The Great Drive -- Or, The Long Way Home (Pt 1)

I arrived in Orlando, Florida on the 5th. I only had about 2 hours of sleep, but that was a sacrifice I was more than willing to make, and I'd make again in a heartbeat. A very fluttery heartbeat ;-) So, as a consequence, I pretty much went straight to bed on the 5th. The 6th, Grandma and I were supposed to stop off at Sea World and play for a bit. But it was so hot, well over 90'F, that we decided it just wasn't a good idea. I suffer from heat, but she really suffers, and at 80+ years, probably not a great idea to push it. So we just drove all day. We stopped off in St Augustin, FL.

St Augustin is the oldest continuously inhabited town in the United States. The area was the first place that Ponce De Leon landed in 1513 when he was searching for the fountain of youth. Eventually a colony was established in 1539 -- 42 years before Jamestown, VA and 55 years before the Mayflower arrived. Santa Fe, NM is the only other city which competes. There's some debate as to which city is actually 'oldest', but in any case, it's a very old town (for the United States). The whole town is covered in Spanish Moss. Really pretty, slightly eerie... But one of the avenues in particular is stunning. It's listed as one of the top 10 most beautiful streets in the US. It's lined on either side by Live Oak Trees, and they're covered in Spanish Moss.

The 7th we were planning on playing tourist all day, and staying the night again in St Augustin, but not at the same hotel (which was kind of a miserable place). We got up and jumped on the tourist tram and rode around for a bit. We got off at the old Fort, which is now a National Monument, run by the the National Park System. We explored it for a while, but it was just so hot out there, we decided we'd be better off just heading out for parts less hot. So instead of staying in St Augustine, FL, we ended up staying in Savannah, GA.