Part 5: The Ancient City

• Next we headed south to the oldest city in the nation, St. Augustine, which was founded by Spain in 1565. We often forget that Spaniards had a presence in the new world long before the British or French laid claim to much of North America. Today, the original Castillo de San Marcos built to protect the city in 1672 can still be toured. The fort is maintained by the national park service and is in very good condition. In many places you can still see pictures and graphitti carved into the coquina rock walls by the early soldiers. Unlike many forts left in the US that are actually replica's built on the old location, this is the real deal. Its amazing to walk through tunnels where Spanish soldiers fought the British over 300 years ago. In my opinion the $7 fee to get in with all the interpretive displays, cannons and access to roam nearly all of the fort was well worth it.

Castillo de San Marcos

Presbyterian Church in Old Town St. Augustine

Accordion Player on the street

• Another trip worth taking was the free ferry across to Fort Matanzas just south of St. Augustine on the coastal banks. While much smaller in scale than Castillo de San Marcos, the narrated tours by the park staff really give you a good idea what it must have been like to live at this garrison in 1742 when it was built. Again the entire fort is open to the public including the ladder up to the upper deck.

Fort Matanzas

• We stayed at Pellicer Creek Campground about 15 miles south of St. Augustine. This campground was re-opened just a couple of years ago and most of the facilities are pretty new. In fact some of it is still a work in progress. The campground manager is in the process of installing cable, only got wifi set up earlier this year and they do not yet have bathrooms. However, because everything is new, the facilties are in very good condition. The washer and dryers looked brand new and at $1.50 to wash and $1.00 to dry were some of the cheapest we had seen anywhere. It is inland, not on the coast and the rate reflects that, but with easy access to I95 and US1, we had no issues getting around. It is located right on Pellicer Creek which at this point in the creek is a dense jungle stream surrounded by palms reminiscent of something you might see in The African Queen. 

Pellicer Creek Campground from the water

• Just downstream from Pellicer Creek Campground is Faver-Dykes State Park. Unlike state parks in other states many of them here in Florida are barely developed dirt roads back into the woods. While Faver-Dykes is no different, you can rent canoes there and we did. The lower section of Pellicer Creek is grassy marsh, but we really wanted to see the upland portion where it goes through the jungle near our campground, so we paddled hard against the current for an hour and a half to get up to the campground, spotting herons, egrets and vultures along the way and only one alligator. The upland portion has a couple tributaries and is dense and jungley, we went up each branch until we were stopped by logs that had fallen across the creeks. It felt very remote even though two highways cross over it. On the way back we again were against the current and this time the wind was blowing against us as well. I thought for sure my arms would fall off before we got the canoe back to the dock inside the park.

Pellicer Creek Jungle Section

• We heard that there are sometimes manatees in the coastal waters near here, but not this time of year. However a quick google search turned up Blue Springs State Park just an hour south of here where they congregate in the winter due to the 72 degree spring water, so we had to check it out. Fortunately for us, the manatees had just started to arrive for the winter. However aside from the manatees it is still a pretty amazing area. The spring water comes out of a chasm in the ground well over 100 feet deep and flows down a channel to the St. John River. Cave divers go scuba-diving here. The water in the channel is so clear that you can see every fish in the channel in addition to the manatees. There are gar over 4 foot long and catfish and dozens of other fish and lots of turtles. The $6 park fee was well worth it, but we heard it can get pretty crowded at this park at times. We went mid-week in early November and there was absolutely no issue with crowds, aside from a visiting school group. 

Manatees at Blue Springs

Turtle Party!

We are now in Pellicer Creek Campground contemplating our next leg of the trip, which is to return back west. Much of the south across the gulf states does not hold much draw for us, but there are a few things in Texas we would like to see. Specifically we would like to make it down to Big Bend National Park. While there is lots we would like to see in the Southwest, due to the elevation and the weather this time of year, that may need to wait until another trip. At this point we are thinking we will work our way back to the West Coast and find someplace we like out that way to hunker down for a month or two. However, our plans are always changing.