A visit to St. Augustine Lighthouse

Yesterday we hiked across the Bridge of Lions to Anastasia Island, home of the St. Augustine Lighthouse. You'll notice from the picture above that is sort of resembles the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse but has a red top. The lighthouse has been fully restored and is in great shape. Its open to the public and they allow you to climb the 219 steps right up to the light on top and enjoy the panoramic view of St. Augustine, the marshes surrounding it and the Atlantic Ocean. It was a pretty clear day and we could see the stacks of the Florida Power and Light power plant in Palatka--28 miles away!

At the base of the lighthouse is a really good maritime museum that has lots of lighthouse relics as well as some WWII history regarding the U Boat attacks on cargo ships that took place right off the beaches.

Our favorite story of the lighthouse was that in the 1930's, the lighthouse keeper's son fashioned a small parachute himself. He then strapped his cat into it and tossed it off the top of the lighthouse. The cat landed in the trees and survived.