National Monuments

I love visiting St. Augustine.  Silly us thinking we could drive the motor coach through those narrow streets but Denis did a great job and found us a perfect parking spot within walking distance to all the sites.  We visited the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.  It was the northernmost outpost of Spain's vast New World empire.  Built from 1672-1695, it's the oldest masonry fort and the best-preserved example of Spanish colonial fortification in the United States. 

Castillo de San Marcos

Volunteers dress in period costumes

We were parked in front of the La Leche Shrine - Nombre de Dios Mission.  This country's first parish mass was celebrated on September 6, 1565 when Pedro Menendez de Aviles arrived at what was to be St. Augustine.  A 208 foot stainless steel cross marks the spot. 

Stainless steel cross

Painting of Menendez and his original coffin

 

We attended mass at the Cathedral of St. Augustine, which incorporates the 1797 parish church and is one of the oldest Catholic churches in the United States.

The top mural depicts this country's first parish mass

Cathedral

 

That night we stayed at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant.  We shared a late night chicken and dumpling dinner with sides of turnip greens, country green beans, biscuits and fried apples.  Because we shared, we had enough room for an apple crisp dessert.
It was a good night's sleep there until about 5:00 AM when the delivery trucks starting arriving.  So we got up early and arrived at the gates of Fort Matanzas before they opened.  The early bird gets the worm and we got the only bus/RV parking spot available and the first ferry out to the fort.

What a beautiful view from the fort - we saw two dolphins playing

Fort Matanzas

 

 Fort Matanzas means "slaughter" in English and marks the site where, on September 29 and October 12, 1565 almost 300 soldiers from nearby French Fort Caroline were killed by the Spaniards in a battle for supremacy in the New World.  The fort, built by the Spanish between1740-1742, is masonry, actually coquina, a local shellstone.  It guarded the "back door" to St. Augustine at the south side of Matanzas Inlet.  The fort is 50 feet on each side with a 30-foot tower. 

After visiting the fort, we drove a couple of hours to what we consider our home park in Orlando.  It's nice to be home and with full hookups.