Just photos: St Augustine's Alligator Farm

Not far outside of St Augustine is the famous Alligator Farm. As you would expect in America's oldest city, this is one of America's oldest zoos and dates back to 1893.

Crocodile Dundee would have a field day here. It is the world's only complete collection of all 23 species of crocodiles and their cousins. That's right, there are nearly 2 dozen kinds of alligators scattered over 5 continents.

Luckily, none are native to England.

I have to admit this was the first time I balked at an admission price on our trip...$21.95 for me to see some crocs?? It turned out to be worth it because they have some amazing animals on view and it's possible to take some terrific wildlife shots.

We had missed the alligator feeding, but we were told that if we hurried we'd be in time to see the snake show. No thanks. Because it's not just crocs! They have komodo dragons, African vultures, monkeys, macaws and giant tortoises too.

Alligators though are the main attraction. The rare species from overseas are kept to one side, while the more common local gators sun themselves in the lagoon or lurk in the swamp.

A boardwalk across the swamp leads to a viewing platform of the herons, egrets, storks and other wading birds that nest out of harm's way.

If you are visiting, be sure to book in advance through this website or print the voucher from this link - either way you'll save $1 off each ticket.




Thanks to the magic of a zoom lens, the alligators looked close enough to touch but were actually a safe distance away.

I hope.



There were several giant tortoises gumming on dried grass, a bit like snacktime at the senior center!

Don't worry, the little guys are kept in a separate pool from the alligators to keep them from becoming a crunchy snack.

Maximo, the largest croc in the park, is kept behind toughened glass. All 15 feet of him.

I hope.

Gotcha!

A morning in St Augustine

We found the streets of St Augustine were much quieter first thing on Monday morning once the weekenders were gone. In case you're wondering, we had the stayed the night at the Days Inn, which I do recommend.

First stop was breakfast at the Spanish Bakery. This was so satisfying, we had another breakfast at The Bunnery about 10 minutes later.

The Spanish Bakery has been in business for nearly 30 years. This can only be down to its prime location, judging by its meagre selection of forlorn meat pies, sausage rolls, pastries and cookies served up in a dark shed.

My cinnamon swirl had heavy lumps of burnt sugar welded to a crusty, dry roll. At that time of morning it was popular with the road cleaning crew and I half-wondered if they had emptied their sweepings onto the counter.

Further down the street we found a fun diner called The Bunnery which had lots of local photos on the walls and a fine selection of pastries and coffee.

I was very happy with the decaff cappucino, key lime pie and cheesecake brownie.

St Augustine was lovely in the cool morning air and raking light.

We ventured along some back streets for a peek at the old residences here.

The oldest building in town though is the Castilo de San Marcos, a massive Spanish fortress with stone walls 14-feet thick and 35-feet high.

A proper 'bastion' it has a square courtyard with diamond points at each corner, sat within a ditch and star-shaped walls. You can see this from above with my aerial shots thanks to my helicopter ride which you will find below in an older post.

With foundations dating back to 1672, it is the oldest stone fortress on the continent. Inside you will find the de rigueur introductory film and a series of plain rooms left undecorated except for centuries-old graffiti.

A soldier's life was hard and the building was a remote outpost...so no, there is not much to look at inside!

On top of the ramparts there is quite a view over the town and harbour...

plus a line of magnificent old cannon.

If only I had kept my cinnamon bun from the Spanish Bakery, it would have made a fine cannonball!

Just photos: St Augustine

If your holiday season is anything like mine, you've been hard at work tying up all the loose ends, whether it's the last of your shopping or planning your menu or writing out the final few cards.

So I'm going to keep quiet for a change and just share some photos!

St Augustine, Florida: a very old town with Spanish foundations. But this is no pueblo - it's the plasterwork on the motel.

Don't stop and stare at the pavement, or you'll go dizzy.

More patterns on the pavement!

The town has several lovely churches aside from the cathedral.

More impressions from walking around the town...

Plenty of photos and more news from St Augustine still to come soon, but in the meantime have a happy Christmas!

A night in St Augustine

After the bird's eye view, it was time to see St Augustine on foot!

Following the helicopter ride, we dropped our bags at the hotel and walked into the Old Town. St Augustine is quite the tourist honeypot, surrounded by strip malls and motels. Walking out into the Old Town takes only a few minutes, but you will travel back in time several hundred years.

At the top of town are the Spanish fortress and city gates, through which you walk to enter...

...hang on, I thought Disneyland was in Orlando??!

A narrow lane leads south from the city gates into the heart of the Old Town. It is a bare patch of cement which at the weekends is hard to see for all the tourists. We had arrived on a Sunday evening, when the weekenders and honeymooners were making the most of their last few hours in town.

They were a hungry bunch judging by the sounds of the slurping and chewing they made as they lugged their shopping bags amongst a quaint (almost twee) assortment of buildings, verandas, courtyards and fountains.

On closer inspection, some of the 'old' buildings turned out to be recent reconstructions, more 1982 than 1892. Others were false altogether, built just to plug in a gap and keep up appearances. At first the place felt too busy, too colourful and too commercialised to appreciate especially when the historical 'sights' include things like America's first wax museum and the original Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Further along though the street opened up, the crowds thinned out and the evening sun began to bathe everything in a warm glowing light. The cathedral looked gorgeous, but was closed to visitors because of mass.

We settled for admiring the exterior view from the plaza in front which was shaded by Spanish moss.

St Augustine was Disneyland before Disney was born. The town was given a makeover by an oil tycoon who wanted to greet visitors with a fantastical resort along his purpose-built railroad. These days the fairy tale hotels with their colonnades and spires are home to a college and the city's town hall.
We strolled the seafront at sunset, when the last of the evening night glinted off the lighthouse...


...and the Bridge of Lions crossed over boats bobbing in the harbour.

A perfect end to a perfect day?

Not yet, because now it was time for some beer! First stop was the A1A Ale Works on the cathedral plaza, where they make their own ales on the premises. The IPA and brown ale were fantastic, though a bit strong for English tastes at 5.4%. The food looked delicious as well, but came such in huge portions we felt we couldn't do it justice.

Later we found an old watermill with a tavern on top named (you'll never guess) the Milltop.

The place was a bit scruffy, seemingly assembled from planks found on the beach after a shipwreck and tied together with mosquito netting. We loved it. We had several bottles of Sam Adams with our nachos, quesadillas and other tasty nibbles. They have live music every night and that evening a chap was strumming guitar and singing, every bit as rough and ready as the premises. When he took a break they played 60s rock on the jukebox.

Nearly 500 years after Ponce de Leon first landed here searching for the Fountain of Youth, St Augustine remains a great place to dip into!