Faces of the 450th visitor HISTORIC CITY NEWS

Historic City News has already reviewed published reports of attendance figures, varying depending on who your ask, but the Friday crowd for the opening of St Augustine’s 450-year anniversary is said to be somewhere in the 30,000 – 35,000 range; Saturday, a rainy day, reported as high as 60,000 – 65,000; yesterday had high temperatures and humidity but less rain, estimated to have drawn about 55,000.Our editor, Michael Gold, took to the street around noon on Sunday and spent a few minutes with visitors he encountered on St George Street, Orange Street, and Avenida Menendez near the City Gates.

About 20 people offered to speak to us about their visit and each was asked where they traveled from, their arrival date, if they knew we were having the commemoration, if they attended any of the concert events or planned to, and how long they planned to be in St Augustine.

The answers varied, of course, but there were some commonalities and all those we asked said they enjoyed their visit. More than half had previously visited and-or said they would visit again.

The first family we spoke to was visiting from Valdosta, Georgia. They drove in Sunday morning and said they plan to drive home Sunday night. They took the Old Town Trolley tour, said their drivers were entertaining. They had visited the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. They did not attend any of the 450th events, and they saw an Internet announcement of the activities.
	Sitting under the Orange Street train stop we found three teens who said that they live in St Augustine. They were aware of the activities and had been in town for the fireworks on Saturday night. They had not listened to any of the concerts yet, but they were “bored” at home and wanted to meet friends and walk around downtown.
A Daytona Beach couple was trying to figure out what they wanted to do this weekend when they decided to discover St Augustine. “We saw an ad online,” they explained. We were told that she was a previous visitor but this was his first trip. So far they did not have any plans for the afternoon, but they intend to return home this evening.
	Two ladies from St Mary’s Georgia were traveling to Orlando for the Labor Day weekend when they say a sign caught their eye and they decided to come downtown. “The traffic wasn’t bad, so we figured it would be fun”. They won’t be staying overnight because they have a deposit on their room on International Park Drive near the Disney resorts.
So far, the only thing one visitor had purchased was an ice cream cone. She is visiting from Waycross. “I checked the weather on the Internet first and then decided to drive in for the day.” She had heard about the 450th recently and thought it would be fun to visit the Fountain of Youth. She has visited St Augustine before but never been to the archeological park.
	Three friends drove up from Orlando this morning and say they would stay over, “If they could find a room for less than $300”. They didn’t know what to expect when they got here today, they saw the fireworks reporting on television and figured it would be a fun way to spend the day. “We will probably return home tonight”, but they say that’s alright — they come to town a couple of times a year.

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