“I ain’t no student of ancient culture …”
Mesopotamia
B-52s
But who doesn’t love archaeology gigs, conquistadors, seven-foot indigenous peoples and pirates?After spending an afternoon on the sands of Jacksonville Beach, I headed south to historic St. Augustine where I encountered the fabled Fountain of Youth made famous by Ponce De Leon.
At the site, today, there are several historical exhibits, statues, live cannon demonstrations, and you can get an immortality cooler direct from the spring that quenched Spanish explorers almost 500 year earlier.
Check out the Fountain of Youth and a combination of tourism and history at http://www.fountainofyouthflorida.com/
Any pings for Ponce and his posse?Well, my HP laptop and my iPhone struck out on the quest for Wi-Fi at the fount, although my pirate tour guide told me there was a hotspot.
Well, pirates will tell you anything, now won’t they.And they will do just about anything for the right price.Rent a pirate for your next occasion in St. Augustine at www.sendthebastardouttosea.com.That’s just wrong.No pings for pirates.No score.
However … however … in the heart of St. Augustine – the oldest city in the United States — I was given more credible information from various sources.
Cool Wachovia
When I asked about Wi-Fi, several sales persons at several establishments all told me the same thing.“Check out the little bakery at Casa Monica.”Note to business owners:your own staff, in their eagerness to help others, are sending potential customers to other locations.Why?Wi-Fi!
I parked the behemoth Ford, pumped a handful of dubloons into the parking meter and walked over to Casa Monica.Wow. Very cool, old-world hotel with a grand style. It also had a young, astute bellman/valet who knew that “yes there was Wi-Fi,” and he told me exactly where I could pick it up the best. That was a nice corner table at “the little bakery.” It was actually a quaint place called Café Cordoba.
Neil and Whitney
I had an excellent panini and pinged away at the blogosphere during lunch. Oh, I was doubly blessed. There were two hotspots and they were both compliments of Casa Monica, sending information to and fro at 54mbps. Quickly, I continued touring and went up the marble stairs between the lobby and the parking garage to check out Monica’s pool. 
Very nice and yes, the connectivity extended right up to the water. They are celebrating 120 years. See http://www.casamonica.com/
Casa Monica — and the bellman on his toes — land the first perfect score ever awarded from the pingwi-fi.com blog. Nice job. Seven pings – your Wi-Fi reputation precedes you, and you live up to it!
Around the corner from my new favorite Casa is the Lightner Museum. Great architecture, art and my favorite colored fish in the pond (koi) … but alas, no Wi-Fi. No score.
I popped in several other shops, only to be told I should go to Casa Monica for Wi-Fi. It was like a conspiracy. Then I walked up to the gates of Flagler College. What a piece of architectural design.
Flagler
It’s a private, four-year liberal arts school housed in the former Ponce De Leon Hotel. See: http://www.flagler.edu/. Flagler has Wi-Fi, but it is locked down and password protected for the students. I can live with that.
Nice digs, safe Wi-Fi/higher learning and some of the coolest t-shirts I have coveted – anywhere. Flagler gets 5 XL pings.
Behind Flagler and beyond the town square, there is street closed of to normal cars and F250 Diesel 4-wheel drive King Ranch trucks as well, although pedestrians are welcome. It is teeming with coffee shops, gifts shops restaurants and fun stuff like that.
That’s where I found Café Hidalgo. Ha … I thought I had walked into a chick flick. Wall-to-wall women in this place, for whatever reason. I didn’t taste the brew, but it smelled of coffee beans and not just tea. Was that a sexist comment? Who knows? Any unisex Wi-Fi?
Kelley, Hali and Elena
Well … one of the young ladies behind the counter helped me fire up the network. It was password protected, and I liked how they were making Wi-Fi work toward revenue. If you buy something – even a measly bottle of water like I did – the pass code is magically printed on your receipt. (I’ll let you in on a secret. If you just ask, they will give you the password without a purchase. Keep that between us.)
Hidalgo had the coldest water I had all day, although it might have lacked the immortality ingredient found at my first stop … oh and the Wi-Fi? The signal was strong throughout the café, and it connected quickly. But, it seemed that my pingwi-fi page had some problems loading … just slightly slower than usual.
Great people, charming décor, not a bad ratio — if you know what I mean — and a good Wi-Fi revenue strategy. Print 4 pings on the scorecard at Café Hidalgo.
After a few more strikeouts at cafés (like The Bunnery), coffee shops and t-shirt stores, I trekked back to the Ford land yacht, parked near the wall of the little bay which was just dotted with sailboats.
Britiany
But, one last check. There was a cool old two story restaurant with an awesome patio – lots of shade, trellises covered in thick vines … pergolas … that sort of thing. It’s called O.C. White’s. Check it: http://www.ocwhites.com. Way cool, but Wi-Fi? Nope … but guess where they said I might find connectivity …
They didn’t have Wi-Fi, but they knew where it could be found. Cool Place and they (or at least their structure) date back to 1790, so who am I to judge – two honorary pings.
Overall … St. Augustine is a gem – loaded with history, architecture … Oh I didn’t even mention the military fort – Castillo de San Marcos — and its self-proclaimed culture clash role in the birth of a nation. (No Wi-Fi detected through the thick, cannon-resistant walls …) See it at http://www.nps.gov/casa/
St. Augustine lives up to the expectations – loaded with legend, longevity and an enthusiasm for connectivity, just add a few more hotspots, okay? It’s 6 pings – well worth the voyage. Check it out, but then come back to this site, ‘ight? http://www.oldcity.com/history-information.cfm
Know what I sayin?
