Thursday, April 12, 2012

Pulled into the Sunset Bay Marina & docked about mid afternoon.  Met Jerry Patterson for dinner at the marina restaurant for 'prime rib night', which is one of Capt. Bob's favorite meals & we were not disappointed.  We also got to hear our favorite sax player Ronnie.  So all in all, we had a great evening. Off today, Friday to do some laundry, so for now, chow!

Monday, April 9

As we left the Halifax Marina I took a couple of pictures of the marina, which was a nice marina, but had limited shore power.  The Harbor Master informed us that they had lost city funding to install transformers on all of the docks.  So there were only 2 transformers for transients located on the T-head.  The marina was so large, it was too bad that it can't accommodate guests sufficiently, in our opinion.

Easter Sunday, April 8

Spent the day enjoying the historical St. Augustine, Fla. Founded in 1565 as a Spanish military outpost, this town is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the US. The original wooden fort, Castillo de San Marcos Fort, was burned to the ground by Francis Drake in 1586. Spain's Queen Regent Mariana realized St. Augustine was the keystone in the defense of the Florida coast, & ordered the fort rebuilt in 1672 in stone. It took 23 years to complete. They used coquina, a locally quarried soft shell rock. Coquina was easily shaped & did not become brittle & crumble under cannon fire.

In 1702, seven yrs. after it's completion, English troops from South Carolina besieged the Fort for 50 days.  1500 Spanish citizens fled into the security of the fort & refused to surrender.  The British finally gave up the siege & burned the town.  This event is why there are no buildings older that 1702 in St. Augustine today.

The English from Georgia attacked again in 1740.  They bombarded the fort & town for 27 days before they also gave up & left.  The coquina walls had held firm, absorbing cannon balls without breaking apart.  Amazing!

In the winter of 1883-84 Henry Flagler, co-founder of Standard Oil Co. visited the city & eventually made a major impact on the architecture & economy.  He built the Hotel Ponce de Leon, Hotel Alcazar, the Memorial Church and much more. Today, the Hotel Alcazar was transformed into the Lightner Museum, built by Henry Flagler in 1887 & Flagler College, built in 1888, now occupies the former Hotel Ponce de Leon  & is still a working college. The Casa Monica Hotel, built in 1888, is still a working hotel today.

Casa Monica Hotel

Flagler College Entrance

Lightner Museum & City Hall

The town is really fun to stroll through because everything has been kept in its original form.  You really do feel like you stepped back in time, it was so interesting.

Top of the Mill Restaurant
 

Shopping

Oldest Wooden School House in the US

Saturday, April 7

I just can't resist my sunsets & sunrises.  These were quite dramatic because we had a pretty strong storm blow through early, which left some interesting cloud formations. These were taken at the Halifax Marina in Daytona.

Sunrise

Sunrise

Sunset

Sunset