St. Augustine Offers Sense of History

While this historic old town in the northern part of the state is widely acknowledged as the nation’s oldest, there’s nothing staid or slow-moving about its environment.

St. Augustine pulsates with activity. More than 1 million visitors flock yearly to this vibrant seacoast community that blends more than 400 years of Spanish, English and American heritage.

Although the Spaniards didn’t find the gold they sought in 1565, today’s visitors are discovering other treasures--fortresses, restored homes, museums and 43 miles of white sand beaches.

Fifty-five years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, one of Spain’s most brilliant commanders, set foot on Florida’s shore (Sept. 8, 1565) and proclaimed the land St. Augustine.

The name was in honor of the saint on whose feast day Menendez first sighted land.

Who’s the Boss?

The Spaniards governed St. Augustine until 1763, when a treaty gave it to the British. After 20 years, Spain regained control until the Americans took over permanently in 1821.

Today’s first-time visitor to St. Augustine can quickly acquire a sense of history with a stroll along St. George Street, main thoroughfare of the early colony. This is where the restoration process began--a program as vital to the livelihood of the city as tourism.

St. George Street originates at the massive city gate that was locked nightly to protect the townspeople from their enemies. Today, the street is closed to traffic.

The narrow path is lined with Spanish-style houses, many of which bear the brass nameplate of the original owner and feature brightly colored flags that wave in the breeze from second-story balconies.

As you walk along the tree-shaded route, your eye is drawn to displays in gift-shop windows while your nose picks up the spicy aroma of hot, Cuban bread wafting from a Spanish bakery.

Monk’s Vineyard

Unique among the restaurants scattered along the way is Monk’s Vineyard, 56 St. George St., with its church-like decor and waiters clad in monk’s robes.

The restaurant offers burgers, sandwiches and salads ($3.25 to $4.96) and specialties such as quiche, shrimp and a vegetable platter ($3.75 to $5.50) for lunch. Dinner entrees posted daily include seafood, poultry and steaks starting at $6.95.

Newest and most elegant eatery in this historic section is the Columbia, 98 St. George St., which is open everyday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Chicken and steak dishes cost from $8.50 to $14.95 and Florida seafood, such as paella Valenciana, shrimp and scallops Marbella, cost $10.95 to $14.95.

The restaurant is housed in a Spanish hacienda, where a two-story, plant-filled atrium and a fountain sculpted of stone provide a serene backdrop for diners.

The Raintree Restaurant, 102 San Marco Ave., offers dining in a 100-year-old Victorian home.

Beef, veal and poultry entrees cost $11.50 to $24.95, while seafood and Creole specialties such as shrimp scampi, blackened fish and Bourbon Street lobster cost $12.95 to $33.95. Dinner is served from 5 p.m.

Wooden Schoolhouse

A favorite stop for most St. George Street visitors is the oldest wooden schoolhouse and one of the oldest wooden structures in the city.

A replica of an early classroom is peopled with life-size mannequins in period dress, including a schoolmaster, his pupils and a dunce-capped student sitting on a stool in a corner.

A tour of the schoolhouse costs $1 for adults and 50 cents for youths 6 to 12. Children under 6 are admitted free.

If you’d like a nostalgic look at a 250-year-old Spanish colonial village, visit St. George Street’s San Agustin Antiguo, which is marked by a red-and-white Spanish flag.

A costumed guide in long black skirt, white blouse and ruffled cap led us to a weathered wooden house just inside the fenced complex.

“This was originally a garrison town,” the guide said, “and the Spanish soldiers lived with their families in barrios or neighborhoods similar to this one. Besides the soldiers, there were blacksmiths, cobblers, tailors, weavers and other craftsmen.”

Admission is $2.50 for adults, $1.25 for students and $5 for a family ticket.

Fortress Stands Guard

Within easy walking distance of San Agustin Antiguo is perhaps the most impressive sight in St. Augustine, certainly one of the oldest. It’s the forbidding fortress, Castillo de San Marcos, which stands guard over the approach to the city by water.

Built by the Spaniards from 1672 to 1695, the fort was constructed of native coquina, a rock-like substance of sand and seashells. The crenelated walls soar 30 feet into the air and are 16 feet thick at the base. Adults pay $1 for admission and children under 13 are free when accompanied by an adult.

“San Marcos was never captured,” a member of the National Park Service said. “In 1740, the entire population of St. Augustine hid inside the fort for 30 days while the British warships blockaded the harbor and artillerymen bombarded the city with enough ammunition to shatter an ordinary brick or stone fort. But San Marcos never crumbled.”

