St. Augustine Beach KOA

200 miles - 3 hours

At the suggestion of friends, Roger and Wendy, I detoured a short distance to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park.  Opening in May of 1893, it's Florida's oldest continually running attraction. It's the only location where you can see all 24 species of crocodile, alligator, caiman and gharial. Unfortunately, I arrived about 2:30 pm and the next talk was at 4:00 pm. They eliminated the 3 pm feeding due to low temperatures. (As I write this part of the post it's 45°.) It seems their regular diet of rodents and chicken cannot be metabolized with the chilly temperatures so they feed them "croc food" or pellets. After my three hour drive, I was eager to get to the KOA and set up. Time to relax, catch up on emails, news, online Words with Friends and other important life-changing matters. I did, however, take advantage of short time at the park and take a quick tour with photos:

You are greeted with this beast...stuffed of course.

Another stuffed...one can only imagine. The crocs and alligators in the photos
that follow are alive and doing well.

Monstrous sizes

This basking beauty had its mouth partially opened so I zoomed in.....

...and was favorably impressed. When they slam bite their prey, there's
3,700 pounds per square inch taking care of business.

Meanwhile, in the nursery, these two year olds enjoy basking in the sun as well.

And did you ever see an albino crocodile?

Out of the bayous of Louisiana, these rare and mystical creatures
seem to be thriving here. 

It is said the good fortune come to those who gaze upon them.
I'll let you know. I stared for at least 10 minutes.

And what zoo would be complete without an assortment of other forms of interesting wildlife? There were lemurs of Madagascar, birds of Africa.

At the KOA Campgroud

The KOA campground was less than two miles south from the Alligator Zoo.

My site #54 was a spacious pull through site with a setup I've
never encountered before.

Every site had a table and four chairs, a gas burning grill and, on some, a huge
domed, fire pit.

The pull through site across from me bordered a beautiful lagoon

KOA is known for their spacious furnished rental cabins.

Looking north

Up my road, many large Class A motorhomes, many from Canada.

 

My friend, Mya, drove up from Port Orange to join me for brunch and a walk
through the historic downtown of St. Augustine.

 Downtown Saint Augustine

After parking on Castillo Drive oposite the old fort, we walked down St. George Street.
One shop after the other offered anything and everything. A left on Hypolita Street...

...took us past a very tempting place to stop but alas, we opted for Mayan fare
across the street at...

Casa Maya, Mexican Seafood Grille & Tequila Bar. Upstairs on the balcony
was cozy and protected from the cool breezes with plastic. Yes, that's Mya at the Maya.

I opted for the Vegetarian Omelette: Spinach, mushrooms and Mexican cheese, topped with fresh avocado and tomato slices and served with homemade salsa and vegetarian pinto beans on the side.

The history of the St. Augustine settlers was treacherous. Isolated and often near starvation, they lived in constant fear of attacks by pirates who roamed the coast and hostile Indians. Englishman Francis Drake burned the village and wooden fort to the ground in 1586 and the pirate, John Davis, sacked it again in 1668. 

 

This is what's left of the then new fort. Spain's Queen Regent Mariana realized that St. Augustine was the keystone in the defense of the Florida coast. She ordered the new fort to be constructed of stone. 

In 1672, the Castillo de San Marcos was begun and took 23 years to complete. Originally the fort was covered with white plaster, some of which can be seen today. The towers in the four corners were plastered red. It was built of coquina, a locally quarried soft shellrock. It was easily shaped by artisans and did not become brittle and crumble under cannon fire. The fort, the city gate and many homes in St. Augustine were made of coquina which is still evident today.

The St. Augustine Lighthouse. A Spanish watchtower, built in the late 1500's it was the predecessor of the present St. Augustine Lighthouse. Officially the first light in St. Augustine was lit in an existing coquina structure in  May of 1824 by Florida's American territorial government.  By 1870, this "Old Spanish Watchtower" as it was known, was threatened by shoreline erosion and the US Congress appropriated $100K for a new tower. Construction began in 1871, and it continued for the next three years. Alabama brick and Philadelphia iron work combined with a new hand-blown, nine-foot-tall, Fresnel lens, from Paris, France. This beacon was installed and lit in October of 1874 by head keeper William Russell and remains one of only a few such operating lenses in the United States.   The old tower succumbed to the sea during a storm in 1880.

Okay, history class is now dismissed. They've got these tour guides all over the place so the least you can do is read one or two, no?  ...says the guy who doesn't consider himself a "tourist." So with that, I'll say good bye to St. Augustine and Friday set off for Port Orange, FL, 67 miles to the south. See you there.

A beautiful sunset Thursday evening.