BRING YOUR OWN PEN, BE STEALTHY, HEAVY MUGGLES IN THE AREA, BE CAREFUL WITH THE CACHE AND HIDE WELL AFTER YOU FIND IT! ONLY TAKE A TRINKET IF YOU LEAVE ONE. THANK YOU, HAPPY CACHING :)))
"Although found in very few places in the world, conditions were just right for coquina formation along the east coast of Florida. The Spanish knew about this rock, and while they might have picked up loose chunks, the people of St. Augustine were primarily soldiers, not stonemasons, and so this rock sat mostly unused and unappreciated for years. Wood was more plentiful, at first, and easier to work with. But then the British, settling to the north, edged into the Carolinas. Spanish Florida was only a short sail away. Something more than a wooden fort was needed to protect St. Augustine and to keep the British from taking over Florida and using it as a base of operations to attack the Spanish treasure fleets and the more wealthy colonies of the Spanish Caribbean.
The Spanish began construction on the Castillo de San Marcos in 1672. The coquina stone was quarried in the area of present-day Anastasia State Park on Anastasia Island. Military engineers and stonemasons were brought from Spain. Convicts and additional soldiers were brought from Cuba. Oyster shells were burned into lime and mixed with sand and water to make mortar. Even when General Oglethorpe tried his hand against St. Augustine in 1740 and bombarded the Castillo for 27 days, the walls held firm. The rock made of seashells turned out to be an excellent building material. When the Spanish decided to fortify the southern approaches to St. Augustine by building Fort Matanzas later that year, they again used coquina stone, and, like the Castillo, this smaller fort was never captured.
What if the Spanish did not have this stone? If not for coquina, perhaps the British would have captured St. Augustine much earlier than 1763, when they finally gained Florida by treaty. If the British gained Florida earlier, it might have changed the course of the American Revolution. Maybe our country would still be a part of Great Britain as a commonwealth like Canada! Our history might have been very different but for this little clam known as donax, and for coquina, the rock that saved St. Augustine" (National Park Service).
As you find yourself in this quaint little park nestled on the island's Davis Shores neighborhood remember to be respectful and leave the park better than you found it. You are seeking a micro sized container, please sign the log and if taking a trinket, take only one and leave one behind! happy caching :)