Visiting St. Augustine With A Pet

[tarheelmjfan]

Our mini-pin will be travelling with us for a Thanksgiving getaway in St. Augustine. We've been there once on a day trip, but didn't do much. We're really more like 1st time visitors. We'll be staying at St. Francis Inn (Wilson House) in the Historic District, & plan to visit the beach a couple hours one day. BTW, is St. Augustine Beach pet friendly?

By searching the internet, I've found a few restaurants (outdoor dining) & attractions that are supposed to be pet friendly. I have no 1st hand knowledge of any of them & would love suggestions from others who have visited the city with their pet. A local's point of view would be great too. I suppose we would mostly be taking her for lunch. We like having a nice, relaxing dinner, at top rated restaurants. I doubt we'll be able to take her to any of those. Although, I haven't done a lot of research yet to see what the best restaurants are, & would love to be wrong.

Now that we've booked our hotel & asked for restaurant suggestions, we need things to do. Any pet friendly attractions you suggest we visit? How about tours?

PS: Other than the quick beach trip, we plan to spend all our time (5 days/ 4 nights) in the Historic District. Any tips you can share will be very much appreciated.

 

[Sherri]

Your so lucky to be taking your pet. My vacations would be 100% if I took my pets along. Then I would feel no guilt.
Have fun.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Your so lucky to be taking your pet. My vacations would be 100% if I took my pets along. Then I would feel no guilt.
Have fun.

Thanks, I'm sure we will.

 

[JimB.]

Ok, well, you have me stumped. To be honest, I cannot think of many places that fit that description. There are a few places downtown to eat that have some outside dining that you could probably have your dog with your (Florida Cracker Cafe, Pizza Garden, Scarlett O'Hara's to name a few. There are others), but I'm really not sure if they are "dog friendly". Be sure to check ahead.

And yes, the higher cuisine restaurants are definitely off limits to pets of any kind.

Your best bet would probably be to check w/the Visitors Info Center upon arrival, or maybe contact the Chamber of Clommerce prior to traveling.

There are tour trains that take you all around town. Ghost tours after dark, both walking and riding. Carraige rides are big, too. I do not see any reason your pet would NOT be allowed, but I'm not specifically sure that they ARE. You can take your dog walking anywhere in town without difficulty. If you take it to the beach, they need to be on a leash. It's the law, + it's a safety issue for your pet. Cars + Tides.

Enjoy your visit! Make sure you spend lots of $$$$! And if you need Vet care, go to ******** ***** **********. Ok, pm me for that one.

DON'T take it to the Alligator Farm (sorry, bad humor there).

 

[Snoopymom]

There is a tiny little inexpensive restaurant called the Beachcomber on A Street, left off of A1A just past the pier, and it's a very casual barefoot picnic table shuck your own oysters type of place right on the beach that I'm sure would allow you to have your dog.

I've seen lots of people with their dogs walking around the shopping area, so I think in general it's a very pet friendly area, and I bet the owner of the Inn will be able to tell you of more places.

Have fun!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks for the info. I always like to know ahead of time what to expect. My DH & I are both fairly passive people & we don't want to take her anywhere that may possibly offend someone. I'm glad to read that she can walk with us most everywhere. When we vacation, we like to walk or take public transportation as much as possible. My DH drives all over the state daily & hates to drive on vacation. The one exception will be a short visit to the beach. It's great that she can go there with us too. Keeping her on leash won't be a problem. We live in the Tampa burbs, so she's never off leash outside at home. She'd probably freak out, if we removed it.

We've never taken her anywhere to eat with us. I'm not even sure how she would react. I think we'll do a trial run around here 1st to see. I had read on one of the many sites about St. Augustine that pets were allowed in the outdoor seating area of some restuarants. Then it ocurred to me that stopping for lunch w/o having to take her back 1st, would be very convenient.

We weren't planning on going to the Alligator Farm anyway. When we want to see gators, we can just drive around the neighborhood. If there's a small patch of water, there's a gator. Animal Control has been to our subdivision 4 times in the past year to pick up roaming gators.

Don't worry. We'll spend our fair share of money. Spending way too much for a meal is a major vice for us. The many tours we plan to take will be helping out your cause as well.

I registered to have a Visitor's guide mailed to us already. Asking the Innkeeper for suggestion is a good idea.

Feel free to offer suggestions on things to do & places to eat, even if they're not pet friendly. I'd especially like to know what the best restaurants are. Many of the travel sites list restaurants by most popular. That doesn't necessarily equal best food. We like a nice atmosphere & great food. For lunch, we're not that picky. Thanks again