It is incorrect to call St. Augustine, Florida as America’s most ancient town. Native American mound cities in the Upper Midwest and the Anasazi Pueblo cities of southwestern Colorado were established before St. Augustine by several hundred years, as do Mexico City and the ancient Mayan city of Tikal further south. Furthermore, St. Augustine was the original permanent, declared European community in what is now the United States, founded only a little over seventy years after Columbus’ historic expedition.
As you can expect, there is a lot in this vicinity for the history fan, from the ruins of the original fort to the old community neighborhoods with colonial Spanish architecture and several museums. With an abundance of charming, historic romantic travel inns, you and your family will have no problem setting up a comfortable base of operations for your St. Augustine holiday vacation.
It was essentially 1513 when explorer Ponce de Leon, then governor of what is now Puerto Rico, landed in the area, claiming it for King Ferdinand of Castile and Queen Isabella of Aragon as Spain was not an officially unified kingdom until 1516. Opposite to popular myth, he was not looking for a “Fountain of Youth” but more substantial goods such as gold, slaves and land. It was decades before a stable settlement would be established.
Once you and your family are blissfully ensconced in one of St. Augustine’s beautiful bed and breakfasts or beach rentals, you will discover enough outdoor activities and venues to last a lifetime ranging from outdoor sports and educational excursions to sheer enjoyment and fun. Get started by exploring some of the area as the initial inhabitants and early Spanish explorers saw it with St. Augustine Eco Tours, nominated the number one experience among tourists. Traveling by kayak, you will see salt marshes and wetlands and can even encounter untamed dolphins at play. And even though it’s vacation time, you can keep the kids learning with Sheriff’s Historical Tours, which brings you through 350 years of St. Augustine’s history. Another part of St. Augustine history worth exploring is El Castillo de San Marcos, an early Spanish military installation dating from the late 1600s.
Of course, the history of St. Augustine, similar to so many places in the region, is intimately tied to the Golden Age of the Pirates of the Caribbean who frequently made forays up the Florida coast. Children of all ages will like to climb aboard the Black Raven for a feel of shipboard life on a 17th-Century privateer.
Budding herpetologists will look forward to discovering the last living kin of the ancient dinosaurs up-close and personal at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm which contains much more than just alligators. This is only a small illustration of what awaits you and your family in this fascinating town filled with sunshine a large amount of the year.