Tiny Tourists
The last, and only time, I've ever toured the fort in St. Augustine was when I was 14 years old and in 8th grade. Our class took a trip up to St. Augustine for the day and the only thing I could remember was trying to squeeze as many classmates as possible into those tiny tower out coves for a picture that is probably still kept away somewhere amongst my teenage possessions. It's been a place I've been wanting to revisit, so Ryan and I decided to play tourist and make a morning of it. At that age, I didn't realize how special of a place St. Augustine truly is, and while walking through the fort, I was only reminded just how amazing the city really is. I couldn't begin to imagine what life was like during times when the fort was in use. I found myself shaking my head in disbelief during multiple parts of the tour. Imagine building that entire fort with your barehands, during Florida's excruciatingly hot and humid summers, while probably wearing week old clothes, AND probably without sufficient food and water supply....aka no Hyppo pops to cool them off from a working day. When visiting St. Augustine so often, I get caught up in forgetting to stop and appreciate all of the history the city has to offer. I'm glad we took the time to tour the fort that day, the morning is one of my favorite St. Augustine memories thus far.
^^^ post fort I insisted we stop for pops to cool off from the heat. I had my favorite key lime and Ryan picked out the dragon fruit ginger. I'm telling you, I'm on a mission to try them all ;)