St. Augustine 4th Grade Field Trip

Katie and I spent Veterans Day on a field trip to St. Augustine and had a wonderful time.  The weather was perfect and the bus ride was amazingly quiet for 2 4th grade classes traveling for 2 hours each way.  I had Katie and 2 other girls in my group.  We stayed together with the class for most of the trip.  The school rented comfortable buses for the trip - yay!

Our first stop was Ft. Menendez at Old Florida Museum where we learned more about Pre-European Florida and Spanish Florida.  This museum has lots of hands on activities for the kids and they really enjoyed it.  They drilled holes in boards, dipped candles, combed wool, weaved, ground corn, played darts with corn cobs, broke sea shells and role played.

Since I didn't grow up in Florida, I don't know much about the states' history.  I appreciated the amount of information that was shared and the fascinating stories.  I am thankful we live in a country with religious freedom today.  The stories of massacres due to religion were heart breaking.  After our stop at Ft. Menendez, we took a tram tour around town to see the interesting buildings in the area and learn more about Henry Flagler and the history of St. Augustine. It is the oldest city in the United States since they don't include San Juan, Puerto Rico.  When we finished our tram tour, we headed to an old military hospital where we learned about red food coloring (http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/bugjuice.asp) if you're interested in the details - ugh!  They also explained in detail how amputations were performed - not my favorite subject :(

Our small group had about 90 minutes to shop on St. George St.  I didn't bring cash or my Visa, so Katie was out of luck for shopping.  It was fun to window shop and see some of the architecture in the area.  We found a pretty garden at the back of a glass store.

Our final stop was Castillo de San Marcos where we learned how soldiers lived in the barracks and protected the port.  http://www.nps.gov/casa/index.htm  

I am thankful for my comfortable mattress after feeling these that were filled with straw.  They were so tiny due to the small stature of people back then.  Ponce de Leon was considered tall at 4'11".  Wow!

Thanks to all of those who have labored and fought to keep our country free!  I loved this shot of our flag.