Charming Cities of the South Series Part II • St. Augustine, Florida

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Have you ever been here??? St. Augustine is absolutely gorgeous. From impressive buildings to quaint buildings, heavily adorned detailing to straightforward lines––St. Augustine runs the gamut on historic architecture. On our return from our holiday trip, we were able to breeze through this delightful city once again. Every time we visit, I ache to plant my feet down a little firmer and stay a bit longer. Unfortunately for us, we are typically running short on time and only have a few hours to envelope ourselves in the oldest city the US has to offer. 

Notice the column layout. I loved this detail! One large square column flanked by two simple dorics. Gorgeous!

Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous!!!!! You know my obsession with neo-classical detailing. This house makes me wide-eyed and breathy ;) 

Notice that this is two homes adjoined by a central breezeway/hallway. I didn't notice until I snapped a photo, walked away and then went to retake. 

Flagler College was once Ponce de Leon Hotel––a magnificent structure built in the Spanish Renaissance manner.  It is said that the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers fancied the place and would stay here in their travels south. 

According to paranormal experts, the original owners wife hung herself on the 4th floor after the death of their young daughter. How sad. It's rumored that the 4th floor is terribly haunted––so much that university officials refuse to have the space put to use, no matter the need for more room within the school. I'm gettin' the vapahhs!

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St. Augustine has a fantastic array of beautiful doors and entryways. Look at the marvelous detailing here. 

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 What is so wonderful about St. Augustine is the mix of anglo and spanish architecture. Here we have a Spanish Colonial style building and a Saltbox/Cape Cod building. Both important to American architecture, yet two wildly different approaches.

A tiny coffee shop! Adorable!

All roads in the square are cobblestone. Nothing says charming like cobblestone lined streets!

This photo does not do the scale justice whatsoever. The brackets were easily 1' wide and 6' tall. Very impressive. And interesting blend of both the Anglo and the Spanish––while I saw many examples of either or, this building was one of the few that merged the two styles. I'd say the balcony was added much later than the original structure.

And of course, every blog post is better with a picture of Amos! Teehee! Forgive some of the crooked pics––it's Amos' fault. I swear!

I wanted to illustrate the gorgeous view of the Bridge of Lions, which leads to Anastasia Island, the island facing St. Augustine and closest to the Atlantic. Had we had time on our side, I would have run over to the island, which from my vantage point had several giant and beautiful homes just waiting to be captured with my iPhone. Harumph, Mr. Impatientgetmehome was hot on my tail and would not allow me to drag out my tourist dorkery any further ;)

Don't you want to visit St. Augustine now??? It's truly beautiful and I was not able to immerse myself for a smidgeon as long as I would have liked. I keep saying that next time we are over that way, we are settling down in St. Augustine for at least one night and two days––there's just so much to see and do and I love the history and architecture coupled with the sheer volume of multi-cultural visitors. Truly amazing––I would venture to say that one out of two people walking were speaking a completely different foreign language than the one before him or her. Made me proud that others were so interested in where our remarkable country began back in 1565.

xoxo,


Andrea

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