St. Augustine FL, Third and Final Day

We drove across the Bridge of Lions and headed to Fort Matanzas National Monument, which was designated a United States National Monument on October 15, 1924.  It consists of a 1740 Spanish fort and about 100 acres of salt marsh and barrier islands along the northern Atlantic coast of FL.   

The fort is located across the Matanzas River on Rattlesnake Island and can be reached via a short ferry ride.  Sadly, there's a damn pandemic and the fort and ferry were closed. ;o(. We drove a little farther to a boardwalk and could see the fort across the water.  Apparently I didn't take photos because there wasn't much to see from where we were.  

We continued south and parked on the beach at the end of 1st Street, then walked a mile along the beach to the St. Augustine pier. 

There was a $2 charge to get onto the pier, which turned out to be well worth it.  There was a beautiful view of the beach from the end of the pier.  Look at all the amazing colors!

Internet photo overlooking the beach and pier

The beach just goes on and on and on...

This pelican literally almost hit me, he landed so close.  Scared the crap out of me!  He's a lot bigger in person ;o)

There were a lot of people fishing off the pier and I think this guy was patiently waiting for something to fall nearby.

We walked back to the truck, then drove ON the beach to the next exit, maybe a mile.  Only saw one car stuck in the sand.

We enjoyed a great lunch at the Taco Shop!

I LOVE eating outside in February!

Next stop was the St. Augustine lighthouse. 

This working lighthouse, built between 1871 and 1874, stands at the end of Anastasia Island.  We climbed 219 steps up this beautiful spiral staircase, to the top.

There were several landings on which to catch your breath and look out the windows as you rise higher and higher...

This is the light keepers house from one of the landings.

We could not have asked for a better day to walk around at the top and see the view in all directions.  The lighthouse stands 165 feet above sea level and overlooks Matanzas Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. 

It was a perfect day, until it wasn't...

The Bridge of Lions was closed, so it took us more than an hour, in bumper to bumper traffic to get back into town.  We drove to the Great Cross, only to be at the wrong entrance ;o(. Good grief!  We drove a little further to Ft. Mose...closed at 5:00, current time was 4:55.  Thankfully, the first part of today was a great success and overall our three day visit was wonderful!

We drove back to our cottage, then walked to St. George Street and had warm pretzels for dinner.  

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)