The Local Guide for Your Visit to Saint Augustine Florida
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument - Saint Augustine, Florida
Intro
This weekend is all about Mom's in honor of Mother's Day. In February we celebrated my Mom's birthday with an extended weekend to Saint Augustine, Florida. This was our first time to the city even though my Parents reside in the Tampa Bay area and was only about a three hour drive from their home. Jacksonville, Florida is just a little north of St. Augustine and is home to the Jacksonville International Airport. With that said the amount of time it would take to get to Tampa's airport go through security, wait, board, fly over, de-board, get a rental car and drive the almost house from Jacksonville, it would take way longer than if we just drove directly from our home. There is also an airport called the Northeast Florida Regional Airport just north of historic St. Augustine but it is difficult to get direct flights into from where we were coming from. So if looking to travel to Saint Augustine, these would be the closest major airport you could choose from. Luckily my Mom was born in February, which is the best time to visit weather wise and avoid the Atlantic hurricane season in this old city.
Picking Your Destination
My Dad wasn't sure what he wanted to do for my Mom's birthday so I hopped into planner mode (check out my recent post on Planning a Trip Like a Professional). I asked my Dad if he wanted to drive or fly, he chose driving. I then asked how far he wanted to drive, and he said under 4 hours. These two pieces of information combined with my Mom's interests, left us with West Palm Beach, Naples, or St. Augustine. I then hopped onto Hilton and Marriott's websites to find hotels in each area and their pricing.
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument - Saint Augustine, Florida
The nicest, most economical hotel that also had stuff to do around it was the Casa Monica Resort & Spa. This is a Marriott Brand Hotel that is based in the downtown St. Augustine area, not too from Flagler College (named after Henry Flagler) and the cobblestone streets of the historic district. I want to clarify that this is not an economy hotel, it was just the lesser expensive hotel of those brands in the three cities I mentioned. I do recommend when planning your own travels to implement a similar practice when choosing your destination. Some people know exactly where they want to go, while others just know they want to go away. If the latter is the case, start off with these few questions:
Questions:
What type of climate do I want? Winter, summer, somewhere in between.
What type of activities do I want to do? Sports, relaxing by the beach or pool, visiting friends, sightseeing, etc.
What is my budget? I am not saying you have to have an itemized list like my accountant Father, but having a rough idea of what you want to spend in total or at least on the larger ticket items such as travel and hotel accommodations is a big help on where and when you will go somewhere.
What's the reason for the trip? A family getaway, trip with friends, bachelor party, a birthday. This determines who may be picking the destination, whether an individual or a collective group decision.
Who's going on the trip? This potentially impacts the budget and length of time depending on who the people are and who is paying for the trip.
How much time do you have? Either because of personal commitments, financial reasons, or work. These can weed out certain destinations if you don't have enough time to get to and spend time there.
This is a great set of initial questions to get the ball rolling and this is what my Dad and I figured out on the first call for my Mom's birthday trip.
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument - Saint Augustine, Florida
History of St. Augustine
Saint Augustine is the nation's oldest city. The European Settlement happened with the French Huguenots in 1564, making it the first known established city in North America. Henry Flagler, is known along side the city of Saint Augustine when he migrated down to the ancient city in 1878 with his then wife Mary Flagler who came down with TB. Henry Flagler was a business man from New York City that eventually setup shop in the Saint Augustine area. He invested in the Ponce de Leon Hotel as well as contracted with the people that built Alcatraz to build the Old Jail in Historic District.
Things to Do in Saint Augustine
On our first day in Saint Augustine we went to the Historic District, strolled along the bay to see some boats and natural beauty, walked down the cobblestone streets and stopped in local shops, before stopping for lunch in downtown St. Augustine. It was that odd hour where we were hungry but it was a little bit late for lunch but a little bit early for dinner, so we just had a quick nibble. We then got back to the hotel to relax and get ready for dinner. We thought about taking a drive to St. Augustine Beach, but it would have packed our day tighter than we wanted it. It seemed like the main attraction people would be in search of in the city was the downtown area. There were a ton of historic sites within a few square miles.
On the second day in Saint Augustine we took the Old Town Trolley Tours to acclimate ourselves around the city without having to walk the whole way. Our first trolley driver was hilarious and would provide fun facts on the city but also funny side comments. Our first off the trolley tour was the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. I believe you could have done a tour of the monument but my family and I decided to just walk around, read the signs posted around the monument and check out the sights. Today we also stopped at the Fountain of Youth and ate lunch. The Fountain of Youth was on extensive grounds that were just gorgeous. There were a lot of different demonstrations and videos for visitors to watch in addition to the stunning views.
Our final full day in Saint Augustine was a relaxing one. My Mom and I spent the day at the spa and walking around the town before grabbing lunch while my Dad and Brother went to the Palencia Club Golf Course for the day. We ended the birthday weekend with a nice birthday supper for my Mom, with the Super Bowl on in the background at the restaurant of course.
Fountain of Youth - Saint Augustine, Florida
Finale
This felt like just enough time to spend in Saint Augustine to scrape away at the Ancient City as it was definitely a family fun filled weekend. There are plenty of ways to spend your time in this little city, so below I will provide a quick list of activities in the city, some we hit and some we missed as well as a list of restaurants we enjoyed, as well as cool nearby cities.
Saint Augustine Sights
Live Music on St. George Street
Fountain of Youth - Saint Augustine, Florida