Memorial Day week was spent exploring the forts and beaches in Flager County. We stayed at Gamble Rogers State Park for 6 nights and rested, relaxed, and learned some history.
St Augustine is about 50 miles north of Gamble Rogers State park. There are 2 forts in St Augustine. The first was Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. It was built by the Spanish in the late 1600’s to defend Florida from the British to the north in Georgia and the Atlantic trade routes. The fort is also the oldest masonry fort in the United States and is built from the local coquina rocks.
Just 2.8 miles north of the Castillo de San Marcos is Fort Mose Historic State Park. This fort is the first free-slaves settlement in what would become the United States. The Spanish just wanted these men, women and children to pledge allegience to the King of Spain and become Catholic. It was interesting to learn that the Underground Railroad flowed south into Florida. You can learn more here. The park just reopened after a major renovation and the fort, movie, and interpretation center are amazing.
Fourteen miles south of St Augustine is the Matanzas Inlet where Fort Matanzas National Monument is located. This fort was built to defend the southern approach to St Augustine and is more of a watchtower than a fort. This fort is also made out of the local coquina rock. There is a free ferry ride over to the island where the fort is located and the rangers and volunteers explain the history and significance of this fort.
Washington Oaks Garden State Park is located in Palm Coast Florida about 6 miles south of Fort Matanzas. This park is divided into the Gardens on the west side of the road and the beach on the east side of the road. There are walkways through the formal gardens out to the intercostal, but keeping with the fort theme we went to the beach side this trip. All along the beach are coquina rock formations. This is the rock that was used to build the Castillo de San Marco and Fort Matanzas. Coquina is a type of sedimentary rock primarily composed of shell fragments and other marine organism debris cemented together by calcium carbonate. You can learn more about the geology here. When the tide is out you can see more of the rock formations and look for critters in the tide pools that are left behind.
You can make a day out of all the above or split them into a few days. After a long day of exploring we went back to Gamble Rogers and our campsite to enjoy their beach.
TIP: It is nice to have annual passes to the parks. So when you are in an area you can explore the various parks, state and national, without having to worry about having the entrance fees. You can just check out a park for a few minutes to use the bathroom or stay the day. The passes just make your day very flexible. We have both the Florida State Park annual pass and the National Park pass.
Wildlife sightings: Bottlenose Dolphin, Green Sea turtle, Brown Pelicans, Great Blue Heron, Laughing Gulls, Snowey Egret, Black Skimmer, shore birds
Nature Moments
A Fishermans dream would be to find these sand fleas in a tide pool at Washington Oaks Beach.
Note: All photos and videos unless otherwise stated are property of Wayne and Margaret Shoemake. If you would like to use any of them please email us at FloridaysRV@gmail.com.