Love at first sight

The beautiful architecture and lovely oceanic views, historic connection and lush Florida vegetation which I adore about Key West made me simply fall in love with St. Augustine so I am simply going to overdue it with pictures in this posting. We were only there for three days but I went wild! 

I'm not sure which bridge this is but I took this picture from the wall of the Fort.

After our first very long day with virtually no sleep-- we finally got to our lovely rooms at the Inn at Charlotte. They were so accommodating and welcoming there that I want to make sure and give them a little plug. Here's their link: http://www.innoncharlotte.com/ 

This is the little garden in front of the Inn and they apparently have a wedding package that couples buy. One couple that was there while we were got married right in front of this fountain. It was quite beautiful and then they were carried off in a horse and buggy to ride about town which is quite quaint considering so many of the old streets are still paved with brick.

You can just imagine yourself having an frosty glass of lemonade as the sun goes down...

Welcome! To the right of these stairs is a sitting room and dining area. Lovely breakfasts were served promptly at 9:15 and refreshing beverages were always at hand!  

Upstairs are most of the rooms.Our room was a lovely little suite dedicated to Mary Lily Kenan the third wife of the man who has to be the most famous man in Florida's history Henry Flagler. Mary Lily was the wife who lived with him in his final years and was the lucky little lady who inherited most of his wealth which was later inherited by her brother. It was he (William Rand Kenan Jr.) who then established the Kenan Charitable Trust which later helped to establish Flagler college.

 

Initially I thought the bed a bit firm but I slept quite well.

The jacuzzi was quite nice!!We wound up napping in it when we arrived the first day and I am quite sure our hostess wondered what was going on as the jacuzzi rumbled on for over an hour. : )

Our hostesses at the Inn were also quite good at directing us toward the best places to eat or drink. We spent a lovely evening at The Tasting Room where we drank Pomegranate somethings while we listened to the sultry voice of Monica deSilva. It was such a lovely evening that we hated to leave yet there were other lovely things to do in St. Augustine...

So off we went to explore... 

and discover...

and shop!

We found some great bookstores which is always a like a great treasure hunt.

One of three, this bookstore had not quite the selection but we discovered some nice music here.

This bookstore had an antique store across the street which I did not get a picture of and we enjoyed shopping there as well. The books here were interesting as well... All in all, it looked like St. Augustine could use a good bookstore. Hmmmm....

St. Augustine also has it's share of the cheesy tourism business. This is a pirate cruise that does the Gilligan's island thing- a three hour tour with all the piratey lore they've "enhanced" (and when I say "enhanced" I mean made up) complete no doubt with a tete-a-tete with Blackbeaird-like character aboard.

We also spent some time at the beach. This was actually the most time we spent at the beach for our entire vacation. Once we hit Key West, we spent most of our time on scooters, so you will have to enjoy the lapping waves and sandy shores here...

Umbrellas and lawn chairs, sun tan lotions and achingly blue skies...

A little surfing while a two-year-old boy looks on with wonder on his face. It's not California surfing but it was fun enough and the water was warm and wonderful... 

St. Augustine from the air...

In the distance you can see Flagler College and as I have I since found out the Memorial Presbyterian Church. You can see the lusciousness of Anastasia Island in the foreground and just to the left of Flagler college are two faint columns which is the Lightner Museum and City Hall.

Beautiful views...

and to bring us back to where we started... the bridge that spans from St. Augustine to Anastasia Island that is not the Bridge of Lions taken from the lighthouse.

 

and back on the ground, an elderly couple walking hand in hand on a brick paved road at dusk...

and just so we can do a new thing, here's a short video as we drive over the Bridge of Lions. You won't be able to see the whole bridge but it's a nice little experiment...