Just across the Matanzas Bay from St. Augustine you will find the Anastasia State Park. Four miles of unspoiled beach, tidal marshes, sand dunes and maritime hammocks.

There is a long road leading you to the beach and sand dune. A nice place to ride a bicycle, hike, and enjoy the beach.

Below these ancient sand dunes and maritime hammocks is the Anastasia Formation, a sedimentary limestone. When rainwater seeped through exposed deposits, it leached calcium carbine from sea chills and cemented the loose shells and quartz sand together to form the coquina stone.

The Anastasia quarry is preserved history in this state park. Plants have covered the old quarry floor, yet you can imagine it.

To think that people mined the coquina stone from here and transported it to construct the Castillo de San Marcos Fort and many other buildings and private homes during the late 1600’s in to the 1700’s is amazing and hard work. However, just as ancient as this stone is, it has been a key factor to St. Augustine never having been burned down since the 1740’s.

As you leave this state park, you will see signs for the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum. The parking lot is full so we just do a drive-by and take a picture. It was completed in October, 1874 and along with the Keeper’s House are on the National Register of Historic Places. You can climb to the top….maybe next time.