A national monument since 1924, Castillo de San Marcos is open daily for tours.

Red-Roofed Trolleys

St. Augustine is unquestionably one of the easiest cities in the United States in which to sightsee. When you tire of walking, you can hop aboard one of the motorized trolleys that roll by every 15 to 20 minutes. The red-roofed cars cover a seven-mile route with a driver-guide who points out the historic sights.

The basic $5 ticket--good for the duration of a visit--enables passengers to disembark for a closer look at a specific attraction, then board again at the same point or at another station along the way.

Two significant historical sites at the northern end of the trolley route are Mission Nombre de Dios and the Fountain of Youth Park. The former stands on the spot of the St. Augustine founding and is the first in a chain of missions that eventually linked the East and West coasts.

A 208-foot stainless-steel cross was erected in 1965 to commemorate the city’s 400th birthday and has since become one of the area’s most dramatic sights.

Fact or Fiction?

While historians agree it was Ponce de Leon who discovered Florida in 1513, the romantic belief that he also was seeking, in addition to gold and silver, the fountain of youth appears to be more fiction than fact.

This does not, however, dissuade present-day visitors from exploring the Fountain of Youth Park ($3 for adults, $2.50 for seniors, $1.50 children--under 6 free).

Here you can quench your thirst at the springhouse. There’s no guarantee the water will make you younger, but it’s worth a try.

Youngsters may be more attracted to the Discovery Globe, which condenses 100 years of Spanish history in the New World into an eight-minute screen presentation, and the Celestial Planetarium, which re-creates the constellations in the skies the night Ponce de Leon discovered North America.

Flagler’s ‘Riviera’

Henry M. Flagler was a prominent name in the late 1800s in St. Augustine. A developer of elaborate hotels and co-founder of Standard Oil, Flagler hoped to establish this Florida community as an American Riviera.

To that end, he built two luxury resort hotels: the Ponce de Leon (now Flagler College), which opened in 1888, and later the Alcazar, directly opposite on King Street.

Today, the former Alcazar Hotel, whose terra cotta-tiled towers add a touch of Old Spain to the city skyline, houses City Hall, the Chamber of Commerce and the elegant Lightner Museum, which charges $3 for adults, 75 cents for students and admits children under 12 free.

Victorian Trove

Three floors of this grand old building, with Moorish arches and a beautifully landscaped inner courtyard, are filled with treasures from the Victorian era--Tiffany glass, antique furnishings, costumes and mechanical musical instruments.

As you leave the Lightner Museum you’ll discover the Lightner Antique Mall, a collection of antique and decorative art shops for browsing and buying.

The mall has a number of high-quality shops specializing in antique furnishings, china, glassware and fine collectibles, including silver, coins and books. The shops are open Saturday and Sunday, with some also open Wednesday to Friday.

If you’re in the mall around lunch, stop by the Alcazar Cafe for an omelet, salad or similar light fare. You’ll be eating at the old Alcazar Hotel, in the part that originally contained a casino and basement swimming pool. The restaurant is in what was the deep end of the pool, which originally was under 12 feet of water.

A good place to wind up your tour of St. Augustine is the Gonzalez-Alvarez house, more familiarly known to city residents as “The Oldest House,” which has been a national historic landmark since 1918 (adults $3, students $1.50 and seniors $2.75).

Artifacts dug up in the garden indicate the site has been continuously occupied since the early 1600s.

Families have little difficulty finding suitable lodgings in St. Augustine. Many of the area’s 2,200 hotel units dot the shores of St. Augustine’s beach.

Holiday Inn, 1300 Ponce de Leon Blvd., 122 rooms; $51-$71 double. Holiday Inn, St. Augustine Beach, Anastasia Island, fronting on the Atlantic Ocean; 151 rooms, $59-$84 double. Whetstone Bayfront Inn, 138 Avenida Menendez, fronting on the Intracoastal Waterway; 39 rooms, $32-$61 double. Ponce de Leon Lodge, U.S. 1 North; 202 rooms, $50-$80 double.

Plus Carriage Way, 70 Cuna St., 8 rooms; Wescott House, 146 Avenida Menendez, 8 rooms; Kenwood Inn, 38 Marine St., 16 rooms. Rates $40-$125.

For additional information, contact the St. Augustine Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Drawer O, St. Augustine, Fla. 32085, or the Florida Division of Tourism, 107 W. Gaines St., Suite 401D, Tallahassee, Fla. 32301, call (904) 488-4141.

Also, there is the St. Augustine Visitor Information and Preview Center, 10 Castillo Drive, open everyday 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Call (904) 824-3334.