Yes, there is so much to see and do, I had to break down this trip into multiple blog entries. So, what else did we experience in St. Augustine?

Henry Flagler was an amazing entrepreneur who had many business interests over his lifetime. One of his most providential investments was in joint ownership with John Rockefeller in an oil refining company in the 1870’s known as Standard Oil. His wife had health issues so he moved with her to Jacksonville, FL. She died, he remarried and guess where he ended up moving – St. Augustine. The rest as they say is history. He built an empire of tourism and development on the east coast of Florida. Many stories were told on the trolley ride about Henry Flagler – all were quite interesting. What he built and left to the city were huge hotel buildings, now museums or part of Flagler College (once the Ponce de Leon Hotel). You can tour the buildings which we would have enjoyed if we had the time. Here is a sampling.

Henry Flagler had a church built in 1890 to the glory of God as a memorial to his daughter who died while giving birth to a child in 1889. This is the Memorial Presbyterian Church. It was built in the style of Venetian Renaissance and was inspired by St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. The doors, altar area and pews are hand carved from mahogany. The light fixtures are also original, converted from gas to electric in the 1920’s. The church allows visitors to tour on two days of the week and we are lucky to be there on a Friday and to go on a self-guided tour.

Friends/partners of Henry Flagler also ended up in St. Augustine and built their mansions. One is now the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum. We did not go in but the trolley drives you through the parking lot where there are some odd items as well.

Then there’s St. George’s Street in the main hub of the city. It is a pedestrian-only street with historical buildings, souvenir shops and restaurants. We entered it through the old city gates still standing.

Lunch at the Prohibition Kitchen for burgers, of course.

Then a walk over to the main bridge crossing the Matanzas Bay to St. Augustine Beach. More on the beach later. In front of the bridge are two lions, a gift to the city from a former mayor.

This city continued to surprise us with the history and interesting places you can visit and see. We will definitely be coming back.

The upcoming posts will also be about sites in St. Augustine area. They are must see National and State Park sites.