Spring Break ~ Day 4

The next day we said goodbye to St Augustine, and headed west toward the Gulf. We hit Juniper Springs on our way, and stopped for lunch and a swim. The spring is beautiful, and perfectly hidden away! After swimming and playing, we took a short walk down the trail, until we ran into a huge water moccasin, and decided that was far enough!  











Once we had thoroughly enjoyed the spring, we got back in the car and drove the rest of the way over to Crystal River. We got checked into our hotel, found some delicious dinner, then the kids swam at the pool for a few hours before we all crashed for the night. 

Spring Break ~ Day 3

We spent the full day in St Augustine, exploring that amazing place! The weather was rainy and cold in the morning, but it warmed up by the afternoon, so we rode the trolley around and visited so many places. There is so much history in St Augustine, it's literally everywhere you look, which is so cool! Our first stop was the Old Jail, followed by the St Augustine History Museum. 



Next stop was the original city gates, which date back to 1808. 


We loved visiting the Castillo de San Marcos, which is the oldest masonry fort built in the continental US, and was built in the 1600s. Sadly the visitor center was closed when we were there, but we were still able to walk around the grounds.  





We then walked through the Colonial Quarter, which is really neat. I love the stone walkways and old buildings. Also the stocks, where Brinley got a good laugh at her brothers!


Riding the trolley through town was super fun, and we got to pass so many old churches, museums, and hotels. Seeing Flagler College was also really cool, too bad they don't have a program for Jasen!




My personal favorite stop on the tour was Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth. The water was a little skunky, but maybe we'll all stay young now that we've drank some! The park was beautiful, right on the water, and there were peacocks everywhere. We even got to feed them!













After the park, we headed back to the Colonial Quarter for lunch and more exploring. 



Our last stop of the day was the St Augustine lighthouse, built in the 1870s. We got there right before closing time, and made our way up 219 steps to the top. The circular stairs were a little nerve-racking, and poor Brinley only made it up to the 3rd level before she was too scared to go any further. 








We spent a quiet evening on the beach at our hotel, and it was so nice to just relax after all that walking. Brinley asked for a photo shoot, and it turned out so cute!