St Augustine Gold Tours

06/10/2024

BEFORE THE BRIDGE OF LIONS! In the late 1800s, a small bridge with a horse-drawn trolley connected historic St. Augustine, Florida to Anastasia Island, where the St. Augustine Lighthouse stands.

📸: We believe this photo actually shows another bridge in the marsh area of Anastasia Island that led to the St. Augustine Lighthouse, where visitors could see this landmark after boating over from the historic district to the island.

“The Bridge to Anastasia Island” or “South Beach railroad bridge” was built in 1895, and after a major renovation in 1904, the bridge could accommodate a trolley. The span contained no rise, and had a movable opening for ship traffic, and charged a toll for transit.

The Bridge of Lions was completed in 1927. It was rebuilt in 2010.

The bridge gets its name from a pair of marble Medici lion replicas that guard the bridge.

06/02/2024

06/02/2024

Take a dip! During World War II, the US Coast Guardsmen training at the Ponce de Leon Hotel (now Flagler College) and stationed at the St. Augustine Lighthouse, found the moat at the Castillo de San Marcos to be an attractive spot for swimming after their training sessions. The photo depicts a large group of Coasties gathered around the glacis, a man-made slope, of the Castillo de San Marcos. One of them is captured in the act of jumping — or perhaps being pushed — into the filled moat. The moat may have never had sharks and alligators in it, but it did have at least one Coastie.

📸: Coastie jumping into the moat at the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine, Florida.

05/22/2024

05/14/2024

Well, well, well, what do we have here? ...well, it’s a well!

One of our most asked questions is: Could the Spanish get fresh water so close to the Matanzas River? 💧 Well, yes! They had to be careful. This well had both fresh and salt water. They skimmed fresh drinking water off the top of the well.

Picture Description: The Castillo's Courtyard Well in 1875. Did you know the NPS used this photograph as the reference when rebuilding the top of the well in 2005?

04/29/2024

⚓️ TALL SHIP TOURS UNTIL JUNE! The Nao Trinidad will be in St. Augustine, Florida for tours through June! The ship replica from Spain is docked at the St. Augustine Municipal Marina, 11 Avenida Menendez, near the Bridge of Lions. Tours are available daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, and tickets can be purchased on the boat!

FOLLOW

04/10/2024

🌼SPRING FESTIVALS + Events in St. Augustine & St. Johns County:

🌼Daily through May 27: Exhibits at the Oldest House Museum Complex
🌼Wednesday-Saturday: Complimentary tours of the historic Peña-Peck House
🌼Through May 14: Dressing Louisa - A Lifetime of Fashion at Ximenez-Fatio House
🌼April 10: 80s Prom Party to benefit Island Prep School
🌼April 11-13: St. Augustine PoetFest
🌼April 12-14: Gamble Rogers Folk Festival at the St. Johns County Fairgrounds
🌼April 13: Tiki Party from 12-4 pm at Marina Munch Food Truck Park
🌼April 13, April 20, April 27: Roper Romp Pub Crawl with The Tasting Tours
🌼April 13-14: St. Augustine Beach Pier Art & Craft Festival at St. Augustine Beach Pier Park
🌼April 14: Kidz Spring Indoor Market at Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine
🌼April 18: BBQ & Beer at the Barn – Benefit for Horseplay Therapy Center
🌼April 18: Lightner Museum Spring Market
🌼April 20: Record Store Day starts at 9 am at Music Matters Remixed
🌼April 20-21: Lullaby of the Rivers
🌼April 24-28: Florida’s Birding & Photo Fest
🌼 April 24-28: Plein Air Paint Out with the St. Augustine Art Association
🌼April 26: Music & Moonlight with live music at Music Matters Remixed
🌼April 27: Love Your Mother Eco Fashion Show
🌼April 27: Roscolusa Songwriters Festival in Nocatee/Ponte Vedra Beach
🌼April 27-28: Cabbage, Potato and Bacon Festival in Hastings, Florida
🌼April 28: The Taste of St. Augustine at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre
🌼April 28: St Augustine Sailing Ladybug Race
🌼May 3-19: Romanza Festivale of Music + Arts
🌼May 4: STA Brewers’ Fest
🌼May 4: St. Augustine Orchestra concert hosted by EMMA Concert Association
🌼 May 4: Unidos En La Música: A Latin American Festival
🌼May 8-12: St. Augustine History Festival
🌼May 8-12: St. Augustine Food & Wine Festival
🌼May 11: Sunflower & Tomato Festival at Wesley Wells Farms
🌼 May 16: St. Augustine Pub Crawl 80s Style
🌼May 18: As If! 90s Fest at Francis Field

👉🏽SEE THE FULL FESTIVAL LIST at totallystaugustine.com

📸: Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

04/05/2024

04/02/2024

🌸🦩 HELLO, APRIL! Festivals + Events this month in St. Augustine & St. Johns County:

🦩 April 6: 23rd Annual St. Augustine Cruisers Car Show at the Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine
🌸Daily through May 27: Special exhibits at the Oldest House Museum Complex
🦩Wednesday-Saturday: Complimentary tours of the historic Peña-Peck House
🌸 Through May 14: Dressing Louisa - A Lifetime of Fashion at Ximenez-Fatio House
🦩April 6: Spring Market & Scavenger Hunt at Coconut Barrel
🌸April 6: Secret Garden Market at Jenna Alexander Studio
🦩April 6-7: St Augustine Lions Seafood Festival
🌸April 10: 80s Prom Party to benefit Island Prep Private School
🦩April 11-13: St. Augustine PoetFest
🌸April 12-14: Gamble Rogers Folk Festival at the St. Johns County Fairgrounds
🌸 April 13: Tiki Party from 12-4 pm at Marina Munch Food Truck Park
🦩April 13, April 20, April 27: Roper Romp Pub Crawl with The Tasting Tours
🌸April 13-14: St. Augustine Beach Pier Art & Craft Festival at St. Augustine Beach Pier Park
🦩April 14: Kidz Spring Indoor Market at Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine
🌸April 18: BBQ & Beer at the Barn – Benefit for Horseplay Therapy Center
🦩April 18: Lightner Museum Spring Market
🦩 April 20: Record Store Day starts at 9 am at Music Matters Remixed
🌸April 20-21: Lullaby of the Rivers
🦩April 24-28: Florida’s Birding & Photo Fest
🦩 April 26: Music & Moonlight with live music at Music Matters Remixed
🌸April 27: Love Your Mother Eco Fashion Show
🦩April 27: Roscolusa Songwriters Festival in Nocatee/Ponte Vedra Beach
🌸April 27-28: Cabbage, Potato and Bacon Festival in Hastings, Florida
🦩April 28: The Taste of St. Augustine at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre
🌸 April 28: St Augustine Sailing Ladybug Race

👉🏽SEE THE FULL FESTIVAL LIST at totallystaugustine.com

📸: Jenna Alexander Studio — Spring Market on April 6

01/10/2024

Following the final abandonment of Mission Pocotalaca in the 18th century, the land beyond the western boundary of the colonial walled city was used for farming. During the Second Spanish Period (1783-1821), larger parcels were sold to colonists for use as commercial groves–such as the Buena Esperanza Orange Grove. The presence of agricultural plow zones across the property confirm the occurrence of animal-driven plowing, which created distinctive and uneven impacts to the mission deposits.

📸: Historic postcard “Garnett orange grove, St. Augustine, Fla,” State Archives of Florida Image PC07734, W.J. Harris Co., ca. 1900