Getting on/off trolley.
At the hotel.
We will be treated to an expert-led field trip to Flagler College, once the Ponce de Leon, Henry Flagler's first St. Augustine, traveling by trolley or minibus dependent on weather. We will learn about the history of the building and its stunning Spanish Renaissance architecture and manicured gardens of the campus. We will then take a trolley ride around St. Augustine, the nation's oldest continually occupied European settlement and at various times home to Native American tribes, British redcoats, Spanish conquistadors, pirates, and tycoons. We will see remnants of each era preserved in the city's historical sites, such as historic St. George Street, City Plaza, and the Spanish Military Hospital.
At a local restaurant, we’ll hear from an expert about Minorcan settlers of St. Augustine, who arrived here after nine years of enslavement at a nearby indigo plantation. Our presenter will be dressed in Minorcan period attire.
From lunch, we will walk to visit Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States, with construction beginning in 1672 when Florida was part of the Spanish Empire.
At a local restaurant. We will say our farewells as we prepare to depart St. Augustine the next day.
After dinner, we will go by trolley around the old town to view the Nights of Lights. This is the local winter holiday celebration in St. Augustine where each historic downtown business and many residents participate by lighting up their buildings. The celebration was chosen in 2011 and 2012 by National Geographic as one of the 10 dazzling holiday lighting displays in the world.