Today we headed into St. Augustine to start our 3-consecutive day tour. We started out at the Old Jail. A "prisoner" named "Clara Belle" "booked" us (took us on a guided tour) and led us to our "cells". She was fantastic! The jail was originally built across from one of Henry Flagler's hotels. He asked the city to move the jail and they said no...at first. But when he offered them money, they changed their tune. He asked that they build the new jail away from his hotel and that they make it look not like a jail. From the outside, it looks like a large pink house, complete with a rocking chair front porch. The only way that it even remotely looks like a jail is the prison bars on the windows. We saw the infirmary, men's and women's cells, solitary confinement, and some displays that housed weapons prisoners used to commit murder. It was very interesting.
Next, we headed over to the St. Augustine History Museum which gave us historical information on the city itself.
Then, we boarded the trolley for a narrated tour of St. Augustine. We decided to stay on to hear our guy finish the tour. His name was Tom and he was very informative and had a great sense of humor.
We got off at the last stop on the trolley tour: The Fountain of Youth. This is where Ponce de Leon thought he had found some water that would help the drinker retain their youth. We actually got to drink from it, but it was nasty due to the fact that Florida's water tastes like sulfer before it is treated. It was very interesting. This was also the site of some Timucuan Indian burial grounds.
We left and walked down to Ripley's. Those places are always interesting! We caught the trolley and rode it back to where our car was. We came back to the condo and had some pizza for dinner. We were all so exhausted!
Pictures to come in the next post.
On the agenda for tomorrow: More sights and sounds of St. Augustine and a Ghosts and Gravestones Tour tomorrow night!
