After leaving Charleston, SC, we stayed in Savannah, GA, for one night. We added some new locks on our door and did our grocery shopping while we were there.

The next day we drove to St. Augustine, FL and spent the night at a Planet Fitness parking lot. We arrived late in the day and decided we would spend the next day sightseeing. There was a free RV parking lot near the attractions where we parked the bus while we explored the city in our car. We took the car down closer to the shore and parked in free street parking in front of the Nombre De Dios church.

The church was the first attraction on our route, built in 1565 by the original settlers of St. Augustine. Pedro Menéndez de Avilés landed and proclaimed this site for Spain and the Church. Menéndez named this site Nombre de Dios, meaning Name of God.

We walked for some time and discovered that the Ripley’s Believe it or Not had free outdoor attractions. Behind a very tall, spiral bush wall stood an exact replica of Michelangelo’s David. “Sculptured by the Sollanzini & Sons’ Studios of Florence, Italy, this replica of Michelangelo’s famous David is one of only two copies in the world carved to the exact specifications as the original- 17′ high and weighing 10 tons – and from one solid piece of Carrara marble excavated from the exact same quarry – Fantiscritti, in Miseglia, Tuscany – as Michelangelo’s masterpiece.”

We continued our walk towards the castle fort. St Augustine was founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers and it is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the US. Spanish admiral Pedro Menendez de Aviles named the settlement ‘San Augustin’ because his ships first sighted the land on August 28th, the feast day of Saint Augustine. Spain ceded Florida to the US in 1819.

We walked through the rustic streets of the historic neighborhood and strolled past Flagler College and the Castillo de San Marcos. The Castillo de San Marcos (Spanish for “St. Mark’s Castle”) is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States. The fort’s construction was ordered by the Governor in 1668 after a raid by the English that destroyed much of St. Augustine and damaged the existing wooden fort. The construction of the core of the current fortress was completed in 1695.

The fort has been renamed many times, ‘Fort St. Mark‘ in 1763 by Britain, ‘Fort Marion‘ in 1821 by the US. The fort was declared a National Monument in 1924 and was deactivated in 1933. In 1942 the original name, Castillo de San Marcos, was restored by an Act of Congress.

Then we walked to St Augustine Distillery. This distillery lives in a restored 1907 ice plant, creating handcrafted small-batch whiskey, bourbon, gin, and rum. They seek to elevate their community by combining local farms and businesses into the business of creating these super premium spirits.
They offer free tours and tastings so we definitely visited!

As I wrote this post, I googled the distillery for some fun facts and learned that they are using their alcohol, which can reach up to 145 proof before barreling, to produce free hand sanitizer amid the coronavirus outbreak. Good on them!

We got to try the gin, rum, and vodka in the tasting room. Our tour guide prepared our shots for us, using the distillery’s very own mixers that are made to pair perfectly with their spirits. The grand finale, hidden behind the next door, was the tasting of their most premium spirits, their smoky aged bourbons.

The Saint was the best bourbon I’ve ever had, priced at $200 a bottle. Their store was beautiful and their products were practical and stylish. I hope that if some of you pass through St Augustine after this coronavirus outbreak is under control, that you stop here and take a tour and show your support just as they have shown support to their community during this time.

We finished up our tour, walked a few miles back to the bus, picked up the car and made our way down to Deltona, FL, for the night.