Norton travels, USA and beyond

We spent the week at Flagler Beach, just south of St. Augustine. The weather was nice for the first part of the week, so we enjoyed the beach and pool. Then it cooled off, so we went to see the historic sites in the area. First we went to Fort Matanzas that was built by the Spanish in 1740 to guard against a backdoor attack on St. Augustine. The next day we went into St. Augustine. Its claim to fame is as the oldest permanent European settlement in the continental US. It was founded in 1565 by the Spanish to protect their commerce and trade routes. The fort there, Castillo de San Marcos, is very impressive and is the oldest masonry fort in the US. The construction is very interesting to see up close, built of coquina, large bricks formed by shells and sand. Although the city was burned in 1702, the fort was never lost to the British siege. The lighthouse on the barrier island is also very cool. The rest of the town is quaint with some authentic old buildings. But a lot of it is very commercialized with shops, restaurants, tours and museums about everything from pirates to Ripley’s oddities.

Today we went to Marineland. It is the original ocean park, built for filming movies in 1938. Much of the original park was destroyed by a hurricane in 2004. Now it is mostly dedicated to research and protection of dolphins. Being a dolphin lover (who isn’t?), it was a good educational experience. Plus we saw the oldest living dolphin that will turn 60 this month. Their normal lifespan is about 25 - 30 years. So that about concludes our time in Florida; we will be heading to Georgia on Monday.