St. Augustine: Touring and Golfing – Wed & Thur – Oct 28th & 29th, 2014

We continued our fun with visiting friends, Bill and Chris.  Today, we split up.  The girls went to tour St. Augustine and the boys visited the World Golf Hall of Fame followed by a round of golf on the Slammer and Squire Course.

We drove from the campground to the World Golf Village.

 

Chris and I  headed to St. Augustine and we sent the boys off to play ;o))

 

 

 

Their first stop was the World Golf Hall of Fame.

 

Crossing the Bridge at St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf.

 

 

 

A step back in time… Putting with clubs and balls from the 1800’s.

 

 

 

 

Class of 2013 Golf Hall of Fame Inductees

 

Ken Schofield,  Ken Venture,  Fred Couples,  Colin Montgomery,  Willie Park
 

 

 

After their Hall of Fame visit,

 

they ate lunch at Legends Clubhouse Grille

at the Slammer & Squire Golf Course.

 

 

Then they enjoy a great round of golf on a gorgeous day!!!

 

 

 

They weren’t exactly Hall of Famers, but they had a fantastic afternoon of golf!!!

 

 

While the boys played, Chris and I headed to St. Augustine.

 

We parked at the Visitor Center Parking Deck and headed toward downtown.

 

 

 

 

Almost directly across the street from the Visitor Center,

 

 

 

we approached the Castillo De San Marcos.

 

 

This was the first fort to be given National Park status!!

 

I have visited many forts,

but this has to be one of the most interesting and well preserved one I have seen.

 

 

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The walls are made of Coquina,

a soft whitish limestone formed of broken shells and corals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent more time than we expected, but we could have spent more.

 

 

However, we wanted to see some of the other sites in St. Augustine.

We headed south along the Matanzas River Waterfront to The Bridge of Lions. This beautiful bridge connects the two sections of St. Augustine.  It is a draw bridge which opens regularly and traffic can really get backed up.  Also it is NOT RV-friendly.

    

 

At the bridge, we made a right

 
and
 
crossed the road to the Plaza de la Constitucion, the public market place.

 

In the sign above, you can see a large catholic church on the next corner. 

 

That was our next stop.

 

Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine

 

Unfortunately, we were unable to tour inside because it is being renovated. 

 

We were able to get a brief look inside from a side entrance which is open to the public.

 

 

 

 

 

Our next stop was farther down King Street…

 

Flagler College

Flagler College is a private four-year liberal arts college. It was founded in 1968.

 

The building was originally The Hotel Ponce De Leon built by Henry Flagler.

 

 

Classes were still in session, so we could only visit a few areas open to the public.

 

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This is not like any college I have ever seen!!!

 

Across the street from Flagler College is the former Alcazar Hotel. 

 

 

Built in 1888 as one of Henry Flagler's grand resort hotels,

the Alcazar Hotel today serves as St. Augustine's City Hall,

as well as the home of Lightner Museum. 

 

We didn’t visit the museum, but we did wander around the property a bit!!

 

 

 

By now, we both were getting hungry.

 

We found a little lunch spot called DOLCE Café on the quiet end of St. George Street.

Our lunch was very good, but I forgot to take a photo.

 

 

After our lunch break,

we crossed the street to visit Trinity Episcopal Parrish which was founded in 1821.

 

 

 

 

We finished our St. Augustine tour with a walk down historic St. George Street.

 

St. George Street is a pedestrian only thoroughfare where no cars are allowed.

 

 

At the far end of the street,

 

we saw the original Old City Gate which is being restored.

 

 

We enjoyed our day in St. Augustine. 

 

It is steeped in history and we only touched the surface.

 

 

We met the guys back at World Golf Village where we had dinner at Caddy Shack again.

 

 

 

Our meals were very good and Bill ordered a dessert which was...

  Take a look...
 

 

Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words :o)))