Gelato, Truffles, and Ghosts

In order to celebrate our 2 year anniversary, hubby and I took a little weekend trip to St. Augustine. You probably remember learning about St. Augustine in American History class...it was the first European settlement in the United States, making it the oldest city in the country. I fell in love with St. Augustine the minute we drove into the historic district. The cobblestone streets were lined with quaint little shops, pubs, and gorgeous old houses. We had the perfect lovely weekend, so I just have to share some of our photos with you.

One of the first shops we wandered into was a fantastic little chocolate shop. Hubby and I both have a slight addiction to truffles, so we started our day with milk chocolate and white chocolate champagne truffles. We are still kicking ourselves for not bringing a box home.

We spotted this sweet little man playing in one of the streets. He was quite the character!

After a lunch of authentic Italian pizza, we immediately hit up a gelato shop.

Happiness in a cup.

Gelato = Joy

Next, we hit up the Castillo de San Marcos, which was a fortress built by the Spanish to defend themselves from the British. Quite a few flags have flown over the Castillo. It just blows my mind to think that long ago soldiers actually lived and fought here. Can you tell I'm a bit of a history nerd?

View of the Atlantic Ocean from the top of the Castillo.

Beautiful, no?

Crossing into the Castillo

One of the few pictures of us together...don't you sometimes feel like you need a photographer to go on vacations with you and your man just so you can get pictures that include the both you you?

I love this picture that hubby took of one of the cannons. I think we may blow this one up and frame it.

A reenactment of Spanish soldiers firing the cannons. Can you imagine having to wear those outfits in the hot Florida sun?

After exploring the Castillo, we made our way to the Mission of Nombre de Dios.

The Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche

An old cemetery at the Mission

Apparently, the Mission was a safe haven for squirrels. They were literally EVERYWHERE. You could not look around without seeing four or five squirrels playing. I think squirrels are quite possibly one of the cutest things ever, so I happily took pictures of these little Christian squirrels for quite some time. It was such a lovely moment to be in such a serene place, surrounded by God's blessings.

The Mission was full of beautiful statues and monuments.

A little further down from the Mission is Ponce de Leon's fountain of youth...and here it is! I don't think you can even see the water in this picture, but it's just a little spring coming from that heap of rocks. In Leon's day, it was quite a site, but time has not been kind to the fountain of youth. As a result, most of the water is now underground in a well. However, we were served cups of water from the fountain, so I fully expect to never look a day over 26.

After a lovely day of exploration, hubby and I decided to go looking for a different type of history...of the, shall we say, ghostly type. Pictures from that adventure to come later =)