Sunshine & Summertime

The Castillo de San Marcos was built by the Spanish to defend St. Augustine, Florida, and the Atlantic trade route. As with many things in the oldest continuously occupied city in the United States, it is the oldest masonry fortress in the continental US and preserves more than 450 years of cultural intersections. Located on the western shore of the Matanzas Bay, its construction was ordered by Governor Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega after a 1668 raid of St. Augustine by English privateer Robert Searles that destroyed much of the city and damaged the existing wooden fort. It was designed by Spanish engineer Ignacio Daza, with construction beginning in 1672. Construction of the core of the fortress was finished in 1695, although the fort would undergo many changes, additions, and renovations over the centuries. The fort was a continuously occupied military installation for 251 years, though it changed hands between the Spanish, the British several times, and finally the United Stat...

 When people ask me where I think the best places in Florida are, St. Augustine is always at the top of my list. The city is filled with history, family friendly, pet friendly, and packed with award-winning museums and restaurants. The Ximenez-Fatio House, which managed a ranking of the number one museum in St. Augustine during the pandemic of 2020, is no exception. Don Andres Ximenez built the house and warehouse in 1798 for himself and his bride, Juana Pellicer Ximenez. Juana's father, Francisco Pellicer, led the Minorcans from New Smyrna to St. Augustine in 1777 at the invitation of British governor Colonel Patrick Tonyn. This is the same group of Minorcans I've previously mentioned who fled their captivity as slaves of Dr. Andrew Turnbull. Pellicer brought about 600 people to St. Augustine, and they settled at the north end of St. George Street near the City Gate. In his original plan for the location, Ximenez included a grocery store and storage room, tavern, and billiard ...

 The Oldest Store Museum Experience recreates the original St. Augustine general store owned and operated by C.F. Hamblin in 1908. The contents of the museum were once Hamblin's own property. When he initially opened the general store, its primary purpose was to supply Henry Flagler with whatever goods he would need to move forward with his many construction projects, including the famed Ponce de Leon Hotel (which later became Flagler College). The living history tour guides act the part of clerks and salesmen as they demonstrate the latest inventions for turn-of-the-century "modern" living - everything from unicycles to tonics to a goat-powered washing machine. In an effort to protect, preserve, and catalog the massive amount of 19th and 20th century American memorabilia sitting there, the building housing all of it was purchased by Historic Tours of America. A 5,000 square foot, climate-controlled facility was built to warehouse the items, with the first floor being use...

 A visit to one of the most haunted cities in the country wouldn't be complete without visiting its famed cemeteries. Established soon after Florida became a US territory, the Huguenot Cemetery is in a high traffic area of downtown St. Augustine, just outside the Visitor Center and across the street from the Old City Gate. It was first used for the interment of victims of the 1821 yellow fever epidemic, then for burial of members of the city's Protestant population. The burial traditions and funerary materials demonstrated at Huguenot, compared with the nearby Tolomato Cemetery (established by the Catholic Church in 1777), highlight both the differences and commonalities in funerary and religious practices and traditions of the two distinct groups residing in 19th century St. Augustine. The Huguenot Cemetery's primary significance is derived from the fact that it was the first cemetery in St. Augustine dedicated for Anglo-American civilians rather than preserved strictly fo...