Sharon Pickering Photography Blog: A few days in St. Augustine

Drew and I took a road trip to St. Augustine. It was like a trip down memory lane. We lived there for a couple of wonderful years. So this trip was visiting with old friends in town for the weekend and revisiting my favorite places. Which Drew saw in a completely different light. He now sees why I love this town so much.

This might be the most awesome gate in all history. I loved it the first time I saw it...and photographed it...and I love it today.

And we all know (and if you didn't, you do now) that I love house numbers.

This is something you don't see often. St. George Street empty. You have to get up early. Which we did.

At the start of St. George Street is the city gates. These gates have a story. Only one of many. The one I'm talking about is Elizabeth. I make a point to say hello to her every time I pass the gates.

Drew contemplating the Huguenot Cemetery.

Then we walked the streets. Up and down and all around. It is what I do in St. Augustine.

Then I took Drew into the Cathedral Basilica. The first church in the new world. The first. It is amazing.

Places we ate. Funky and fun. I didn't get a picture of O'Steens. It is absolutely the best shrimp in the world. Really.

This is the Lightner Museum. It houses the worlds largest indoor swimming pool. (Johnny Weismuller - Tarzan- trained here when it was swimming pool.) It is now a cafe and museum.

Next stop...Flagler College. It has such history. (As does most buildings in the town.) The architecture is breathtaking.

And here I am...at a little cafe in the Casa Monica Hotel.

Back to the motel. Not much to get excited about motel wise. It was old. Hot. Bars and loud music kept us up into the wee hours of the night. But. It was such a wonderful location. This is the view from a patio on the motel.

Another stroll through town.

One of our friends got engaged during this trip!! Don't they look newly engaged?

This evening Drew played poker with his friends. And I walked the streets. Again. Loved it!!

This is the oldest house. Closed when I got there, but I took pictures through the window. :-)

I am not a fan of horse drawn carriages. Sure, they are romantic...yada yada yada. But I've seen those poor horses in the heat of the day (and I'm talking drop dead heat) standing on the side of the road waiting for the next patron. No shade. Just heat from the road. The sun. *ok...I'll get off my soapbox* At least this particular pair was on the shady streets and the evening was cooling off some.

This brings us to the Bridge of Lions. It was under construction when we lived there the entire time. So we were really excited to see the finished bridge. The lions were saved from the original bridge and put back in place on the new bridge. I walked across the bridge to get a shot of the sunset. But, after getting over there, the sun dips behind a cloud bank. sigh.