Everything historical (at least the historical things I visited) in Florida seemed to be damaged to one degree or another. In a part of the world where vastly destructive storms come on a multiannual basis, it's hard to imagine otherwise...and the series of storms that have visited Florida in the past few year have been particularly nasty, leaving a long line of folks and businesses awaiting the restorative attentions of a limited number of contractors.
I particularly found this to be the case at Fort Matanzas a few miles south of St. Augustine during this trip, where a 2016 storm had damaged the dock leading to the ferry that one takes across the Matanzas River to the fort. To my eye, the damage to that dock seemed exrremely trifling, and I would have been more than happy to sign a waiver and take my chances on the three feet of damaged dock in question, BUT...we live in a litigious society. SOMEbody would have managed to injure themselves against all odds, and sued the National Park Service for thirteen bazillion dollars.
However, we're at Fort East Martello now, and this one observation area seems to be semipermanently blocked off.
I particularly found this to be the case at Fort Matanzas a few miles south of St. Augustine during this trip, where a 2016 storm had damaged the dock leading to the ferry that one takes across the Matanzas River to the fort. To my eye, the damage to that dock seemed exrremely trifling, and I would have been more than happy to sign a waiver and take my chances on the three feet of damaged dock in question, BUT...we live in a litigious society. SOMEbody would have managed to injure themselves against all odds, and sued the National Park Service for thirteen bazillion dollars.
However, we're at Fort East Martello now, and this one observation area seems to be semipermanently blocked off.
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