Oldest N.American City
04 March 2013 | St. Augustine, Florida
Janet
St. Augustine is an interesting city. I felt like I was back in Latin America. We spent 4 very cold days here as a cold front was moving through, and we didn't want to travel. It was the 2nd cold front we have suffered through on this trip when the temperatures plummeted from the comfortable 70,s during the day to the 50's and into the 30's at night. Then add the wind chill over the water since it was blowing 15-20 with gusts to 30. We were on a mooring and had a pretty long dingy ride in, and no heat on the boat except for our propane cook stove and oven. We had every layer on and slept under all our quilts and blankets, and I suddenly felt like baking again.
This is a city of superlatives--oldest city, street, fort, park, school, pharmacy etc. You get the picture. The Spanish settled this area back in the 1500's. Ponce de Leon first discovered it in 1513, and it is the location of the fountain of youth. We didn't visit it. It wasn't settled until 1565, and that makes it the oldest settlement still in existence in North America.
Through all those centuries it suffered many wars which included sieges and burning of the city by other colonial powers. They were all after that plundered Spanish treasure that was being moved through this area from Latin America back to Spain. This was also a big pirate area because they followed the treasure too. All of this history makes it a very picturesque town and fun place to visit with lots to see and do. We spent our whole time here being tourists and took it all in.