Saint Augustine Lighthouse

What a weekend! While in Saint Augustine for the weekend, Matt and I spent every minute we could absorbing the history of America's oldest city. Bright and early Saturday morning, we went to the Saint Augustine lighthouse. It was breathtaking! Completed in 1874, after the previous lighthouse fell into the ocean, this lighthouse stands at 165 feet, one of the tallest in the nation.

After we purchased our tickets, we followed a path through the woods to find the lighthouse. It was like we were in the ABC TV show Lost, wandering through the tropical forest. Then out of nowhere....

The lighthouse! It reminded us of the episodes where the characters on Lost would be wandering through the jungle, and then out of no where a building appears. Can you see it through the trees in the above picture?!

Locals saved the lighthouse from near destruction and restored it to it's natural beauty. It was so interesting to walk up the massive number of steps, knowing that caretakers of the lighthouse had to haul huge heavy containers of oil to keep the fuse lit for signaling ships. There was a large iron buckets for us to pick up for comparision and boy were they heavy! It was hard enough climbing to the top!

The land mass behind us is Anastasia National Park where, hopefully, we'll go camping on next time we visit Saint Augustine. It wasn't there until the 1960s when the Army Corps of engineers dug the waterway deeper for larger ships. I can't wait to come back, and we'll go kayaking, hiking, maybe surfing, and picnic on the beach. It'll be amazing.

Looking down from the top. The museum we visited to read more about local history.

This is definitely the best view of Saint Augustine, at the top of the lighthouse, with a 360 degree view! It was amazing. Florida is such a beautiful state. And I can't believe it was over 80 degrees in late November!

While I am not afraid of heights, looking down the stairwell made me a little shaky. I picked a bad day to wear a skirt. Walking down the stairs I held onto both railings and breathed slowly, trying to remain calm.