Fun for Everyone in St. Augustine

St. Augustine has much to offer for a weekend getaway or a weeklong vacation. There is enough to do to keep anyone in your group entertained, from shopping, to sightseeing, to golfing (or miniature golfing), to live music, to just kicking back with a cocktail and watching the sunset.

My entire family (ages 5-82)has often been there together, and everyone has always had a great time.

Quick Tips:

The website wwww.oldcity.com is a good resource when planning a trip to St. Augustine. It's not comprehensive, but it's a good start. I like the fact that, when you see something you'd like to know more about, you can link right to that website. It also provides aerial views of the area, and the views have links to hotels and restaurants.

Another useful site is www.visitflorida.com/St_Augustine. It too is missing some things I would have included, but it has links to business websites, allows you to compare several businesses, and on the dining page, for example, lists a price range.

Best Way To Get Around:

The closest major airports are Jacksonville (1 hour away) and Orlando (2 hours away). I have often chosen to fly into Orlando because it is usually much cheaper (by as much as ) than Jacksonville. For that savings, I'll drive a little farther.

The Conch House is on Anastasia Island. Cross the Bridge of Lions and watch for the Conch House sign on the left. It is a great place to go for a meal or a drink and some live music. With its thatched roof “huts”, ocean breezes, and reggae music, you will feel like you’re in the Caribbean. There are two parts to the Conch House: the restaurant and the lounge.

The restaurant offers, as you would expect, plenty of seafood options but they also have other non-seafood entrees. Expect to pay about $20-25 for dinner or $10-15 for lunch. The thing that makes the restaurant really unique though is their choice of dining areas. They offer inside and outside on-the-deck (under palm trees!) seating as well as the option to sit in individual grass huts that are up on pilings out over the water. This has always been a favorite for my kids. You have a view of the water, the nearby lighthouse, the fishing boats that are coming and going as well as the fish and seagulls. Just remember to tip your sever well for having to climb up and down the stairs to your hut!

The lounge sits a little farther out on the water, and is actually the place I prefer. It too offers indoor and outdoor seating, although the outdoor is more plentiful. They usually have free popcorn, and you are able to order appetizers from the restaurant to be brought out to the lounge. My children’s favorite spot inside is the crow’s nest: climb a winding staircase to a private, rounded booth with small windows. For obvious reasons, children must be accompanied by and adult to go up there. When sitting outside, you often have a view of the fishermen coming back with their catch – sometimes pretty amazing!

The lounge offers live music on Friday and Saturday night, and Sundays in the summer become Reggae Sundays. This event has become very popular. So popular, they had to add another dock as a seating area and bar. For my money, you can’t beat a tropical drink, live reggae music, palm trees, sun and ocean. If you’d like to give it a try, and especially if you are taking children with you, my advice is to get there an hour or so before the music is scheduled to begin. You’ll avoid the cover charge, you’ll get a place to sit, and you can enjoy some of the music before the crowds get wild and drunk. (And they do.) Being there other evenings after sunset provides a more relaxed, romantic feel. They light the tiki torches, and the crowds are generally smaller and calmer. It’s a nice way to end a day.

Vilano Beach is a lovely, long, mostly undiscovered stretch of beach just northeast of St. Augustine. Take A1A north across the Vilano Bridge (an experience in itself!). At the end of the bridge, turn right. You will find public access to the beach, which includes life guards on duty. If you'd rather find a spot a little less busy, head farther north up A1A, and you will come across more public access points. Some of them have picnic shelters. Most public access points have porta-potties and there are convience stores nearby. Bring beach towels and plenty of sunscreen.

Just under the Vilano Bridge is a spot where you can rent jetskis, arrange to go parasailing or deep-sea fishing.

If you decide to spend more time in Vilano, there are many wonderful restaurants and hotels. In fact, we always stay in Vilano and just make side trips into St. Augustine. Staying right on the beach is really a treat!

St. George Street is the place to head for shopping, some history, and a stop for a cocktail and lunch or dinner. It is a pedestrian-only street full of unique shops containing jewelry, antiques, pottery, original artwork, and so much more. If you are looking for a unique gift for someone, this is the area in which to find it. (This is also an area to find typical tourist souvenirs, t-shirts, and shell art, but you can skip over those shops!) I bought a necklace at one of the jewelry shops, and when I couldn’t find earrings to go with it, they offered to make some right then and there! I continued shopping for a while, and then went back to pick up the earrings.

If you like mixing a little history into your shopping, you will find several original structures dating back to the 1700s and 1800s. The Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse sits at the north end of the street.

If you get hungry or thirsty, there are plenty of little, unique places to find a snack, a drink or a meal. Sangria’s makes fantastic sangria and offers live music. It sits above another restaurant, and has a balcony so you could choose to sit outside and watch the foot traffic on St. George St. Or, you can stay inside with air-conditioning, dark wood, leather sofas and comfy bar stools.

Don’t skip the side streets – there are plenty more shops, restaurants, and sights. Just be careful because these streets do allow vehicles.

At night you can take your pick of ghost tours or find more live music.

Parking in the area is always an issue, and parking rules are enforced! You might get lucky and find a spot along the plaza that is at the south end of St. George (Bridge St. and St. Francis St.), or there is a parking ramp near the north end.

Ripley’s Believe It or Not is a good diversion for a rainy day in St. Augustine. The displays they have really are pretty amazing and fun to examine. They have managed to cram a lot into a relatively confined space. You can spend a good hour or two exploring. Want to know if you are part of the small percentage of people that can twist and turn their tongue certain ways? You’ll find out here. Want to stand next to (a replica of) the world’s tallest man? You can do that. Walk through a spinning tunnel and try to stay upright! Most displays are interesting, some a are creepy, and a few are flat-out disgusting, but it's a good way to stay busy until the sun comes out again!

Coupons for the place abound, so don’t pay full price! There are coupons on their website as well as in any of the tourist booklets.

There are several options for getting to and from Ripley’s. They are on the route of the sightseeing trains. If you plan to spend the day seeing many of the sights of St. Augustine, this would be your best option, allowing you on/off privileges all day. If you’re just there to see Ripley’s, they do have their own parking lot. One other option is to park in the nearby parking ramp, because your car will then be within walking distance of not only Ripley’s but the Castillo de San Marcos, 3-D World, and all the shops and restaurants of St. George St.