The Ancient City

We've had a couple of days to do some serious sight seeing here in St Augustine.  They pretty much claim to have the oldest of everything in the US: Oldest House, Oldest School, Oldest Catholic Church, Oldest Tour guide Still Talking, etc.  They even call the city the Ancient City. The architecture is really beautiful, the Spanish influences remind me a lot of Albuquerque, lots of terra cotta color and very shady courtyards.  (Not to throw doubt on the Tshirt makers or anything, but I think Albuquerque may be an older city.) The cool thing here is the way the color of the ocean contrasts with the city buildings.  I've always said that Albuquerque would be the perfect city if it were only on the water.  We may be close to perfection here.

Looking up the center of the 219 steps.

We went and climbed the lighthouse yesterday, all 219 steps of it.  It was really windy and a little scary at the top.  The guide said they'd measured some 50 mph gusts. The view was wonderful and even though I had to hold on pretty tight to the camera, we got some nice shots.


The view from the top.

We're off in the morning, heading toward Melbourne to see friends.  Tonight, a shrimp chowder simmers on  top of the stove and bread bakes in the oven.  It should help take the chill off a cool night.