Whale of a Time.

St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine is the oldest city in the continental United States, and its oldest port. It may also be one of the tackiest.

Fearing rain, we opted to take the 45-minute drive up the coast this morning to see what St. Augustine had to offer. In typical North American fashion, the historic city has been commercialized to the hilt. From long lines of school buses to van loads of seniors escaping the beach, it was a tourist haven. So much history painted over with the spectre of cheap plastic figurines and commemorative coins.

It was neat to see Castillo de San Marcos, a fort constructed in the late 1600s out of coquina (small shells that have bonded together to form a stone similar to limestone), and to wander around Flagler College, whose gorgeous campus is situated on the grounds of the old Ponce de Leon Hotel. Several other structures made great subjects for photos.

Sightseeing trains chimed through the streets and the historic district teemed with tacky souvenirs. Coming across the "oldest wooden school house in the United States," we were greeted by grotesque mechanized people in period costume, including one mannequin peering out a second-floor window behind a box of silk flowers. Does everything really need to be made into a theme park?

The day was redeemed by the presence of a number of fun photo opportunities and by the appearance of a Right whale just off the shore, north of Flagler Beach.

Catching it out the corner of my eye, we pulled over and watched it swim past for a half hour. As most of already migrated north, the siting caused a long line of traffic to join in with binoculars and cameras.