Welcome to my tropical pages ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA
If you arrived at this page from my lighthouse pages you can still travel to the next light from here or stick around for a tour of St. Augustine.
We have taken several trips to St. Augustine, the first time was a day trip in 1990, and the second was in 1991 for our 1st anniversary. The pictures and information on this page will be a compilation of all our trips including the most recent in October 1999. We celebrated our 9th anniversary by taking a long weekend, reserving a great bed and breakfast room, and exploring the town once again. We arrived on a Friday and went straight to the Secret Garden Inn, a lovely place just off Charlotte Street, secluded behind other buildings and lots of trees. Our hostess, Nancy, led us upstairs to the Wysteria Room which was decorated with florals and lace. There were fresh flowers in our bedroom, lots of antiques, and a copy of the book "The Secret Garden" in the sitting room, all adding to the ambiance of the place. Each morning around nine she brought us a yummy breakfast which we could eat inside or outside on the balcony. The steps from our balcony led to the Secret Garden pathway below and we had a nice view of trees and flowers while sitting at the small table on the balcony. That evening we stumbled onto a great restaurant named Harry's. We liked it so much we went back again the next day! Take a look at the menu and you'll agree it was worth it. We sat inside the first night but sat outside the next day, in a walled garden with lots of trees. After dinner at Harry's we went to Potter's Wax Museum. It was Halloween weekend so they had included a "scary" section but, to me, the whole place was spooky! I didn't need hobgoblins and ghosts to get me in the Halloween mood after that. The faces are so real on the wax statues that I swear they were all looking right at me, staring at me, making me feel a little creepy. It was incredible. At one point one of the gangsters in a scene moved his head and I jumped! He was the only mechanical one that I remember and it scared me to see him move. This place is well worth the time to go see. As we exited the museum we found ourselves standing across from the square where city workers were already busy getting Christmas lights strung into the trees. They not only decorate the square, but the bridge and a lot of the surrounding area for the annual Nights of Lights. With that large an area to decorate, you can see why they start to decorate at Halloween.
This town has so much history that you will never lack for something to see or do while there. We visited many of the historical areas the first two times we visited, one of the best being the Lightner Museum. This is a must-see in my book, it was fascinating walking through all the exhibits. One of the exhibits that I remembered the most was the Button Collection! I'm not sure why, but that one always sticks in my mind. We also visited the Zorayda Castle and wandered through the grounds of Flagler College, a beautiful Spanish-style university which was formerly Henry Flagler's Hotel Ponce De Leon. For lists of the other museums in the area go to the Florida Explorer site. Some of the attractions aren't historic but they're fun anyway. Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum is a little corny but we liked it. There were many interesting things to see and do, like sitting in a chair that would determine our romantic personality. I'm not sure I believed my outcome, but Darrell's was just about right!
Another wonderful landmark is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, a huge Catholic cathedral (the pictures shown here are of the steeple and the chapel). The outside is wonderful and the inside is beautiful. It's quite an imposing sight as you come into St. Augustine and ride through the square. Another religious area that is interesting to visit is the St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine on St. George Street.
Crossing the famous Bridge of Lions (above, left) took us to the St. Augustine beaches and to the fabulous lighthouse which was the main reason we took our third trip. I hadn't gotten pictures of the light the first time we visited and I needed some to add to my Lighthouse Pages. In 1991 we had stayed on that side of the river, in the The Conch House Marina Resort (above, right). It was a very nice place with a waterfront restaurant and we were close to the Fiesta Falls miniature golf course! We used to play mini-golf on all our trips and this course was exceptional, had a pirate ship and lots of interesting landscaping. Darrell figured he was better at shooting pool and tried to win that way! I was much more correct about how I played my game.
Back on the historic side of the river, there is shopping galore. We went in and out of so many places I can't remember them all! We both liked the nautical gift shops, and I always enjoy the Christmas shops, but Darrell was most excited over the hot sauce store called Hot Stuff Mon. We came home with a few Christmas ornaments from my favorite store and about 30 different kinds of hot sauce from his! Since our 1999 trip was during Halloween, we wanted to do some ghostly things. We got our tickets for the Ghost Tour which was being conducted later that night and went back to the room to relax. That evening we had a good time touring the old streets with a ghostly guide and met lots of other "spirits" on the way. Afterwards we drank a few "spirits" at the Mill Top Tavern before heading back to the room.
Of course there are a few things not to be missed while in St. Augustine and the Castillo de San Marcos is one of them. During our first trip to St. Augustine we watched a re-enactment of the troops getting ready for battle (picture below right and at top of the page). They actually fired the canon and it was very loud! The picture below, in the center, is of the moat that surrounds the fort. Another historic sight is the Mission of Nombre de Dios (below, right). There are various "oldest" places to see - the Oldest House, the Oldest Store - and you can find all these attractions and historic places by visiting The Old City Listings. You won't run out of places to visit!
Then there are the things that you don't necessarily have to see! Of course it's all a matter of taste, some people wouldn't have liked Ripley's or the Wax Museum as much as I did. Darrell loves motion rides so we went to 3-D World (after some protesting by me, I went along). He loved it, I tolerated it. Since I get motion sickness those attractions are not my favorites. But he suffers through things that I like to do so I have to humor him sometimes. We've always had a great time in St. Augustine, and will most likely go back again. On our way out of town the last time, we stopped at the Matanzas Innlet restaurant on A1A (the scenic way to get back home). It's easy for us to get to historic St. Augustine, we either use AIA or I95. For those who aren't familiar with the area, go to the Getting Here section of the visitoldcity.com site for directions and travel information. And if you want a virtual tour before deciding on a trip to St. Augustine, you can go to the staugustine.com site and travel around via your computer.
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