The Best Hot Travel and Job Opportunities: St. Augustine, Greatest Old Place to Stand in Florida

The State of Florida is full of surprises and a lot of the "first", 'biggest", and "only one left" attractions in the USA and the world. For instance, small herds of scrub cattle are still found in the interior of Central Florida, not far from the 39th Greatest Place to Stand in the USA (www.StoodThere.com) - Kennedy Space Center. Not only that, but the Everglades as a whole is the largest wetlands in the world. Florida is also the site of the oldest communities settled by the Spanish and French in the New World in the 1500s, way before the British and Germans came aboard.

St. Augustine is one of these oldest communities, and ranks as the 37th Greatest Place to Stand in the top one hundred determined by StoodThere.com in a 2009 readers' poll. The city enjoys this status because of its Spanish fort called Castillo de San Marcos (Castle of Saint Mark). It is officially known in the national park system as the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. St. Augustine is the first walled city to have been built in North America. Its 450th Anniversary of founding is in 2015, with a year-long celebration planned.

The fortress seen in the image below was renamed for my favorite American Revolutionary war hero, Francis Marion - the Swamp Fox - from 1821 - 1942, as Fort Marion. However, it was then returned to its original name and retains that name to this day.

Amusingly, old meets new in the fact that very nearby the old fort stands Ripley's Believe it or Not Odditorium. How's that for commercial entertainment meeting history? Some of Ripley's findings have serious historical connections as well as entertainment value (I used to read all the Ripley's graphic novels and books as a kid).

Ripley's in St. Augustine opened a pirate's room in the museum and called it Predators of the Sea and it's quite exciting! Authentic costumes - some worn by skeletons - model ships, photographs and etchings, histories, torture devices, and all manner of piratey things that you might not expect. The Ripley museum itself is in a refurbished haunted hotel in which Robert Ripley used to stay on Florida visits.

Another nice find is Anastasia State Park just across the water of Mantanzas Bay from Downtown St. Augustine. It is a about 5 miles in length of undeveloped seahore and woodlands area with beaches and camping that allows for pets. The St. Augustine Lighthouse is nearby and interesting to visit. St. Augustine Beach, Butler Beach, and Crescent Beach are to the south of this area. Beaches and preserves continue down the coast on Highway A1A.

Fort Mantanzas (Fort Slaughters) in St. Augustine is a second National Monument commemorating Spanish rule of this area, but also the Spanish killing of 250 or more Fench Huguenots at the site. Florida has been governed by several political entities, including Spain and France.

During July 2011, 3,900 job listings were available in the St. Augustinme area, with the most frequent titles listed involving healthcare, retail sales, and IT (Information Technology).

1. Occupational Therapists, Assistants, and Aides - Includes travel professionals; both full-time and part-time positions available; home care and hospital settings.
2. Salespeople and Cashiers
3. Physical Therapists and Assistants - includes travel nurses and other travel professionals.
4. Pharmacists
5. Family Practice Physicians
6. Pizza Hut Crew Positions
7. Optometrists
8. Public Health Officers
9. Ob/Gyn and ER Registered Nurses
10. Internal Medicine Physicians
11. Clinical Psychologists
12. Senior and Assistant Store Sales Managers
13. District Managers

Fastest growing jobs are expected to be in the following titles:

1. Network Systems and Data Communications Analysts
2. Home Health Aides (HHAs)
3. Physicians Assistants – Includes Nurse Practitioners as PAs
4. Electrician’s Helpers
5. Cost Estimators – construction
6. Plumbers, Plumber’s Helpers and related
7. Personal Financial Advisors
8. Construction Laborers and Supervisors
9. Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics
10. Pharmacy Technicians

• Flagler College - Located in the former Ponce de Leon Hotel built by Flagler, the railroad magnet, it was founded as co-ed in 1971 (it was a women's college previously). The school offers at least 20 majors (BA, BFA, and Business Administration) and 25 minors and Flagler is a residential college in which faculty and students live on campus and work on community projects as well as academics. The school has won several awards for academics and is recognized for a very successful Study Broad program involving several nations. Athletics include NCAA Division II.