I love St. Augustine

I know it sounds like I'm gushing, but St. Augustine has always been one of my favorite places in Florida. As a kid we growing up in Gainesville, we visited America's oldest city often and the school trip our class made there in 4th grade was epic. As an adult I found it was a great place to take a date and the first time I ever held my wife's hand was the coldest day of 2003 on a day-long excursion to St. Augustine.

There are countless other reasons to love the place. No other Florida city, (except perhaps Pensacola), has nearly as much history, dating back to when Ponce de Leon came ashore near the present day Fountain of Youth. Speaking of which, there are some really great old Florida attractions still in operation inside the city, including the Fountain of Youth, Potter's Wax Museum, Alligator Farm, Zorayda's Castle and Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Then there is the architecture. Mostly Spanish or Mediterranean influenced it ranges from the over-the-top like the Ponce de Leon Hotel, now Flagler College, to the quaint, like many of the charming little homes on the narrow streets near the city center. I love noticing details, and St. Augustine is a city full of so much fascinating stuff that I'm surprised every time I'm there.

So here are some images from a quick walk around town on a very cloudy July day recently. I'm looking forward to making some new discoveries there, hopefully soon!

Some mid-century discoveries, these colorful signs are on US 1 just past the Ponces of the previous post.

This is the former Hotel Alcazar built by Henry Flagler, now the Lightner Museum. A quirky little museum, it's worth a stop if you've never seen it before.

A cozy sidewalk cafe.

Five of the six flags that have flown over St. Augustine. Do you know which one is missing?


Potter's Wax Museum has been in St. Augustine for over 50 years. Some day I may actually pay admission and go inside.


More typical charming St. Augustine details.

Found this on the not-so-quaint maze of tourist shops that is St. George Street. This building is surfaced with Vitrolite, a mid to early twentieth century art glass building material that I only know about from reading Debra Jane Selzer's blog.


The Oldest House Museum- one of many little museums in St. Augustine.



I'm not a big fan of graffiti, but I kinda like this guy.


Looking towards Flagler College.


This one's new- A car wash designed to look like a steamboat- cheesy but I love it!

Polk Theatre and the Florida Dance Theatre

When I was offered free tickets to see the Florida Dance Theatre perform their Innovations show, I jumped at the opportunity, not only to see the performance but also to get to see the Polk Theatre. Built in 1928, the theatre designed by J.E. Casale is one of three of this style in the state, the Tampa Theatre and the Florida Theatre in Jacksonville being the other two. The theatre is described as a re-creation of a Mediterranean village "flanked by Italianate walls with niches, sconces, and faux balconies and windows" with a the "full scale Italian renaissance 'townhouse' setting that dominates the Polk’s interior."

Polk Theatre interior shots ©2009 Kilby Photo

According to the theatre's website, the Polk originally showcased both live vaudeville acts and films. "There was a stage trap door that was particularly useful for magic acts. Enticing locals with the “Hollywood Scandals” were the McCord Dancers, the Sun-Tan Revue, and The Green Pastures. The Chinese Houdini, Li Ho Chang, also performed live on stage, and of particular note was Sally Rand with her famous fan dance. Other notables to perform through the years include, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Gene Krupa, Eddy Arnold, Tom Mix, Gene Autrey, Glenn Miller and the king himself, Elvis Presley in 1956."

The theatre was restored in 1999 but as is the case with any old building, it needs constant maintenance and repairs.



I was much impressed by the building's decor, it reminded me very much of the Kimo Theatre in Albuquerque. However I was completely blown away by the performance of the Florida Dance Theatre. My brother does the photography for the Lakeland-based dance company, or otherwise I would have never heard of the group. I'm really not much of fan of dance I must admit, but if all dancing were like Innovations, that would be different. The show was more like Cirque du Soleil than Swan Lake, with the show broken down to short vignettes with multiple costume changes and a great deal of unpredictability. The movements were amazing, and to my untrained eye it appeared as if they were pushing the limits of the dance medium. I was entranced throughout the entire program. Sadly the attendance was pretty small, as Lakeland is not a huge market for this type of event. It was disappointing because the entire performance was amazing, creative and skillfully executed and the seeing the theatre alone was worth the drive over from Orlando.

The man who created a city

The city of Coral Gables began as a plantation run by a congregational minister, who purchased the land, without ever seeing it, in 1899. According to the website of the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, Rev. Solomon Merrick's Coral Gables Plantation sold fruit in Miami and operated the "largest grapefruit export business in South Florida" and were the first to ship the citrus north by train. "Coral Gables" was initially the name of the rock house built with limestone quarried on the Merrick property.

Rev. Solomon Merrick

The Merrick Homestead

After Rev. Merrick passed away in 1911, he was succeeded by his son George, who grew the family business and expanded upon his father's dream of selling plots of land to retired clergy by creating an entire planned community that became the city of Coral Gables. Influenced by Frederick Law Olmstead's City Beautiful Movement, Merrick envisioned a city of Mediterranean Revival architecture that would be carefully planned for maximum aesthetic effect. Lots went on sale in 1921 and Merrick recruited the famous orator William Jennings Bryan to help sell his inventory.

George E. Merrick

William Jennings Bryan

Carefully theming everything from architecture to advertising, lot sales boomed and by 1926 Coral Gables encompassed 10,000 acres of South Florida. In 1925 Coral Gables was officially incorporated as a town. But as often is the case in Florida history, the boom was followed by a bust and the city went bankrupt in 1929. Merrick's pocketbook was severely damaged to the point that when he died in 1942, he was still in debt.

Examples of Coral Gables Mediterranean Revival architecture

Coral Gables recovered and today is gorgeous city of historic architecture and lush tropical foliage. Merrick's legacy has endured for over 75 years and the city appears to be thriving in the face of another period of economic stagnation in the Sunshine State. Visiting the city over the holidays, I was impressed with Merrick's community. While he at one point accumulated enough wealth to help start the University of Miami with a $5 million dollar endowment, I have to wonder if he did it all for money. It seems like he created something wonderful and lasting. I wonder how many builders in Florida today can say the same thing?

Church detail, Coral Gables

Coral Gables City Hall

Black and white archival images from the State Archives of Florida