St. Augustine & Savannah

From Tampa area, we crossed the state and visited St. Augustine. As in many of the cities we have visited, we took a trolley tour, then returned to places we wanted to see in more depth.

The Castillo De San Marcos is an early Spanish fort that has been reconstructed by the National Park Service. It has over the years, housed Spanish, French, US, and Confederate soldiers.

We witnessed a changing of the guard and cannon firing.

The Fountain of Youth park was our next stop. Archaeologists have found and dated early Spanish relics and remains in this area, and the park staff did a good job of retelling the history. However, this may or may not be the original "Fountain of Youth" sought by Ponce De Leon.

In addition to some reconstructed buildings and a museum, the park is home to some beautiful birds, including these peacocks.

We were sorry to have only allowed one day for St. Augustine. There's much to see and do, and I hope we'll have a chance to spend more time here.

In Savannah, our campground was on a very pretty small lake, populated with at least two dozen swans, along with migrating ducks and geese. Very nice ambiance.

Again, we took a trolley tour, then walked some of the city. It is beautifully laid out, with park like squares beautifully landscaped and statuary dedicated to early settlers and founders.

The next day we boarded a river boat for a tour from the water. Savannnah is a busy shipping port. They have done a nice job of restoring and maintaining their riverfront area.

These are some of the old homes in the city, showing the diversity of architechture over the colonial and later periods.







We would return here as well, given the chance.