Spring Break- Day 1: St. Augustine

We drove to Florida on Thursday for a whirlwind Spring Break getaway.  Our magic formula of leaving in the middle of the night worked again this year!  After an early Wednesday night bedtime for all, we hit the road at 2:45 a.m., and this was the scene in our car:

We have a rule when we do these early departures that the kids must sleep (or try to sleep) until 7:00 a.m.   That means no videos, no talking, no reading, etc.   It's quiet for several hours and we pack breakfast for the car that we eat when everyone "wakes up".  We were lucky not to have much traffic, and sure enough, we arrived in St. Augustine shortly after 10:30 a.m.!

It wasn't bathing suit weather, but the kids put their toes in the ocean and had fun playing in the sand.  We had a picnic lunch on the beach and it was beautiful and relaxing:

They proclaimed that the water was COLD!

The sand was covered in shells, and L&L found some beautiful additions to their shell collections.

Flock of pelicans.

In the afternoon, we headed to the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park.  This ended up being very crowded with lots of school field trips (and was a bit of a cheesy tourist attraction), so we gave a quick shout out to Ponce De Leon and briefly walked around the outside of the park.

The children enjoyed posing with the canons, and we kept hearing loud squawking near us.  We looked up and realized that there were peacocks in the trees right above our heads.  We later read that there are almost 50 peafowl that roam loose around the park!

We enjoyed talking about the history of St. Augustine, and the children were excited that we were exploring the oldest city in the United States.  The city has a beautiful historic district, with cobblestone streets,  Spanish architecture, and gorgeous views of the Mantanzasa Bay.

Lots of Spanish moss and elegant, stately homes. 

Spanish Colonial architecture and palm trees.

Enjoying an ice cream cone in the Historic Quarter!

Standing at the Old City Gates (the original stone entry of this once-walled city).

There was way too much in St. Augustine for us to thoroughly explore in one day, so we chose one attraction that ended up being quite a serendipitous find.  Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest fort in the continental U.S., and is a huge structure that overlooks the bay.  It is part of the National Parks Service, and when I looked up admission fees (upon our arrival), I found that 4th graders (and their families) get in free to all National Parks this year!  That made this freebie attraction quite appealing to us, and I had no idea how much the kids would love it.

We spent hours at Castillo de San Marcos and learned much about this 17th century structure that once protected the ancient city of St. Augustine.  One of our favorite facts is that the fort walls are made from coquina shells and sand, which mix together to form a limestone that is stronger than cement.  We find coquina shells at the beach each summer, and it was hard to believe that walls made with these delicate shells are strong enough to deflect cannon balls!  

Luke loved walking around the bastions, and excitedly chatted with Mark about how he was "getting so many ideas for the forts that he builds in his video games".  He loved seeing the cannons and exploring the rooms that once housed soldiers and prisoners, and the boys wandered through the interior courtyard and weaponry exhibits:

Meanwhile, Leah dutifully completed every single question in a Junior Park Ranger workbook that the Rangers gave her.  It was filled with facts about the fort, and this little girl read many signs and diligently studied numerous exhibits at the Castillo in order to complete each page of her activity book:

In the end, her hard work paid off, as Peanut received a very official stamped certificate and badge:

After a fun afternoon exploring Castillo de San Marcos, it was time to drive to our hotel.  We ate an early dinner, and we were ALL asleep by 7:00 p.m.   It was a great (and FULL) first day of Spring Break!