PATI AND LEROY'S TRAVELS: St. Augustine Old Town Trolley Tou

Old Town Trolley Tour

It's been 39 years since we visited St. Augustine with our daughter, Jade. Today we hopped aboard one of the trolley tours for a narrated tour of the city to reminisce and see if we missed anything on our first tour.

Ponce De Leon's Legendary Spring

Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon was supposedly searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to Florida in 1513. It is legendary that anyone who drinks or bathes in the waters of the Fountain of Youth will have their youth restored. Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in June 2016. St. Augustine was founded 55 years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock.

There is a statue of Juan Ponce de Leon in the Plaza de la Constitucion, the oldest public space in America. The Spanish explorer claimed he was 5'5" tall, but that was including his 3" boots and his hat's feather. In reality, this Spanish dude was only 4'11".

Henry Flagler was a co-founder of Standard Oil. He invested himself in the development of Florida, literally inventing modern Florida. He is best known for his development of Florida's east coast, responsible for building the Florida East Coast Railway from Daytona to Key West.

Formerly the Ponce de Leon Hotel

Grateful citizens wanted to name a city for Henry Flagler to recognize his contribution to Florida's real estate booms. What is now Miami was supposed to be named for him but Flagler didn't want anything named after him.

Ripley's Believe It or Not!

The St. Augustine Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum is housed in the former Castle Warden Hotel. Several employees of Ripley's say they hear or see the ghosts of the two women that died in a fire at the Castle Warden in April 1944.

The museum was founded by Robert Ripley to showcase his fascinating artifacts collected in his travels around the world. The hotel’s own eccentric past made it the ideal location to showcase Ripley’s fascinating collection after Robert Ripley's passing in 1949.

As you may recall, Jack Palance hosted the TV series in the 1980s outside in the parking lot and inside several rooms of the museum. He explored strange occurrences, odd historical facts and unusual artistic and social activities.

The Old Jail

In 1891, Henry Flagler contracted the company that would eventually build Alcatraz to construct a jail north of downtown so it wasn't an eyesore near his hotel, the Ponce de Leon, built in 1988 as a luxury hotel. The Old Jail was built to look like a hotel and painted in an unassuming color.