One of Florida's Best Kept Secrets

St. Augustine Beach boasts 43 miles of beach. Some areas of the beach permit vehicles while others allow only pedestrians. Some areas produce abundant shelling opportunities. Others are favored by families with small children. Still other areas offer quiet solitude for reading.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Most scenic access is A1A south from St. Augustine, cross The Bridge of Lions and continue 6 miles south.

Caribbean style villas that come in one or two bedroom options. We have a one bedroom unit which sleeps four, however, I would recommend the four being two adults and two children. One of the beds is a fold out sleeper sofa. The one bedroom has a king size bed, dresser, TV, chair and a large closet. The kitchen is well equipped with standard cooking and dining utensils. The sitting area is roomy and connects to an ocean view balcony.

The resort personnel are friendly, rarely do I meet security, grounds or maintainance staff that they do not greet me with a smile and ask if I am enjoying my stay.

The pool and hot tub are kept spotlessly clean. A game room offers ping-pong, pool and foo-ball. Tennis and health club membership is included with your stay. Free classes and activities abound.

The property is listed as Gold Crown with RCI. Contact RCI for exchange opportunities. Some weeks are available for rent. Cost is $600 to $900 depending on the season.

Ocean Grove is a full service camping resort located on Anastasia Island. The beach lies across the road just 300 yards from the campground. Resort activites include swimming pool, beach access, children's play area, shuffleboard, horseshoes, volleyball, fishing dock, boat ramp, jacuzzi, and picnic pavilion.

Campsites are roomy and shaded with full hookup for water, cable and electric. The resort has two modern bathhouses, two laundry stations and a grocery store with L.P., ice and gasoline.

In addition to camper sites, camp cabins, home trailers and tent sites are also available.

I applaud this Holiday Inn for two reasons, aside from the usual standard of comfort offered by the chain. First the staff at this location are some of the friendliest people I have ever met. From housekeeping to desk management, the staff not only offered to meet our needs, including some special requests, they made us feel as though we were doing a favor by allowing them to assist. Second is that from now until February 25 this propreitor is participating in the second night FREE promotion (print coupon and see details at www.basshotels.com). We rented a standard oceanview room for two nights for less than $90. We ate two meals at the Beach Garden Restaurant, on site, and found the breakfast buffet and the dinner menu selections to be very good.

This restaurant is definitely overrated by the locals. I've eaten here three times: the wait is long, the crowd is noisy, the staff is rude, the food is greasy and unseasoned. Save your time and money and eat else where.

This restaurant epitomizes the best of Florida dining. The speciality of the house is high quality local seafood dishes served in a turn of the century fish camp setting.

Service is prompt and attentive. Salt Water Cowboys is not a restaurant in which to grab a quick meal, so sit back and watch the sunset over the marsh. Start your meal with the award winning clam chowder, red or white. If you're not squimish try the Florida Cracker Combo: frog legs, cooter and alligator tail. Affordable ($4.99 to $14.99) dinner selections cover a broad range. Seafood is available fried, broiled, grilled, blackened and baked. My favorites are the hugh lightly breaded fried shrimp and the broiled scallops cooked in butter. For nonseafood lovers there are baby back ribs and steaks. All dinners include hot bread, salad or slaw and a choice of two of the following: FF, baked potato, potato salad, baked beans, grits or corn on the cob.

We climbed to the top of the 165ft. tower (children must be 7 years old and 4 feet tall for safety) for a spectacular view of the area. Living history activities and exhibits offer a view of the past. Artifacts from shipwrecks available for examination. Cost $5.50 for adults, $4.00 for seniors, $2.75 for children.

This is a beautiful well kept park in keeping with Florida State Parks promise of "the other Florida" this stretch of island beach and adjoining scrub is sheltered from the commercial areas. A farmer's market is open Wednesday and Saturday Mornings. Look for good buys on local produce, baked goods, and fresh seafood.