Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida

On this trip to St. Augustine, we took the tour of Castillo de San Marcos!  Of course... I don't think I have ever heard anyone call it that.  I think it is generically called "The Fort".

If you are in St. Augustine, you see the Fort.  The thing is huge, and very visible from just about everywhere.

In fact, it is spectacular from the outside.  You can walk all around it from the outside- without buying a ticket.  One evening, after it had officially closed, we went over and had coffee on a bench near it, admiring the Fort, the Bridge, the water, and the city.  It was a very perfect moment.

Some have become too cozy with the Fort.  One of our tour guides told us that he has witnessed more than one relic hunter with a metal detector escorted away by the police.  This historic site is monitored closely.

I don't want to rehash the history of a site- check out the official National Park site for that- but it is more than three centuries old.  It has changed hands six times among the Spanish, British, the Confederacy, and the US government.  Each take over was peaceful.  Additionally, Castillo de San Marcos was used as a military prison to hold captured Native Americans during the Indian Wars in the West.

It is so much fun exploring an old structure like this.  And, like the other Forts we have visited lately, the National Park service is pretty generous about allowing access.  You can literally just walk around and investigate casually.

Oh, they also shoot cannons right outside of the structure too!  A short walk away, at the Fountain of Youth, they also fire cannons!  So, several times a day it seems a tourist can see a cannon in action!  How cool is that?