St. Augustine, Florida – The Oldest City!

Next up on our planned travel schedule is St. Augustine, Florida. The oldest city in the US. Technically, it is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement within the borders of the continental United States. Our week-long stay here was nearly perfect with many sunrises/sunsets, walks about the old historic city, and a meeting with some RV friends.

Relocation

Our drive was a good 178 miles from the Red Gate Campground in Savannah, Ga to our new place at North Beach Camp Resort. Mostly along the I-95 corridor. We took the 295 loop around the east of Jacksonville. The traffic was at times heavy, but moved along nicely.

RV Resort

The North Beach Camp Resort was our home for the week in St. Augustine. What a place! I’ll start by saying that I was a little cautious when we arrived. The roads and RV pads are all sand. Plus the resort was carved out of a coastal live oak grove. My danger sensor was activated. But after a chat with the friendly office folks and a golf cart escort to our site, it all worked out beautifully.

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The location of this resort could not be any better. It is located on a thin barrier island between the North River and the Atlantic. From our site, we could walk 5 minutes to see the sunrise over the ocean and then in the evening walk 5 minutes to see the sunset over the river/intercoastal. And I went to all of them for the week!

Also, the campsites are well spaced with lush vegetation and trees between sites. All very private and quiet. We put our large mat down to have a mostly sand free zone before entering the RV. It was a very relaxing Thanksgiving week.

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St. Augustine

At only 15,000 people, this small city is packed with history and tourists. Founded in 1565, the city served as the capital of Spanish Florida for over 200 years. After some back and forth ownership, Spain ceded Florida to the United States in 1819.

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Henry Flagler, of Standard Oil fame, visited the city in 1883, liked it so much that he built a railroad and hotels to develop the area. The hotels are quite spectacular. Especially, the 540-room Ponce de Leon Hotel that is now Flagler College.

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The 454 year old city is now run almost entirely on tourism with many, many small shops strung throughout the historic district making it a very walkable city indeed.

City of Christmas Lights, Tour, and Meeting Friends

Each year, around Thanksgiving, the historic section of the city is lit up with millions of lights. It is called the Nights of Lights, and is incredible to see. We took a night time trolley tour with our RV friends that we met in Maine last year, Ron and Debra.

We met this couple at a local seafood restaurant (the Kingfish Grill), had a great meal, then went downtown for the trolley tour. They are from St. Augustine and had many tips on what to see and do. Making new friends is one of the many blessings that we have in our RV Journey!

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Thanksgiving

Pat and I spent a quiet day at the campsite doing some reading, relaxing, and cooking quite a feast of turkey breast, oyster dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a peach crisp for dessert.

I actually did most of the cooking as Pat developed a bad case of bronchitis. She paid two visits to the local urgent care facility to get antibiotics and a steroid shot to help things along.

Fountain of Youth

The Ponce De Leon Fountain of Youth claims they are the oldest theme park in the USA. Pat was home resting while turning me loose. I drank from the fountain and have not noticed any difference at this time. Also had a couple of modern craft beers at a local pub!

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The quick story is Ponce came ashore in 1513 and met the local Timucua inhabitants. They appeared remarkably healthy for their age, so he assumed it must be something in the water. My tour guide said that the Timucua people had a very healthy diet, got lots of exercise and no bad habits, so lived a very long life compared to Europeans of that time.

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In the last few decades, the local water table has dropped a hundred feet. So the natural spring is now a deep well. It tasted like an artesian spring with a bit of sulfur like taste.

Oldest Fort in the US

The oldest masonry fort in the continental U.S. and a National Monument, the Castillo is the focal point of historical St. Augustine. It’s a National Monument and, at over 315 years old, it’s the oldest structure in St. Augustine.

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Wrap Up

We left this very interesting coastal town with a promise to return again one of these days. We are now in Cortez, Florida for the month of December. Thanks for following along! Be sure to sign up for the email updates and we love your comments.

Take care and God Bless.