St. Augustine has been on my list of places to visit for years. I’ve always wanted to visit America’s oldest city, and we’re close enough that a long weekend in Saint Augustine is an easy trip away. I convinced Mac to go over MLK weekend. We drove down on Friday and came home Sunday afternoon. It was enough time to hit some of the big stops, but we definitely could’ve seen more. The weather was tolerable (it got colder over the weekend), and it wasn’t terribly crowded. Every Florida fourth grader visits St. Augustine on a field trip (and Florida summers are not mild), so I don’t know if there’s ever an ideal time to visit with great weather and no crowds.
Where we stayed in Saint Augustine
We stayed at the St. George Inn at the end of St. George Street. It was a perfect location because we parked our car in the deck across the street and walked basically everywhere. We opted to buy trolley tickets to get around the main tourist areas. It was an easy on-off option to see the sites and to figure out where we wanted to go without having to worry about parking.
Where we ate in St. Augustine
After we got to town, we walked around for a little bit and stopped at the White Lion Restaurant and Pub for dinner. We both had sandwiches. The service was fast, but the food was unremarkable. We grabbed breakfast the next day at Maple Street Biscuit Company (Mac had the Squawking Goat and I had the Sticky Maple) then headed over to the exhibit. For dinner, we headed a few buildings over from our hotel to Al’s Pizza. We split an appetizer and pizza and enjoyed our food.
What to do in St. Augustine
If you know me, you know that I cram a lot in our trips. And our long weekend in Saint Augustine was no exception. The trolley tour stopped at St. Augustine Distillery and San Sebastian Winery, so we had to swing by for tastings. We also toured Whetstone Chocolates and tried some of their candies. And walked out with a bottle of the most amazing chocolate amaretto dessert liqueur.
When we checked in, I noticed a flyer for Downton Abbey costume exhibit at the Lightner Museum. As an enthusiastic Downton fan, I knew we had to stop by. Flagler College sits across the street from the museum, so we walked over for a quick, unofficial tour. It’s a beautiful campus and features Tiffany windows.
We also stopped in the Castillo de San Marcos. It was across the street from our hotel and was one of my must-see things. We then drove down to Fort Matanzas to get another NPS stamp on our way out of town.
