Back in January, I planned a little Memorial Day weekend trip to St. Augustine.
Well, we have finally visited, and boy, this city is beautiful, quirky, and definitely different!
We enjoyed our time, and yet there is only ONE reason I would return, but you'll have to read on...
I had been dying to visit St. Augustine for years, just as I had a calling to visit Savannah for some period of time. Something about the stone streets and old world vibe had a grip on me since before I had ever stepped foot in Europe.
We finally had our chance and took the opportunity to take the four hour drive with a four day weekend.
Our hotel was within a very short walking distance -less than one mile- to the old town center, which was handy & nice. The old town area gets SUPER busy with tiny, narrow streets. And add in an erratic drawbridge that backs up traffic at random times. I couldn't have been more grateful to be staying slightly away from the thick of it all, yet close enough. We walked into downtown for every visit.
When we first arrived, we had time to kill before check-in, so we headed to the Castillo de San Marcos and bummed around it for a bit. I FINALLY got smart awhile back and used our military status privilege to gain a free annual national parks pass, so admission was $0!
It would've cost our family $90 otherwise -at $15 per adult (15 yrs +). Even if you are not military affiliated, it may pay off to invest in an annual 'America the Beautiful' National Parks Pass. It's currently $80 a year with no senior or military discount, but that's still a $10 savings for a adult family of six just for this one particular site of hundreds!
*scroll to where it states "Annual Passes" in bold*
https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm
The passes have no limits on the amount of times you can use them! However, each National Site may have funky rules about carload or headcount. For instance, the Castillo we visited in St Augustine allows four visitors with each pass at the gate, but when the lady asked if we were active duty and if I had a pass in my own name (which was a "no"), my husband and I flashed our IDs, and she let the other two family members in for free out of courtesy. She did explain if I had my own pass, we could get up to eight in for free next time. Now I know to get my own for future travels elsewhere.
But in other cases, rules are different: For instance, The Grand Canyon's South Rim will cost $35 per load up to 15 people. Or it is free with an America the Beautiful National Park Pass!
Sometimes the pass includes parking, sometimes it does not. Just depends on the attraction.
Is the Castillo worth it?
It is big and beautiful, and super neat to see if you have not already visited dozens of sea fortresses all over the world. For our free experience, I enjoyed it. But if we would have paid $90, I believe I would have been let down.
It does have a cool history and some great views, though!
Our first evening in downtown was all "Oohs and Ahhs". The old town area is wonderfully preserved.
In certain parts of the city, I honestly felt like I was in the south of France again. In others, I got a Barcelona feel. After all, the place was founded by a Spanish soldier in 1565 and later turned into a Spanish colony.
Eventually Sir Francis Drake burned the city to the ground, but like most interesting stories and fucked up history, the Spanish rose from the ashes and rebuilt St Augustine; adding the Castillo -in 1672- as a part of their defenses.
On our second day, my daughters and I got up at the crack of dawn, literally, to go watch the sunrise on at St John's pier & beach. It was peaceful and our first brush with the ocean in years!
Around 10am, we zipped over to Anastasia Island. There is an entry fee at $8 (also includes parking). Because it is state owned, it was super clean and not as crowded as city beaches seem to get. We popped open the umbrellas, laid out the beach blankets and jumped in the water!
What was weird to me (California baby here) is that we could walk out pretty dang far from the shore line and still be less than hip deep. Gave me lots of opportunity to snap pictures of the family playing in the waves.
And this is where the vacation turned sour for one of our kids. Whether or not she followed directions to use and reapply sunscreen is still debated, but my child got burnt to a crisp on this day. I'm talking so red it was almost purple, followed by large blisters in a couple days time and severe dehydration. This ties into our second half of the trip in Orlando...whomp whomp. Oh the things we fail to mention on Instagram!
That same evening, while the sunburn was just beginning to set in and sting its victim, we walked to downtown. I wanted to see the city at dusk and capture a picture of the bridge with her lights on, but I became impatient. It was still worth some amazing sunset pictures overlooking the Mantanzas River.
