Perfect Castle Model- Castillo de San Marcos

For Father's Day we all gathered in the car and took an early trek to St. Augustine.   There we explored the Castillo de San Marcos which was the oldest fort in the United States.   Originally, it was a dirt floored fort used for men used to train into soldiers, learning how to fire muskets and cannons.   After being invaded by pirates, St. Augusta citizens decided they needed better protection.   Thus the walls to protect the entire city were built so that the citizens could live inside the fort.   In 1702, the English attacked this Spanish city and about 1,500 soldiers and civilians were packed in the Castillo for about 51 days!

On the approach, a photo of Randy and Sabrina...the humidity was a little high which shows on the camera lens.

The Spanish flag.   The walls were not super tall.

Soldier guard post on the corner.   Small windows each direction gave the soldier view up and down the river as well as protected from enemy fire.

Sabrina loved running around.   Julie spent most of the time making sure she did not climb walls or run.

The intricate carving on the cannons.   Amazing!

The view from the top of the fort.

A view from a cannon.

Looking down into the courtyard of the fort.

The courtyard, again.

Posing by a Spanish cannon.

The old moat is now grass.

Looking down on the courtyard.

Another sentry station along the river side.

Cannons guarding the river.

This ranger gave a talk on all the types of balls and weapons shot out the cannons and their purpose.   Amazing how warfare has been specialized for so long.

The ground level of the courtyard.

The interior of one of the rooms

Sabrina looking through an old cannon.

The walls were made out of shells and softer material which absorbed shock from cannonballs.

Cots where soldiers would have slept.

Drawbridge over all moat.

After touring this fort, it occurred to us that this really had all the elements in tact of a model castle.   Not only does it look like a castle, but it functioned as an old time castle would have and protected not only the military but the people surrounding it.