St Augustine, Florida

Today we visited the old part of St Augustine and had a memorable tour of the fort, including a demonstration of a cannon firing. Very loud. And quite an amazing set of steps and rules followed before firing. (As Denise and Ruth later realized, there was no cannon ball included with the firing). As America's oldest city, St Augustine has kept much of the charm from its (Spainish) settlement in 1565 with an old part of the town proudly kept alive as a tourist mecca. We're hoping we can get to see the old town at night as January is part of the St Augustine light festival where white lights are festooned over trees and shops around the historic district. We're staying in the beautiful home of some friends here in St. Augustine -- enjoying their hospitality as well as spending time with their twin 4 year old children, Luke and Libby. The nights are cool and the days are cooler than they were in the St Petersburg but still bright and sunny. Still great for winter weather! We've decided to extend our stay an extra night here so we can watch Obama's Inauguration on Tuesday live on television.