We also popped into a few shops and lazily strolled the streets. The city comes to life at night with some real characters...a drunk guy stopped at a red light repeatedly yelled at us "Is it SATURDAY?" and we also watched a young woman stumble down most of King Street while shouting random stuff that made zero sense, throwing her sunglasses into traffic. Hope she made it to wherever she was going.
On Sunday morning, we ate a slow breakfast, made a Walmart trip for the burnt kid (aloe gel), then headed to the Lightner Museum.
Both the Lightner Museum and Flagler College across the street were once super luxe hotels in the area during the late 1880s. Built by Henry Flagler, Hotel Ponce de Leon (now Flagler College) was so rich in style, likely because Louis Comfort Tiffany was the interior designer. Thomas Hastings helped deign the exterior. I mean, come on! American opulence at its finest.
Note: You can tour Flagler College to see the interior and explore the grounds further, but we opted out due to time.
The Lightner Museum was known as The Hotel Alcazar and also built in the same general timeframe by guess who? Henry Flagler! This dude loved his luxury hotels. Intended as a winter retreat for Northerners, the Hotel Alcazar hosted a grand spa, featuring Turkish steam rooms, Russian spa baths and even the world's largest indoor pool at the time. After the market crash in 1929, the area sadly declined and the Hotel Alcazar was no more.
Insert Otto Lightner. He purchased the hotel in the 1940s to house art and trinkets from around the world. Much of the original spa features are still intact, in fact, you can even reserve a table for brunch in the now empty pool!
To be honest, I was captured by the beauty of the structure more so than the stuff inside. As far as museums go, little of the collection was a "wow", in my opinion, but again, I am a museum jaded soul.
I adored that we could see some of the original steam rooms, doors, staircases, and even the grand ballroom. I also thought it was super neato that they found a way to incorporate the pool for modern day use. The family and I agree that we probably would've paid more money for admission if someone restored this gem back to her full glory, just to see what vacationing in the 1910-20s luxe life was like. I'll put it this way, I would rather tour a fully restored Titanic, than tour a worn out famous ship turned into a semi-boring antique storage unit. Unfortunately, neither will happen, so...
The crispy kid wasn't feeling too good after the museum, so we walked her back to the hotel and went out for lunch at a casual cool food truck place called "Munch". Not only does the collective of trucks have something for everyone, you also dine al fresco watching boats glide in and out of the marina. The food was pretty darn good! My son says the German truck's brat grilled cheese is to die for, and it looked amazing.
Stuffed full of good eats, we went back to the hotel to check on sunburn boo boo and we all somehow managed to take small cat naps. Once we woke, we headed to dinner, then to one of my favorite parts of our time in St Augustine: Fiesta Falls Mini Golf.
Yes, I said it. Mini golf.
We've played a lot of mini golf in our travels, and let me tell ya, this place is by far the prettiest! The lush vegetation, the cleanliness, the upkeep, the super cute pirate theme. I just loved it.
Being our last night in the area, we had one thing we had left to do after golfing (my son won a free game that we never used, BTW). We had to say goodbye to Mother Ocean and walk the shores once more. The sky behind us at golden hour reflected the softest cotton candy colors onto the sand. The water was warm. The kids in good spirits (minus the crispy child back at the hotel).
A perfect ending to St Augustine, Florida.
So the one reason I would return? Honestly, we really had a good time at Anastasia Island. Probably the best beach outing with our family we've ever had. I loved how clean it was, the ease of access, ample parking and that we had space to ourselves.
As for St Augustine, I enjoyed this little city, don't get me wrong. But I have so much more to see in the south and on the eastern coast while we are still stationed near by!
Dare I say, I kind of feel like St Augustine is a one and done type of place. Beautiful, don't get me wrong. But we saw what we wanted to see, and that's that!
Eventually, we plan to creep our way up the seaboard, hitting SC, NC and Virginia beach cities. I want to see and visit several, not necessarily keep returning to the same.
*Bonus*
After hotel checkout, we cruised to 30 minutes down the road to Washington Oaks State Park on our way to Orlando, and it did not disappoint! Super pretty state park if you're in the area. The tidepools are amazing!
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