Castillos De San Marcos National Monument

On March 22, 2015, we finally made it to St. Augustine, FL!

Henry's sister is the one who put the trip in motion.

I've been dying to go there because I hear nothing but awesome things about it.  It is the oldest city in our country! 

It is FULL of history!

I fell in love with everything we saw and did.

The boys had a really, really good time too!  

(I declared the night before we went that we were going to have an 'electronic-free' day, and they survived all day without a screen!  They even survived the 2-hour drive there and back with no screen!)  

We made it to the Castillos De San Marcos fort in plenty of time to have front-row view of the musket and cannon firing which is put on by volunteers dressed in period clothing.

  We then took our time exploring all the  nook and crannies of the fort.  Thankfully, we got there early and it wasn't very crowded yet.  It was an overcast, cool day which is perfect sight-seeing weather!

This was taken in the Visitor's Center.

Scott likes to be silly for pictures.

It was SO cool to see an actual fort with an actual moat!

The fort is located very smartly right on the water...

they could see the enemies coming in their ships in plenty of time!

Sleeping quarters

Prison

Yeah, my momma's heart was beating a little fast to be up so high with little barriers to prevent curious and impulsive Scott safe,....BUT he did just fine (with lots of reminders).

Walls made from shells.

Beautiful grounds and waterless moat.

Covering his ears for the loud firing

(they tell you to cover your ears 

and the soldiers wear ear plugs).

I snap so many pictures of these explanations so that I can read about it later...it drives me crazy when you have people breathing down your neck trying to see what you are reading....(back up...wait your time...patiently)

There's Henry's sister.

Can't believe I went inside this little powder room.

You go into a room, then there is a little, low-to-the ground tunnel that you have to squat and walk like a duck to get into.  Once inside, you realize you are in a dingy, dark, small room with no windows or doors (other than the little tiny one you came through).  

Replica of the whole fort.