Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Vlog Day 28 - St. Augustine

The title today refers not to the saint who penned the well-read 'Confessions', but rather to the oldest city in the US (which happens to bear his name). St Augustine (just south of Jacksonville, FL) was founded by Spain to protect its interests in the West Indies, and their fort, San Marcos, was never taken by force, only by treaty. We drove there today from Micanopy (the second city in Florida) on a gorgeous spring day. Spring has truly arrived here in Florida, though some would say it never leaves.
St. Augustine is also the home of Flagler College, which remembers Henry Flagler, a magnate of the early 1900s who (like his contemporaries the Rockefellers) built a lot of buildings and bequeathed a lot of money for the benefit of posterity. The college is a small liberal arts college that has a strong deaf education major.
On the way back to Ormond Beach, along A1A, we took a detour through the Tacoma swamp to visit the oldest Live Oak tree in Florida. This tree is huge and is over 2,000 year old! It's a pretty amazing sight.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So glad you got to see St Augustine; one of my favorite parts of Florida!

Hiram said...

=) isn't it cool!