Our first stop is Fort Caroline, part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. The fort is just a short walk from the visitor center through beautiful woods with palm trees and an abundance of Spanish moss swaying in the breeze. And then you get to the Fort ...
Womp! Oh well, moving on ...
After a quick stop at Publix (= supermarket) we drive to picturesque St. Augustine nestled on the banks of the Matanzas River. Our starting point is Castillo de San Marcos, a Spanish fort built in 1695.
We've just picked up our tickets when there's a sudden commotion near the river. What's got these birds acting all crazy?
Three dolphins! What a nice surprise :)
Eventually the dolphins take off and we head inside the fort, just in time for a live cannon firing demonstration. They don't use actual cannon balls, but it sure is loud!
View of the court yard as seen from the upper level:
Historic St. Augustine is rife with cobble stone streets lined with charming inns and boutiques. We'd planned to visit the Cathedral Basilica, but it's closed for a private function. It was too big for me to get a good overview picture, but here's the spire.
Flagler College is just a short walk from the church. I didn't think I would enjoy it much (I'd actually contemplated skipping it), but it was fantastic! Once a posh hotel, the building now belongs to the local college.
One of the lions near the main gate of Ponce de Leon Hall. I love the detail!
The inside is no less ornate! Can you imagine going to school there?
I really like how this picture came out:
We love lighthouses so a visit to St. Augustine would not be complete without going to the light station. It's a short drive across the Lions Bridge to Anastacia Island.
It's hard to tell from the picture, but the top of the lighthouse is painted bright red! For $9 you can climb the lighthouse, but that didn't seem worth it so we get back on the road.
I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Ocala's horse country, but we're running low on daylight by the time we get there.
The sun is almost completely gone by the time we enter Ocala National Forest. When we drive past Salt Springs we decide on a whim to stop at the springs. Normally there's a day use fee, but the park's closing in less than 30 minutes so we get in for free and have the place to ourselves.
Isn't it beautiful? We notice the water bubbling and churning in some spots and soon realize the spring is teeming with fish of all sizes and shapes. Maybe they're drawn to the warm water coming from the springs? We'd certainly never seen anything like it ...
When we get back on the road we realize we don't know how to turn on the lights (women drivers haha .. this happens every time we rent a car :-o) so we pull into the nearest gas station to figure it out. There's a small pond next to it so I got out to take a quick picture of the sunset.
It's 7:30pm by the time we reach Crystal River and I'm so exhausted that I'm willing to settle for fast food, but as luck would have it our hotel is across the road from a small diner called Mama Sally's. I'd read some reviews about it on Tripadvisor and it definitely lived up to our expectations; two complete fish dinners with two sides each, warm bread and drinks for less than $20 total. Can't beat that!
Total miles today: 186
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Lunch: pre-made sandwiches from Publix
Dinner: Mama Sally's
Hotel: Econolodge Crystal River
1 comments:
Flagler College is beautiful, but the picture of the day is Salt spring, with the sun setting and the strange grey things hanging from the trees.
Didn't have time yesterday and not much time now.
So quick to the next day
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