St. Augustine

Gary Sanchez’s teacher is taking their fourth-grade class 100 miles from home to the oldest city in the United States. Gary has so much fun, he wants his parents to bring him back for another visit! Established by Spain in 1565, St. Augustine, Florida, has a huge stone fort built over 300 years ago. Visitors to that fort get to see where the great Seminole war chief, Osceola, was kept prisoner. They also get to crawl into the old, windowless gunpowder room discovered when the United States took over the fort from Spain. Cannons still fire in this city, just as they did when invaders burned St. Augustine to the ground. On special days, men dressed as pirates and Spanish soldiers pretend to fight in the streets. Cool cemeteries, the oldest wooden schoolhouse in America, and a lighthouse with 219 steps make this ancient city one of the most interesting in the country.