Our last stop in Florida...

When we left St. Augustine, we continued north along the coast.  We had one final destination in mind before heading into the next state.  The Timucuan Preserve...

ancient carving found in the Florida swamps...amazing...

Also home to Fort Caroline, which is accessible via a path through the woods that starts and ends at the Timucuan Visitor Center...

The rain from the day before had dialed back the heat and humidity to bearable levels.  It was actually kind of chilly in the early morning, which we enjoyed :).

The fort was small, but interesting.  A replica of the one originally built in the 16th century by the French...

After walking the paths, exploring the fort, and visiting with the Ranger we drove around to see more of the Preserve.  We had just left the Ribault Monument and were driving back towards the Visitor Center when the kids spotted something in the trees that we had been searching for allll over the state of Florida.  Roseate Spoonbills!!! 

We had looked when we were in Myakka State Park, on Sanibel Island, in the Everglades, around the Florida Keys, at each stop along the way...

These birds that are supposed to be in south Florida were happily perched in a tree in northernmost Florida (maybe they are "supposed" to be there too, we just didn't know about it...). 

Ya'll, that just made our bird watching day :D!  They really are beautiful creatures...

Anyway, after oohing and aahing over the birds, we went back to the Visitor Center so that the kids could tell the Ranger all about what we had just seen...and get their Jr. Ranger badges and certificates, of course :).  Just fyi...right now the park is offering a special badge to commemorate the 450th anniversary of Ft. Caroline - something special for all the Jr. Rangers out there :).

Next stop...Georgia!

St. Augustine, Florida

Bright and early, we were the first ones at the fort when it opened the next morning.  We had to wait a little while for the Rangers to get there and open everything up (yeh, we were really early), but in my opinion it was totally the way to go.  So peaceful and no crowds at all.

Also, there were dolphins jumping and playing just off to the side around the boats...not a bad show while we waited :).

Once the gates were opened, the kids quickly found the Ranger inside with the books.  All set to do their Jr. Rangers, we started exploring each different part of the fort...

carved into the wall of that dark, dark room...

Up on the top, the views were great :).  The kids enjoyed investigating each nook and cranny while I enjoyed watching their delight...

...then they were approached by this guy:

He was super nice and freely offered some great facts about the cannons and the fort itself.  But the kids, hahaha!, they just weren't sure what to make of this guy in the strange outfit ;).  BTW...it was SO HOT that day!!!  Which made it even more strange to them because he was wearing the long suit...but he did say he had some iced tea in that mug, that helps :).

Back down stairs...

how we do school <3

Some of the original paint was still visible on the walls of the interior rooms.  Very cool...

a picture of what the room above originally looked like

When we had seen everything and the kids had completed their books, we made another stop at the Ranger desk for badges, etc, then we set out to see some more of the city.

We left our car in the pay lot at the fort and walked over into the heavily touristed area.  Everyone was hungry and we had heard about a tiny little place called the Spanish Bakery that serves up delicious empanadas and cinnamon cookies.  Had we not known it was there and been looking for it, we would have never found it.  It is hidden behind a wall with a small sign hanging over the edge.  Once you find the entrance, you enter a courtyard with a little house type structure at the back.  That is the bakery.  We each got a basket of food and took it to some tables in the courtyard.  So good :)...

After lunch, we decided to walk over to Flagler College and take the guided tour.  We didn't know what to expect, only that the building is really old and beautiful.  That was enough for us :)...

It wasn't really clear as to where to go, but you just follow the sidewalk to the gates, cross the courtyard, and enter through the big doors.  Inside and to the left is a little shop where you can purchase your ticket.  Then you wait in the foyer for the tour to start...

It was such a fancy place :).  An old luxury hotel from the 1800's turned into a college.  Stained glass, murals, crystal, carvings, paintings...just every inch of it draped in beautiful old goodness...

all the history was a little much for Tris ;)...

Our tour guide was a female student and she kept nudging Trevor to apply at Flagler.  I don't think she realized that he will only be a high school freshman this year ;).

After our tour, we headed back down St. George Street for a little shopping.  The kids had spotted a candy store earlier that they wanted to check out, so we did.

Then we decided to grab some take out for dinner from the Columbia and call it a day.  Their 1905 Salad is delicious (and now I want one...).

We made it back to our room just as the sky opened up and it started raining HARD.  Good thing we left when we did :).

The oldest city of all...

The day wasn't over yet...when we left Canaveral, we continued on up the coast towards St. Augustine, Florida.

Our next stop was at Fort Matanzas...

Sadly, we were about 5 minutes too late to catch the last ferry over to the fort.  Oh well, next time...right :)? 

Anyway, we missed the boat, so we only got to check out the displays and things on the mainland side.  The Ranger was great, he gave the kids their Jr. Ranger books and then he gave me their badges to award them after they completed the books (the park was closing).  The mosquitoes were THICK, so we didn't hang around long...

A bit further down the road and we found ourselves at the St. Augustine Lighthouse.  I just love these pretty old things :)...

After we had feasted our eyes upon the stately southern charmer, we decided to head into the heart of the old city.  There was just a bit of daylight left and we weren't going to let it go to waste :)...

the old city gates

We walked the old streets for a while and then decided to check out the fort...

Castillo De San Marcos is beautiful.  So very old...

If you look closely at the walls, you will see lots of tiny little seashells.  This material is called coquina.  It's really cool, kind of like a natural cement of sorts.  You can read more about it here...

It was closed, being so late in the day we expected that it would be.  That's ok, we had reservations to spend the night nearby and plans to return bright and early the next morning to tour the inside...