirely composed of shells, and other invertebrates, which you can actually see up close. St. Augustine is the town that Henry Flagler built. Having made his fortune in oil, he then developed the east coast of FL and built railroads and hotels and a lot of this city. This was the first luxury hotel Ponce De Leon, it now houses Flagler College. It’s interesting that for a business guy he had such an eye for design or at least hired the right people who did. Rotunda in Flagler CollegeCourtyard of Flagler CollegeMaritime Chain LinkThis magnificent luxury hotel reflects the Spanish Renaissance style and the style and details are amazing, The lights were wired by Thomas Edison and the dining hall has 79 Tiffany windows, Tiffany’s first commercial commission. The Rotunda greeted the guests with its beautiful gold ceiling, making for quite the grand entrance. The guest rooms are now college dorm rooms. The chain-link fence that surrounds the college once surrounded the Castillo De San Marcos, submerged underwater, so enemy vessels couldn’t approach, without damaging their hull and sinking! The college does do two tours a day but only takes 30 people, I was never successful in getting a reservation, next time I will plan way ahead, would love to see more of this building and image what it would have been like to be a guest at this hotel.This Spanish Renaissance Revival style building was built by Flagler in 1887 as the Hotel Alcazar as an overflow hotel to the Ponce De Leon, located right across the street. It now houses the City offices and the Lightner Museum, which showcases pieces from the hotel during that Gilded age. This was the hotel that had the recreation tennis courts, a ballroom and the World’s Largest Indoor Swimming Pool . . .With an afternoon to myself as Ron was working I had a lovely lunch at the Alcazar Cafe which is in the swimming pool of the old Alcazar Hotel. These photos show you the before and after. Lovely piano music plays as you dine. The floor is slanted and is the original pool floor. The pool was 120 feet long and 50 feet wide and ranged in depth from 3 ft to 12 ft. Window of the Memorial ChurchFlageler Memorial Prebysterian ChurchAfter lunch went on a walking tour of the city, taking photos of the 11 churches in the historic district. Flagler funded the building of many of them. This was one built for his daughter who died tragically and unexpectedly and she is buried along with Flagler and his first wife, Mary in the mausoleum here. We are always appreciate when we get to see friends along the Loop. Ken and Adrilia now live in St. Augustine but we know them from our days in Chicago. We have quite a long history with them as Ken hired Ron for a position with Ashton Tate, which brought us to Chicago in 1985. Ron and Ken have worked together in other ventures and Ron was the best man in their wedding. We haven’t seen them in 12 years, so we had a lot of catching up to do. These two are “foodies” and picked a great restaurant which we enjoyed, Sainte-George, great fine dining. Up next quick overnight in Jax Beach.
Ron, the commentary and photos have been magnificent. I want you as my tour director.
It was interesting about your experience with Ashton Tate. If you recall we used to represent them back in the 80’s.
Stay safe and keep the information flowing.
God Bless. Mike K
Reimanns 'round the loop in 2022 
Ron, the commentary and photos have been magnificent. I want you as my tour director.
It was interesting about your experience with Ashton Tate. If you recall we used to represent them back in the 80’s.
Stay safe and keep the information flowing.
God Bless. Mike K
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Nice report, great seeing you both.
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