We won!! Trip to St. Augustine

[southernbelle5672]

We won a local radio contest! A 5 day trip to St Augustine!

We are so excited!!

Does anyone have any tips/ideas on things to do in St. Augustine? Me and DH have never been there before.

 

[Boardwalk Gal]

You can take a day trip to Disney!!!



seriously, Congrats!! I have been there in ages but there is a lot of history there. Fountain of Youth, Some kind of Fort, also, You not too far from Daytona Beaches.

 

[pixiedustaholic]

I know they have a lighthouse that was investigated on Ghost Hunters that I would LOVE to tour. There is always the beach!! I've never been but I've heard it's a great place to visit with lots of historical sites!

 

[Maddykins06]

WHOO-HOO! Congratulations!

 

[stout]

Make a trip to Denoel French Pastry Shop at 212 Charlotte Street (904-829-3974) for breakfast, lunch, or a snack. They only take cash, so plan ahead. We discovered it when we were in Jacksonville for the month of February 2008. The last couple times we have been to WDW, we rent a car and drive over there for lunch. Believe it or not, they remember us every time--even if 8 months have passed since the last trip!
Congratulations!

 

[Isi]

You could do the Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth. we went there like 6 years ago, its really nice..

 

[cjnix29]

We took a dolphin boat tour, an eco tour they called it. Was a little pricey, but it was so much fun!! The highlight of my DS's trip to Daytona and we even went to Disney.That's how much he liked it! We went right out of St. Augustine. The City is beautiful,and we would have loved to spend more time there. Congrats!! and have a great time!

 

[Ericandus]

We used to vacation in St. Augustine EVERY year! You will love it! Just remember they do drive on the beaches there, so be cautious! "Downtown" is a wonderful cobblestone street area that is blocked to traffic with TONS of terrific little shops! Definitely visit the lighthouse. You have to visit Salt Water Cowboys for dinner one night. Absolutely wonderful food and a fun setting over a marsh!
http://www.saltwatercowboys.com/ We always spent most of our time at a condo on the beach, so we would cook most of our meals. There are several grocery stores very close so it isn't difficult to get groceries.
Congrats on your win!! That is soooo wonderful!!

 

[disneyfun2007]

I don't have any tips but just wanted to say "Congratulations"

 

[mantaz]

You should do the alligator farm. It's a neat place to see and you can hold an alligator if you want. The carriage ride around downtown is quite interesting and I know I will NEVER EVER stay in a B&B in the historic section...way too many ghosts for my taste. But it is neat to hear about. Santa Maria's is a good place to eat, you get to feed the fish. Take a boat tour. They are interesting for learning about the town. There is an outlet mall up the highway some. You can actually drive on the beach in St Augustine. And I love how flat the beach is. The ocean is nice to me. Depending on what time of year you go the water is very nice and warm!

 

[akcire]

The Ft. is awesome right near the downtown. The lighthouse was okay, you can rent a bike and ride from the Ft. to the lighthouse.

Don't forget there is an excellent Disney (Theme Park) outlet in the outlet mall.

 

[dzorn]

http://www.historictours.com/

They had good prices at the Disney outlet too.

Denise

 

[rparmfamily]

Anastasia State Park is my fav beach. Clean. They stopped letting you drive on the beach there though, too many tragedies by idiots.

 

[memy26]

St. Augustine is a wonderful place to visit. We go everytime we visit my FIL in Jacksonville.

You must eat at the Florida Cracker http://www.floridacrackercafe.com/ its a must do every time we are there. Its a small place and it is always packed, so you may have to wait a little while for a table. You must try the Gator Tail and the Conch Fritters, they are awesome. Even my kids, who can be very picky at time, tried them and loved them. Now they keep asking when we are going back.

You will enjoy it, there are tons of things to do

 

[Halle]

Visit Flagler College to see gorgeous stained glass. Eat at the Columbia House rest., excellent food. If you're a golf fan there is the golf hall of fame.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I second the Columbia Restaurant -- it's delicious!

Go to the "fort" - Castillo de San Marcos.

Do the "Ghost Tour" one night. My husband and I really enjoyed it!

 

[eyor44]

Congratulations! We went there once and had a great time.

 

[cristbaby]

I have to second Salt Water Cowboys. It looks like a dumpy little place out in the middle of the marsh but the food is excellent. The beach is beautiful, you'll love it.

 

[bettyann29]

congrats!! I dont have any ideas for you, but wanted to say how lucky you are!! We went for part of a day last year while we were in Florida.. DMIL took us there to show us around.. its a neat little place..

 

[Golf4food]

How about some don'ts:

Do not eat at the Santa Maria - it is obscenely overpriced and nothing but a tourist trap. Being able to feed fish through trap doors at your table is not worth the extra cost and poorer quality. There are MANY better places in town for seafood, best among them is O'Steen's (the original that all of the others try to rip off, including hiring away cooks from O'Steen's to work for them), but Schooner's is good as well, and Salt Water Cowboys as has been mentioned.

The Columbia is fine Spanish food. Collage is fine French and very good. The Gypsy Cab Company is also good.

Do visit all of the real historic sites: the fort (Castillo de San Marcos), the lighthouse, the old town, the historic museum inside the old town, Flagler College (sign up for one of the tours), the Lightner museum. The Fountain of Youth is a bit touristy but maybe worth doing once. The Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum is just like all their other ones - overpriced tourist trap but can be fun once in a lifetime...

If you'll have a car you can drive down a bit south to Fort Matanzas - small place, free, park service takes you on a boat out to the little island it is on to visit the actual little fort, and the main part of the park has some great nature trails and boardwalks. Just south of there is Marineland, beaches, and Washington Oaks State Park, which has both an ocean side with some neat coquina rock formations and an intracoastal side with rose gardens, ponds, nature trails, etc. Nice place.

St. Aug is one of my favorite places in the world and I'm quite thankful to live so close I can visit any time I want. PM me if you have questions or want to chat more about things to see/do/eat.