- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
Saturday 18th August – Back on the Road Again
Today, we are on the move again - this time right across the state to St Augustine, on the east coast. Gary and I had visited St Augustine for one night, in August 2010, and loved it so much we couldn’t wait to go back again. It really is the most beautiful place, with so much history (for an American city)
The day started badly, from a weather point-of-view, and it really didn’t get that much better. It was a good day to be stuck in the car, although I’m glad I didn’t have to drive. We loaded the car, in between heavy downpours, checked out and were on the road by 9am. Once on the I-75, we ran into more rain and then, just outside Tampa, we drove into a huge thunderstorm, which more or less followed us to St Augustine.
I don’t like the look of that
Told you so
Once we were on the I4, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of visiting a Cracker Barrel before, it is the most fascinating place. The shop itself (or Old Country Store, to use its proper name) could hold my attention for hours. However, the highlight of a Cracker Barrel (in my opinion) is its magnificent breakfasts.
Whenever we’ve visited Cracker Barrel before, it’s been early in the morning but still fairly busy. This place, however, was absolutely heaving! It was a bit sad not being here with our friends and I made a comment to Gary how I wished (not for the first time this holiday) that they were here. To make up for still feeling cheated from dinner the night before, Daniel and I ordered BIG!
For Daniel, it was Momma’s Pancake Breakfast - Three Buttermilk Pancakes and Two eggs cooked to order with your choice of any fruit topping or 100% pure natural syrup, served with smoked sausage patties, turkey sausage patties or thick-sliced bacon. Daniel chose eggs over-easy and bacon, with apple topping for his pancakes.
This is one big breakfast
I chose Momma’s French Toast Breakfast, which was basically the same as Daniel’s but with french toast instead of pancakes and scrambled eggs, instead of fried.
A breakfast so big it comes in two parts
Gary opted for the slightly (but not much) smaller option of pecan pancakes.
Nutty pancakes
The check came to $30.65. We left the tip on the table and went through to the store to use the restrooms and pay the check at the till. After a quick look around, it was back on the road. It was raining pretty much constantly and, as we hit Orlando, there were loads of road works. Traffic was stop-start all the way past Disney and I was a little bit sad to be heading past and not stopping, although I had no real desire to get out of the car in this weather.
Hello, goodbye
As we reached the exit for I-Drive, I suddenly realised I was desperate to go to the bathroom so Gary made an ‘emergency stop’ at McDonalds, then we took a detour up International Drive and universal Boulevard, rejoining the I4 after the roadworks. As we hit Downtown Orlando, there was a flash of blue sky and the world seemed brighter again.
Mr Blue Sky
It was a fairly boring drive, with lots of long, straight road. At one point, Gary and I played I-Spy but, after we’d exhausted the five options of road, car, truck, sky and grass, it was game over.
Eventually, we saw the sign for our exit and things were looking up again.
St Augustine, here we come
We finally arrived at The Old Jail, St Augustine, at 2.30 in the afternoon.
Daniel meets Gator Bob
We had pre-purchased the ‘Maximo’ package from the Trolley Tours website. It included a 3-day ticket for the trolley, entrance to The Old Jail, The Oldest Store Museum Experience, St Augustine History Museum and the Alligator Farm. We exchanged our voucher here and got all of our tickets for the various attractions. Since we were here and could not check into our hotel until 4pm, we decided to take the tour of The Old Jail. Daniel hadn’t done this before but Gary and I both had. It was very entertaining, despite having experienced it before. There were only five of us on the tour so it felt a lot more personal too.
A pink jail?
Daniel and the Sheriff
The Birdcage
You’re under arrest!
We are not amused
Laughing stock!
After the tour, we drove down to the Hilton to check in. The Hilton, St Augustine is like no other Hilton you have ever seen. Although a modern-day structure, it was designed to blend in with the Spanish Colonial style buildings that surround it. Inside, it is a mixture of modern fittings and historical style. It really is very beautiful.
Lobby lounge area
We were allocated Room 234, which was a standard room with 2 queens. The room was very big and very beautifully decorated. I loved the ornate headboards.
Room 234
We had a view of a courtyard from our room, however if I leaned right out and looked all the way to the right, I could just see the bayfront.
Courtyard
With a bayfront view (sort of)
The only downsides to the hotel are that there is no self-parking, only valet. At $21 per night, it is pretty steep, however we knew that coming in. The pool is also small, although it has an amazing view of the bayfront and the Bridge of Lions.
Is that a pool or a bathtub?
A pool with a view
Continued in the next post...
