St. Augustine
St. Augustine was the last stop on our Charleston to St. Augustine road trip, and it was probably my least favorite stop of the whole week. I’ve been intrigued by St. Augustine since it is the oldest city in the United States and was excited about finally getting a chance to visit, but it felt very touristy and crowded.
We stayed right on the other side of the river from central St. Augustine in Vilano Beach, at the Magic Beach Motel, which was a very convenient location and had a great old Florida ambiance. I had planned on a nice morning beach walk, but a dense fog rolled in the night before, so there was no sunrise on the beach.
The night we arrived in town, we ate at The Floridian, which was a pretty massive restaurant and an enjoyable meal. I did make a reservation in advance, since it was a Friday night and the restaurant was full, so that was a good plan. We started with the selection of pickled veggies, pimento cheese, and fried green tomatoes. And then finished with the Florida Sunshine Salad and purple rice grits with mahi mahi, the fresh catch option for that evening.
The next morning, the fog cleared into a pretty humid morning, and it was time to explore St. Augustine. It also happened to be Saturday morning, so the crowds were rolling into the city for the day along with us. There is a large parking garage at the north edge of the historic part of town, and I would highly recommend parking there versus trying to drive through the narrow streets in the historic center looking for parking.
Our first stop was the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, a well preserved Spanish Fort, and probably the most popular site in town. The Spanish founded St. Augustine in 1565 and by the early 1600’s, they built this stone fort to protect their territory from the British. The fort was well set up to visit with lots of interpretive signage to explain the history.
After touring the fort, we walked down St. George St. and it felt rather “Disneyified” or kind of fake. I know there is lots of history there, but it was hard to find it.
After lunch at Gringo Tacos, we toured the Lightner Museum, which was interesting for both the eclectic collections and the historic building. The building previously was a historic hotel with a spa. And then there were the collections which were kind of random including an Egyptian mummy and an entire room of cut glass.
