St. Augustine, Fl

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While Catholicism may have seemed dead in Florida from the arrival of the English, since all the Catholic Spaniards departed for Caribbean ports, the arrival of a workforce composed of Minorcans, Italians, and Greeks in 1767 at what is now New Smyrna Beach led to the resurgence of the Catholic faith on the peninsula and, eventually, in the City of St.

Established in 1738 by Colonial Spanish Florida's Governor Manuel Montiano, Fort Mose gave sanctuary to Africans challenging enslavement in the English Colony of Carolina. Approximately 100 Africans lived at Fort Mose, forming more than 20 households. Together they created a frontier community which drew on a range of African backgrounds blended with Spanish, Native American and English cultural traditions.

In 1888, Flagler built the Hotel Ponce de León, his first in a series of luxury resorts along Florida's east coast. A masterpiece of Spanish Renaissance architecture and the first major poured-in-place concrete building in the United States is now known as Ponce de Leon Hall.

There are two national parks in St. Augustine - the Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas. The Castillo is definitely a "must see" as it is conveniently located in the Historic area of St. Augustine. Fort Matanzas is located approximately 15 minutes south of St. Augustine and is a much smaller fort accessible only by boat (free ride) to the site, but definitely of interest to those that love history and a free boat ride!

If you are looking for a reason to visit St. Augustine, look no further. The best reasons have already been discovered and recognized. Here's a list of the last few years outstanding accolades:

Tourism in St. Augustine began when Henry Morrison Flagler, a millionaire and co-founder of Standard Oil, built the Ponce De Leon Hotel in St. Augustine. Flagler visited St. Augustine while honeymooning with his second wife and fell in love with the area's shore and the balmy winter climate. Wealthy northerners were just beginning to discover this wonderful winter climate and Flagler and his wife were surprised at the lack of hotels so he decided to build a new one. Flagler

Here's a list of things that you can do in St. Augustine that are extra easy on the wallet.

St. Augustine has many great restaurants and those that serve breakfast shouldn't be missed. We try to hit at least one new one on each stay at The Sand Bucket at Seaside, but with so many to choose from we can't eat at all of them. These are some of our favorites and some that we often hear that we need to try. These are in no particular order and please note that some are close by and some are in the downtown area if you prefer a later breakfast or brunch.

Eating out is fun on vacation, but sometimes you just want to cook your special recipe with fresh local seafood. There are three markets that we would recommend.

Blackbeard’s Treasure Hunt is one of several special voyages offered by the Black Raven Pirate Ship, and it allows guests to watch as the sailors engage in a sea battle with Queen Anne’s Revenge, another ship. There are sword fights and cannon fire, things that the whole family will enjoy. Kid's love this 2-hour voyage on the bay.

The Distillery is located inside a beautifully renovated and reconstructed hundred-year-old ice factory. The free tour not only gives you the opportunity to taste locally made rum, vodka, whiskey, and gin you also get to tour a historical building.

This is another site you can check for music events that are taking place currently or in the near future in St. Augustine.

The beauty of St. Augustine with all the historical attractions, gorgeous architecture, miles of beautiful beaches, and an array of native plants and animals make the area a mecca for amateur professional photographers.