We spent Monday evening driving around Anastasia Island and Augustine Beach, going to the lighthouse and trying to find beach access for an evening stroll. Florida is not Oregon. Finding beach access with parking in this area was next to impossible, although we found it easier in the daylight. We did get a couple of nice pictures of St Augustine lighthouse and the surrounding buildings. 
The next morning we headed to old town again to go through the museum in the visitor’s center. It featured very nice displays of the history and people of the area in chronological order. I found a couple of things that were interesting contradictions. They were Ponce de Leon “discovering” an area that was already inhabited by “Native” American people that had migrated to the US by way of the Bering Strait land bridge. See if you can find the contradictions there.
After the museum we went across the Bridge of the Lions and over to Anastasia Island to visit the St Augustine Alligator farm. Since we had not seen any gators in the wild we had to go see them in captivity. We arrived just in time to watch a feeding demo, and because of the 65 degree day, all t
he reptilian species were falling , and laying, all over each other to find a place to bask in the sun. They had a display that showed a “typical” Florida swamp that made me quite happy to live in Oregon. Walking into an area with 30+ gators does not warm my heart in the least bit. There were also a number of birds and primates in the park also. Next trip back we are looking forward to seeing a Komodo Dragon. It was one of the more enjoyable wildlife exhibits we have visited. Especially impre
ssive was the display with Gomek, a 17' 9" salt water crocodile captured in New Guinea and sold to the farm. After he died in 1997 he was stuffed and put on display. He has since been replaced by Maximo who was hatched in 1971 and has grown to a length of 15' 3" and weighs 1250 pounds. He should live to be 60 - 80 years 
old so has quite an opportunity to grow quite large still.
The next morning we headed to old town again to go through the museum in the visitor’s center. It featured very nice displays of the history and people of the area in chronological order. I found a couple of things that were interesting contradictions. They were Ponce de Leon “discovering” an area that was already inhabited by “Native” American people that had migrated to the US by way of the Bering Strait land bridge. See if you can find the contradictions there.
After the museum we went across the Bridge of the Lions and over to Anastasia Island to visit the St Augustine Alligator farm. Since we had not seen any gators in the wild we had to go see them in captivity. We arrived just in time to watch a feeding demo, and because of the 65 degree day, all t
he reptilian species were falling , and laying, all over each other to find a place to bask in the sun. They had a display that showed a “typical” Florida swamp that made me quite happy to live in Oregon. Walking into an area with 30+ gators does not warm my heart in the least bit. There were also a number of birds and primates in the park also. Next trip back we are looking forward to seeing a Komodo Dragon. It was one of the more enjoyable wildlife exhibits we have visited. Especially impressive was the display with Gomek, a 17' 9" salt water crocodile captured in New Guinea and sold to the farm. After he died in 1997 he was stuffed and put on display. He has since been replaced by Maximo who was hatched in 1971 and has grown to a length of 15' 3" and weighs 1250 pounds. He should live to be 60 - 80 years old so has quite an opportunity to grow quite large still.
The before-mentioned Bridge of the Lions was a true disappointment to us. It was the old bridge, completed in 1927, that spanned the Intra-coastal Waterway. It is now under renovation and has been replaced by a temporary structure.
The marble lions are a huge tourist attraction, with people coming from all over the world to be photographed in front of them.
Reluctantly we left St Augustine for Savannah. We added St Augustine to a growing list of cities that we will revisit on future trips and allow more time to see them. We traveled up the famous A1A highway to Jacksonville and then back on the Interstate. It is too bad how built up the ocean side of A1A has become, and most of these houses will be badly damaged during the next hurricane that hits the Florida coast. It goes to show you the old saying that a fool and his money are soon parted is true.
We arrived in Savannah after dark so did not get a good opportunity to see the town. We wanted to eat at The Lady and Sons Restaurant, but there was a line around the corner and down the block. This restaurant is owned by Paul Deen of Food Network fame and is a popular local attraction. Since we could not eat at Paula’s place the next best thing was to eat at her brother’s restaurant. We loaded Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House in the Navigator and headed off. After a couple of tours around the block we found the restaurant in the back of a dark business complex parking lot. My niece had said something at Sunday dinner about not liking Pacific Coast oysters when she visited that piqued my curiosity, so I ordered the seafood combo with oysters. She was right. There is a real difference between the two coasts where oysters are concerned. The east coast oysters are smaller and more delicate in flavor and even passed the Connie taste test. We had both reached a point where we could not stand the taste or texture of oysters but these were excellent.
The marble lions are a huge tourist attraction, with people coming from all over the world to be photographed in front of them.Reluctantly we left St Augustine for Savannah. We added St Augustine to a growing list of cities that we will revisit on future trips and allow more time to see them. We traveled up the famous A1A highway to Jacksonville and then back on the Interstate. It is too bad how built up the ocean side of A1A has become, and most of these houses will be badly damaged during the next hurricane that hits the Florida coast. It goes to show you the old saying that a fool and his money are soon parted is true.
We arrived in Savannah after dark so did not get a good opportunity to see the town. We wanted to eat at The Lady and Sons Restaurant, but there was a line around the corner and down the block. This restaurant is owned by Paul Deen of Food Network fame and is a popular local attraction. Since we could not eat at Paula’s place the next best thing was to eat at her brother’s restaurant. We loaded Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House in the Navigator and headed off. After a couple of tours around the block we found the restaurant in the back of a dark business complex parking lot. My niece had said something at Sunday dinner about not liking Pacific Coast oysters when she visited that piqued my curiosity, so I ordered the seafood combo with oysters. She was right. There is a real difference between the two coasts where oysters are concerned. The east coast oysters are smaller and more delicate in flavor and even passed the Connie taste test. We had both reached a point where we could not stand the taste or texture of oysters but these were excellent.
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