![\"Flagler](\"https:\/\/huangyizhou.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com\/201903\/0322\/IMG_4829.jpg\")
<\/a><\/br>Flagler College Entrance<\/p><\/div>\n
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Hoping to prevent yesterday’s disaster with booking Airbnb on the road with throttled data connection, I booked a room in the outskirts of Jacksonville this morning before checking out. It\u2019s easier to predict where I would be spending the night today, as I would be giving the city of St. Augustine a more detailed tour. I was pretty fond of it as one of the oldest cities in United States, yet a few days ago, chilly weather prevented me from exploring it further.<\/span><\/p>\n Since I spent the night in the city of Daytona Beach, I thought I should pay the namesake beach a visit. <\/br>Pier<\/br>Farther end of this pier was a fishing area with fees.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n <\/br> <\/br>Intersection<\/br>Many intersections in the waterfront area of Daytona Beach were decorated with tiles of various colors like this.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n After that, I headed North along route A1A.<\/p>\n The beach here turned out to be much better than the popular Juno Beach I stopped by the previous day. Being far from developed suburbs also meant it’s a great place for some moments of solitude.<\/p>\n <\/br>Beach<\/p><\/div>\n Moving forward, it’s a typical scene of barrier island beach community along the road. Probably because this was North Florida, so the houses looked more modest compared with the beachfront mansions in South Florida that I drove past the previous day.<\/p>\n One of the early owners of this land was Joseph Hernandez. In 1845, his daughter Luisa married George Lawrence Washington, a distant relative of the first US President. In 1936, Louise Powis Clark, wife of the industrialist Owen Young purchased the property as a winter home. She devised the name “Washington Oaks” and was responsible for developing the park’s gardens. Mr. Young died in 1962 and Mrs. Young donated the property to the State of Florida in 1964.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/details>\n Nowadays, Washington Oaks Gardens was a Florida state park, that strangely charged different admissions for single-occupancy and multi-occupancy vehicles. Young’s main house, many gardens, and some hiking trails were for visitors to enjoy.<\/p>\n The Youngs chose to have their main house built on the banks of Matanzas River rather than beachside on the Atlantic Ocean, for the protection of oak hammock forest and views of river and marshes at sunset. <\/br>Tree before Matanzas River<\/br>All the right ingredients of perfect southern life in this photo.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n <\/br> Then I continued to tour the rest of the gardens.<\/p>\n Mrs. Young was a talented gardener, who designed much of the garden herself.<\/p>\n <\/br>Sculpture<\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Flowers<\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Plants<\/br>It seemed that staff here were following the trend of urban farming.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Studio<\/br>Constructed in the 1950 for the Young\u2019s daughter, Virginia Powis Brown, who was a talented artist. Large skylights on the north (right, in this photo) side of the house fill the studio with natural light. Today it served as a private residence for park staff.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Most amazingly, the biodiversity here could rival that of a nature park. <\/p>\n After that, I checked out the park’s trails. The second part of the trail was along the original Route A1A, which was constructed in 1926 and passed by the footstep of Young\u2019s house. It was moved in 1955 to its current route farther east at the request of Mr. Young.<\/p>\n After that, I took a brief tour of remaining parts of the park.<\/p>\n <\/br>Caretaker\u2019s Residence<\/br>The young family had several staff members to tend to the gardens, orchards, buildings and farm animals. The caretaker\u2019s residence included an unusual addition, a smokehouse with a steep pyramidal copper roof. Francisco Lopez, a long-term servant of the Young family for 45 years, used the smokehouse to prepare wild hogs, venison, and mullet for the Young\u2019s barbeque picnics.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Entrance Gate<\/br>The columns were made of Coquina, which was a sedimentary rock made by sand, shells and water that\u2019s abundant nearby. This used to be the entrance to the property until A1A got rerouted in 1955.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Young’s Office \/ Gift Shop<\/br>Erected in the 1940s to serve as Owen Young\u2019s office. The original three-room log cabin was constructed from a prefabricated kit. A small windowless interior room served as a dark room for his photography. The cabin also included a small bedroom and bathroom. The rear room was a long screened floorless porch used to wash and process citrus and other farm products, which Mr. Young sold from a stand on the corner of old A1A.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Beetle on my Car<\/br>Being paranoid about bugs, I dusted it off before entering my car.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Then I moved on to my next stop of the day, Fort Matanzas.<\/p>\n Built by the Spanish in 1742, more than half a century after Castillo de San Marcos, Fort Matanzas sits at the other end of Matanzas Inlet, guarding St. Augustine against enemies that sailed up Matanzas Inlet. On the tour boat and at the fort, there was a ranger introducing us to various aspects of the fort.<\/p>\n <\/br>Spanish 8-Pounder Iron Gun<\/br>One of two original cannons first delivered to Fort Matanzas in 1793, and was left behind when the fort\u2019s abandoned in 1821. Now the gun\u2019s restored for display.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Soldiers’ Beds<\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Officer’s Bed<\/br>Probably due to his rank, the officer got his own bed.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Cannon Maintenance Material<\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Openings to Powder Magazine<\/br>The hole in the wall leads down to a narrow circular chamber for powder storage.