Today, we are on the move again - this time right across the state to St Augustine, on the east coast. Gary and I had visited St Augustine for one night, in August 2010, and loved it so much we couldn’t wait to go back again. It really is the most beautiful place, with so much history (for an American city)
The day started badly, from a weather point-of-view, and it really didn’t get that much better. It was a good day to be stuck in the car, although I’m glad I didn’t have to drive. We loaded the car, in between heavy downpours, checked out and were on the road by 9am. Once on the I-75, we ran into more rain and then, just outside Tampa, we drove into a huge thunderstorm, which more or less followed us to St Augustine.
I don’t like the look of that
Told you so
Once we were on the I4, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of visiting a Cracker Barrel before, it is the most fascinating place. The shop itself (or Old Country Store, to use its proper name) could hold my attention for hours. However, the highlight of a Cracker Barrel (in my opinion) is its magnificent breakfasts.
Whenever we’ve visited Cracker Barrel before, it’s been early in the morning but still fairly busy. This place, however, was absolutely heaving! It was a bit sad not being here with our friends and I made a comment to Gary how I wished (not for the first time this holiday) that they were here. To make up for still feeling cheated from dinner the night before, Daniel and I ordered BIG!
For Daniel, it was Momma’s Pancake Breakfast - Three Buttermilk Pancakes and Two eggs cooked to order with your choice of any fruit topping or 100% pure natural syrup, served with smoked sausage patties, turkey sausage patties or thick-sliced bacon. Daniel chose eggs over-easy and bacon, with apple topping for his pancakes.
This is one big breakfast
I chose Momma’s French Toast Breakfast, which was basically the same as Daniel’s but with french toast instead of pancakes and scrambled eggs, instead of fried.
A breakfast so big it comes in two parts
Gary opted for the slightly (but not much) smaller option of pecan pancakes.
Nutty pancakes
The check came to $30.65. We left the tip on the table and went through to the store to use the restrooms and pay the check at the till. After a quick look around, it was back on the road. It was raining pretty much constantly and, as we hit Orlando, there were loads of road works. Traffic was stop-start all the way past Disney and I was a little bit sad to be heading past and not stopping, although I had no real desire to get out of the car in this weather.
Hello, goodbye
As we reached the exit for I-Drive, I suddenly realised I was desperate to go to the bathroom so Gary made an ‘emergency stop’ at McDonalds, then we took a detour up International Drive and universal Boulevard, rejoining the I4 after the roadworks. As we hit Downtown Orlando, there was a flash of blue sky and the world seemed brighter again.
Mr Blue Sky
It was a fairly boring drive, with lots of long, straight road. At one point, Gary and I played I-Spy but, after we’d exhausted the five options of road, car, truck, sky and grass, it was game over.
Eventually, we saw the sign for our exit and things were looking up again.
St Augustine, here we come
We finally arrived at The Old Jail, St Augustine, at 2.30 in the afternoon.
Daniel meets Gator Bob
We had pre-purchased the ‘Maximo’ package from the Trolley Tours website. It included a 3-day ticket for the trolley, entrance to The Old Jail, The Oldest Store Museum Experience, St Augustine History Museum and the Alligator Farm. We exchanged our voucher here and got all of our tickets for the various attractions. Since we were here and could not check into our hotel until 4pm, we decided to take the tour of The Old Jail. Daniel hadn’t done this before but Gary and I both had. It was very entertaining, despite having experienced it before. There were only five of us on the tour so it felt a lot more personal too.
A pink jail?
Daniel and the Sheriff
The Birdcage
You’re under arrest!
We are not amused
Laughing stock!
After the tour, we drove down to the Hilton to check in. The Hilton, St Augustine is like no other Hilton you have ever seen. Although a modern-day structure, it was designed to blend in with the Spanish Colonial style buildings that surround it. Inside, it is a mixture of modern fittings and historical style. It really is very beautiful.
Lobby lounge area
We were allocated Room 234, which was a standard room with 2 queens. The room was very big and very beautifully decorated. I loved the ornate headboards.
Room 234
We had a view of a courtyard from our room, however if I leaned right out and looked all the way to the right, I could just see the bayfront.
Courtyard
With a bayfront view (sort of)
The only downsides to the hotel are that there is no self-parking, only valet. At $21 per night, it is pretty steep, however we knew that coming in. The pool is also small, although it has an amazing view of the bayfront and the Bridge of Lions.
Is that a pool or a bathtub?
A pool with a view
Continued in the next post...
Glad to read that you liked the Hilton there. 
