Saturday St. Patrick's Day in St. Augustine

On Saturday we got ourselves going early to be in town for the parade. We had three more museums that we wanted to finish off; only two were available. The most interesting part of the first museum was the explanation of the term "Cracker" as applied to a certain group of people in this area. People who settled the swamps of Florida led dangerous and uncomfortable lives by our modern standards. They had to be tough! The second museum we visited later in the day was full of items found in the general stores of a century ago.

A Celtic Festival was being held in the field next to the Visitor Center. The parade was the kick-off event for that festival. It was quite a pretty parade with lots of green and some bawdy pirates for good measure.

Flagler College inhabits the former Hotel Ponce de Leon, and they were having an open house for prospective students so no tours were being conducted that day. We found this out after battling our way through the crowds and being on our feet for much of the day. We did enjoy a pleasant lunch on a little back street and I found the best bakery with French macarons (I had to return the next day for another taste). All was not lost.