St. Augustine's historic district is historical. And very photogenic. There was a time when northern Florida and southern Georgia were the border zones of Spanish occupation to the south, pressing on the British occupation to the north. St. Augustine was a Spanish colony back in the day, and the Spanish were sitting pretty with their Castillo San Marcos star fort (New! Sloped walls! Deflect non-rifled cannonballs!) located just inside the inlet to the Atlantic Ocean, with 270-degree views of upriver and downriver. NObody sneaks up on a state-of-the-art 16th-Cen. Spanish fort.
(One note of pure seriousness here - especially for those of you familiar with the history and culture of the US Southwest: beginning in about 1875, Castillo San Marcos is where the US federal government interned hundreds of Native Americans from various tribes, captured during the Indian Wars. Many died here. I won't turn this into a political blog, so use The Google to study more if you wish.)
Today the Castillo San Marcos has displays and ordnance demonstrations spanning the military technology of centuries past, sufficient to please even the most discriminating pro-Second Amendment tourist. I am partial to the space-savvy mortars embellished with cast iron dolphins and Spanish Imperial coats of arms - a perfect addition to all my residential home-invasion countermeasures. No, really: who among us would NOT feel more secure with mortars on the rooftop? Just be sure to reinforce those ceiling joists.
For non-explosive, less-lethal sightseeing, take the student-guided tour of the Flagler College (formerly a fancy-pants Gilded Age hotel). Here you will see Tiffany windows & lighting, hand-carved exotic-wood everything, and all of it embellished with artisanal bronzes. If you're considering a remodel of your home or are building something new, the Flagler College tour may give you some design ideas. I would love to have a fountain of frogs spittin' water and would not care that it's so big it would cover the entire front lawn. Or maybe I'd go for the industrial-grade iron chain with spiked embellishments over there on the right, for a traffic barrier for the driveway. It would fit right in with any home's Art Deco/Goth decor.
I hestiate to show here the US's oldest still-standing house. Because it only dates from the 1700s, which in European or Asian terms is considered "Mid-Century Modern." Mid- 18th-Cen. Modern, that is.
Next post, we will visit the cluster o' historic houses that comprise the Dow Museum of Historic Houses. Because they are historic houses, and because I really dig stained glass, man.
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