Rosa's 2012-- MORE ADVENTURES CHANGE AND CONTINUE!: Last Day at St. Francis B&B Inn St Augustine, FL

Our third day began early...again, with me going across the street to the Inn for a couple of cups of coffee to drink while we were getting ready to go for breakfast at 7:30 AM! WOW...what a breakfast it was...Egg in a Basket with Hollandaise Sauce, Hashbrown Casserole, Strawberry Soup (cold)...this was sweet but delicious, fresh cinnamon rolls, homemade breads, English Muffins, Yogurts, cereals, juices as well as coffee and teas!!! The Egg in a Basket was rather unique (to us anyway!) and I think Denny has come pretty close to duplicating it for breakfast this morning. There was a thin outer crust of maybe thin ham placed in a muffin pan then some kind of cheese with an egg cracked over it and baked until egg is done...sprinkled with cheese on top!

After breakfast we finished packing and loading back into the car and took off to tour Castillo de San Marcos (the Fort)! It was already HOT so we were glad we could get it in fairly early! It was very interesting and it made us even more curious how it would have been possible for hundreds of folks to be held up inside the Fort for months at a time! We always wonder how they would have been able to have enough drinking water as well as food!

After a tour of the Fort we headed back to the Inn to turn in our room keys and officially check out. We grabbed one more cup of coffee as well as cup of ice water to go, chatted a few more minutes with our new friends from PA and then headed to the Old Town Trolley Main Station where we could park free!

While there we toured the St. Augustine Historical Museum which was a nice trip through the ages from the Timucuan Indians, to the first settlement over 400 years ago...showimg the tools each group used as well as typical clothes and living conditions...it was very interesting!

It was now LUNCH time at the Columbia...so we rode the trolley around to the Columbia and indulged in Black Bean Soup and a REAL Cuban Sandwich with Sangria! Before they brought out soup and sandwich...they brought out a 6 inch slab of Hot Cuban Bread with a dish of Butter...real BUTTER...not buttery spread!!!! It was all very good and lived up to everything I have heard through the years about the Columbia Restaurant!

LUNCH at THE COLUMBIA RESTAURANT, St. Augustine, FL

After lunch at the Columbia we continued the trolley ride back around to the Trolley Station where our car was parked...it was time to say "Thank You and Good Bye" to Old St. Augustine and a BIG THANK YOU to Randy, Maddie, Russ and Dianna for sending us on such a wonderful trip!

We headed SOUTH across the Bridge of Lions on A1A toward the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum...we had tickets to go up the Lighthouse...but, we figured 219 steps up the open spiral staircase was a little too much to even attempt...especially on a day when it was nearly 100 degrees! The Lighthouse Museum was interesting as it showed tools the Lighthouse keeper had to use as well as gave everyone the opportunity to pick up the pail that the keeper had to carry to the top every night in order to keep the light burning throughout the night!

Below are other places of interest that we heard many stories and historical facts about, but we did not actually go inside.

The Gates to Old St. Augustine...they used to be closed and locked at sundown each night:

The THREE FLAGLER hotels...the only one that is still an actual hotel is the Casa Monica! The one below used to be the Ponce de Leon Hotel and is now Flagler College

This is the Casa Monica Hotel...still a hotel today!

This is now the City of St. Augustine Museum home of Lightner Museum! "Back in the Day"...this hotel was called the Alcazar and it was known as the "fun hotel" because the dress was casual and it had gambling and "fun" things to do!!!

Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church that Henry Flagler had built in memory of his deceased daughter and granddaughter, who had both died as a result of childbirth!