ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Everywhere you look in St. Augustine, history is looking right back at you.
The list of historic places never ends in the beautiful 460-year-old city.
I went on a little adventure around town, starting with the Peña-Peck House on St. George Street.
The beautifully maintained building made of native coquina stone was built in the 1700s.
The garden was built in a U-shape in the style of Spanish homes of the day
Anna, the last living member of the Peck family, donated the house to the city.
Now, some of the money made from the gift shop goes to the Women’s Exchange of St. Augustine, which awards scholarship funds to women going back to school.
“Typically, it is a single mother, or someone who has left a bad relationship or anyone who wants to further their education,” said Mary Jane Bradshaw with the Women’s Exchange.
From St. George Street, I made my way over to the Governor’s House Cultural Center and Museum on King Street.
The building was once a post office.
Billy Triay gave me a tour of the first floor, part of which is now an art gala and exhibit, a room that used to be where the mail was sorted, and where important law enforcement officials used to come and go.
“For about 10 years, you had the FBI because of the movement of the mob down in Miami,” Triay explained.
We went up the stairs, where you could see someone tried to steal a safe, and into the other rooms.
But my favorite part of the tour was a royal experience commemorating a visit from King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain in September 2015, as part of the city’s 450th-anniversary celebration.
From my view on the balcony where the royal couple spoke, I could see Trinity Parish, my next stop.
“We are the oldest Protestant church in the state of Florida, and we are open to everyone who wants to worship with us,” said Kay Puckett, who showed me the old pipe organ and the Tiffany windows originally donated to the church in 1905.
The church was founded many years before that, in 1821, when Spain left the area, peaceably turning over the Spanish colonies of East and West Florida -- including St. Augustine -- to the United States.
To this day, visitors fill the pews as the organs play, and some locals have been coming for years.
“You feel the warmth like you have been in church and Christ’s love,” Puckett said.