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n It\u2019s not a very large fort, with its rooms easily crammed by the number of visitors. There was a tiny set of ladders leading to the top of the fort, where one could enjoy views of surrounding waters and swamps.<\/p>\n <\/br>Matanzas Inlet<\/br>Now a road bridge spans across the inlet, with beaches for sunbathers on one end. The pier where we boarded the boat was on the left.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Surrounding Swamp<\/br>It\u2019s said that when there\u2019s no enemy attacking, which was most of the time, soldiers at Fort Matanzas would hunt in the nearby swamp to supplement their meager food portions, that were supplied once many weeks.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Cross of Burgundy Flag<\/br>The principal flag that flew over Spain’s colonial empire in the New World until 1785.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Cannon Pointing at Matanzas Inlet<\/br>The inlet that Fort Matanzas was constructed to protect.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Wall<\/br>Shells became a handy material to construct the walls.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n After that, I headed up Route A1A to St. Augustine. Followed by a quick lunch at the city’s outskirt, I began my second tour of St. Augustine.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a><\/br>Neighborhood of Overnight Airbnb House<\/p><\/div>\nDaytona Beach<\/span><\/h3>\n
\nYet it’s 11am in the morning, which seemed too early for most beach goers and businesses. So apart from the following pier, I didn’t find much interesting.
\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/br>Daytona Beach<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a> <\/a><\/br>Streets of Daytona Beach<\/br>The buildings reminded of a bustling beach town, except few people were out.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a> <\/a><\/br>Florida Route A1A by Ocean<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Florida Route A1A<\/br>Passing North Peninsula State Park, which was made mostly of primitive bushes and swamps. I stopped here and paid the beach a brief visit.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Beach<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a> <\/a><\/br>Highway by Ocean<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Florida Route A1A by Ocean<\/br>Some roadwork approaching Flagler Beach.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Florida Route A1A by Ocean<\/br>North of Flagler Beach, lots of (free?) roadside parking. So I took advantage of that and paid this beach town a quick visit.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Flagler Beach Fishing Pier<\/br>The entire pier here was walled off for fishing, with a fee.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/br>Highway by Ocean<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Florida Route A1A<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Florida Route A1A<\/br>The road made a turn inland approaching Palm Coast.<\/p><\/div>\nWashington Oaks Gardens<\/span><\/h3>\n
Click for detail the gardens’ history<\/summary>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/br>Main House Interior<\/br>Wonderfully air-conditioned.<\/p><\/div>\n
\nSo not far from the house, one was at the bank of Matanzas River with its calm waters.
\n<\/a><\/a><\/a> <\/a><\/br>Matanzas River<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a> <\/a><\/br>Oak Trees<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Rose Garden<\/br>Not many signs of life here, compared with other parts of the park.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Pond<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a><\/br>Fountain and Pavilion<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/br>Fountain<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/br>Fish in Pond<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a> <\/a><\/br>Lizard<\/p><\/div>\n
\nAt just over a mile long, the coastal loop trail was not that much a difficulty to cover, given the trail’s flat and well-maintained. But it turned out to be rather underwhelming, as I quickly got bored of the constant scenery of trees with twisted branches.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Trail<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Trail<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a> <\/a><\/br>Twisted Tree<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a> <\/a><\/br>Trail \/ Old A1A<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Greenhouse<\/br>Initially erected in the late 1940s from a prefabricated kit and restored in 2011, the greenhouse sheltered Young\u2019s treasured orchids. Potted orchids in bloom were brought into the house for interior decoration and gifting.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/br>Park Entrance Road \/ Old A1A<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a><\/br>Route A1A along Matanzas River<\/p><\/div>\nFort Matanzas<\/span><\/h3>\n
\nThe fort was located on the other side of Matanzas Inlet and was only accessible by boat. NPS organized free tour boats that departed once per hour at half hour. The tour lasted an hour.<\/span> Luckily, when I showed up at the visitor center at 2:20pm, I got ticket to the last seat for the 2:30pm boat.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Beach of Matanzas Inlet<\/br>Mostly shallow swamps behind these trees.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a> <\/a><\/br>Fort Matanzas<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/br>Pier at Fort Matanzas<\/br>Water was flowing pretty fast along this inlet towards the ocean. Probably this added to the fort location\u2019s strategical advantage as enemy ships must sailed up this rapid current.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/br>Traffic Jam into St. Augustine<\/br>Bridge on Route 312. I guessed this traffic jam was caused by the closure of the nearby Bridge of Lions, which was a drawbridge.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\nSt. Augustine<\/span><\/h3>\n
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