Fall 2024 Florida trip

[DonnaR57]

To answer the above questions, everyone seemed to pronounce it "Saint AU-gus-teen." (Though I'd hear San-ah-GUS-tin periodically.) My favorite of the pronunciation changes is in Versailles. The French way, of course, is Ver-SIGH. In MO, though, it's Ver-sales, like you're going shopping. Also, we learned something on this trip: it's Val-DAH-stah, GA, not Val-DOH-stah.

DAY 5 - BRIDGE OF LIONS AND MORE

Up at the normal time, but due to the huge meal and dessert from the night before, we did not go to breakfast at Mary's. Instead, after coffee, we decided to do some more walking. We walked up Avenida Melendez to the Bridge of Lions, which goes over the Matanzas River to Anastasia Island, and back. The Bridge of Lions is a drawbridge, which we were able to see in action a couple of times during our stay, but fortunately for us, not while we were walking it.

The Bridge of Lions, as we saw it that morning:

Day 5-1A

There are 4 of these statues to designate the Bridge:

Day 5-4A

Pedestrian View:

Day 5-6A

View from the Bridge out to the River:

Day 5-8A

Another of the 4 Lions:

Day 5-10A

Drawbridge control tower:

Day 5-7A

After the Bridge, we set out on King Street to Cordova to St. Francis Street, then back to Avenida Melendez to our lodging -- all before 11 am.

Big museum:

Day 5-19A

One building has seen several lives. Anyone remember this store brand? Of course that's not what's in there now, but it brought back memories:

Day 5-17A

The city's tribute to its founder, Ponce de Leon:

Day 5-23A

The rest of the day? We rested, used the outdoor pool (pleasant!), went back up to St George Street to do more shopping, then went to dinner at River & Fort Restaurant next door. The weather was showing rain in sight (no, not Helene, yet) so we didn't want to go far. We were barely back in the room when it began to rain, with thunder.