St. Augustine & Daytona

Hi again

As expected it was a busy day! It’s about a 2 hour drive to St Augustine and we got a late start. We had tickets for the Old Town Trolley tour compliments of the Old Town Trolley, Boston which was a great savings and much appreciated.

The drive from Orlando is fairly easy, Rt 4 to Rt 95 to Rt 1. All main roads and one of the Trolley Visitors Centers was right there on Rt 1 so very easy to find. We kept hitting rain showers and some were pretty strong with huge raindrops. We began to be concerned that we might get rained out but once we pulled off the St. Augustine exit the sun came out and the clouds parted to reveal a gorgeous blue sky.

There’s free parking at all of the Old Town Trolley visitor Centers so we left the car and hopped on the Trolley. Unlike Boston which uses trolleys, St Augustine uses Trams. Our first driver was Ben & he was terrific! He was really the best of the day and we had plenty of time to observe because JR forgot the battery for his camera in the car so we had to complete the whole tour to get back to where we started. By that time it was after 1pm so we decided to eat lunch before we tried this again. The Visitor center had tables and we had packed a lunch so we settled in right there for a quick picnic lunch and when the next trolley came around we hopped back on and started all over again.  The nice thing about the Old Town trolleys is that you can get on and off all day. It’s like that no matter where Old Town has venues, Boston, St Augustine, Key West to name just a few.

We stopped at the Castillo de San Marcos Fort first because it is a National Monument and I collect the “Passport Stamps” from the National Parks & Monuments. It’s a great program and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to visit these places. You can pick up the Passport at any National Park Gift shop. They are only about $8.00, then let the collecting begin! The “Official Cancellations” are free stamps that you collect at each location. There are also stickers to collect that go with the cancellations.
We spent quite a lot of time at the Fort. A ranger started a presentation shortly after we got there so we went to that and then explored the remainder of the fort on our own. The views of the harbor were awesome. We walked back to the trolley stop and JR decided he wanted to go shopping on a quaint little street. I wanted to go to Anastasia State Park and see the Alligator Farm and the Haunted Lighthouse so we decided to split up. The Old Town Trolley includes a Beach Bus Shuttle to the park at no additional charge. As I headed over on the trolley the new driver mentioned that the last trolley would be at 4:30. It was already 3:30 so I asked him how long it would take to see the Alligator Farm and the lighthouse. He said to get back in time to catch the last trolley I would only be able to take the bus ride by everything and come right back. Well, that didn’t make much sense so I just stayed on the trolley tour again. I was able to get pictures of “The Old Senator” a 600 year old live oak ( called the Old Senator because it‘s shady & crooked) and Magnolia Drive which the tour operators say National Geographic named one of the most beautiful streets in the country with live oaks and Spanish moss forming a canopy over the street. There was the “Fountain of Youth”, Ripley’s Believe it or not, The Old Jail, and loads of Flagler influences from churches to colleges!

I had heard of Henry Flagler as the builder of the railroad to Key West. It soon became apparent that he was also instrumental in bringing St. Augustine to prominence as a vacation location and did a great deal for the area. He used his railroad to bring well heeled guests to the area and built elaborate hotels where they stayed in his attempt to match Newport, RI as a vacation paradise for the rich and famous of his time.

Dr. Martin Luther King also visited St. Augustine in the ‘60’s to march peacefully in celebration of desegregation.

Back at the Visitor Center, the concierge, Paul, saw me sitting at the picnic table waiting for JR and invited me inside for the AC. Paul is a resident of St Augustine and took the time to chat about the area. He gave me suggestions for a return visit to the area. He did a great job representing Old Town and St. Augustine!

JR arrived a few minutes after 5 pm so we headed back to Orlando. We followed A1A which is the more scenic route for awhile before getting back on the highway. Just outside of Daytona there was a traffic accident so we got back on A1A. We figured we’d find someplace to grab a quick dinner and stop at the beach. Since we were both pretty bedraggled looking after a day in the sun and breeze, I didn’t want to go anyplace too fancy. We spotted the Starlight Diner and that seemed to be just the thing. The food was good, the atmosphere friendly and casual and they even offered to let us leave the car in their parking lot while we explored along the beach for awhile. Very nice folks there at the Starlight Diner!

Well, it’s getting late again and tomorrow is Universal Studios and Harry Potter so I think I need to wrap this up and head to bed. I hope you enjoy this post and the pictures that go with it.
Nite all!