Here is part 2 of our St. Augustine Adventures. This was the last day we were there and the weather was finally beautiful. I took a lot of pictures this day!
First thing in the morning we went to Starbucks and got coffee, Yum! Then we headed over to the Castillo de San Marcos fort.
We got there early enough to watch the cannon firing demonstration.
The pull the cannon out of position.
Then they stuff it with what ever they are going to fire out of it. In this case them mentioned that they shoot out bread for the birds.
Then they use the big pieces of wood to walk it back into position.
Then the add the gunpowder and fire it!
After they fire it they have to pull it back out of position and clean it out. Then they let us know that it is all clear.
We walked around and checked out more of the fort.
While we were purchasing our tickets to go into the schoolhouse this little squirrel was chilling out eating a peanut.
Inside the classroom they had a mock up setting of a classroom with mannequins in it.
There was this kid sitting in this small cupboard area under the stairs. The sign said this was called the dungeon and they would put the kids that were bad in there, close the door and leave the child in the dark. We think people are rough with kids now a days.
This was a picture I took of the little shopping area while we were walking around.
Then we headed over to the Old Jail House. They said the sheriff had the building painted pink and did not want it to look like a typical jail.
This is what they call the gallows. This is where people were hung to death. They said that part of the sentence was that you had to build your own gallows.
Inside the jail was pretty dark so I didn't get very many pictures inside. The cells and rooms were all super small. The sheriff and his family actually lived on one side of the building and the cells were on the other.
After visiting the jail we were starving and decided to check out Mellow Mushroom. The pizzas were great.
We then decided to waste some time and go check out St. Anastasia Park.
We had purchased tickets to do a haunted tour of the lighthouse. They turn most of the lights out on the property before the tour.
We were able to walk up the stairs to the top of the lighthouse in pitch dark. The only light we had were glow sticks hanging from our necks. The lighthouse is 145 feet tall and there are 219 stairs to climb all the way to the top. I think I was the first person to stop because I was out of breath.
I just love the composition of this shot. You can see the city, the moon, and the light beam from the light house.
This is looking down from the top platform!
And this is looking back up from the bottom!
Unfortunately we did not see any ghosts or experience anything odd. After everybody left we stayed and took pictures from the front of the property with all the lights back on.
This is another picture where you can see the light beam from the lighthouse.
We had such a great time. With it being a holiday we ran out of time to see everything. We are going back in February so there should be more pictures coming from that trip!