# Suggestions for things to do, and vegetarian food, in Orlando and St. Augustine, Florida? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** vacation-travel\ **Created:** [April 25, 2025, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-things-to-do-and-vegetarian-food-in-orlando-and-st-augustine-florida/1017468 "2025-04-25T07:01:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-things-to-do-and-vegetarian-food-in-orlando-and-st-augustine-florida/1017468/21 "2025-04-26T16:09:15Z")
In St. Augustine, you’ve got to have a meal at The Floridian. Fabulous, funky, Southern, and has veggie/vegan items. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-things-to-do-and-vegetarian-food-in-orlando-and-st-augustine-florida/1017468/22 "2025-04-26T16:57:34Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > The Floridian. Fabulous. Made a reservation. Looks yummy. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-things-to-do-and-vegetarian-food-in-orlando-and-st-augustine-florida/1017468/23 "2025-04-26T17:21:49Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Lol, sorry, I feel like a proper alien now. What is a “gas” and what is a Ripley’s? Apologies; it’s my US centric brain acting up again. Ripley’s = [Ripley’s Believe it or Not](https://www.ripleys.com/attractions/ripleys-believe-it-or-not-st-augustine) “Museum with kitschy oddities on display, including shrunken human heads & rare animal skeletons.” If you go there via a ghost tour, you get to visit at night after they close. Kind of corny but really fun if you like that sort of thing(I do). As was mentioned, St. Augustine is the oldest continuous settlement in the US, but I’m guessing that’s not too impressive compared to where you’re from 🙂 For a nice meal, A1 (named after the highway) is another good choice. Especially nice if you can get a seat on the patio. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2025, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-things-to-do-and-vegetarian-food-in-orlando-and-st-augustine-florida/1017468/24 "2025-04-27T11:43:23Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > In St. Augustine, you’ve got to have a meal at The Floridian. Fabulous, funky, Southern, and has veggie/vegan items. Wow, @ratatoskK, that place was mind-blowingly good. We couldn’t get a reservation until 9pm, but it was totally worth the wait… phenomenal soup of the day (some sort of veggie black bean soup) and probably the best tofu curry bowl I’ve ever had in my life. I couldn’t stop thinking and talking about it all night long after that, and it drove my SO crazy, lol. She ordered fried tomatoes and cheesy grits and thought they were merely “all right”. The more I raved about my dinner, the more mediocre hers became… such spite! Hey, I offered to share! Regardless, that totally made my trip. Thank you. * * * We loved the Castillo too. I’ve randomly spent way too much time on YouTube learning about star-shaped forts (not to mention playing too many video games). I never expected to be able to visit a real one. Being able to walk the battlements(?) or terreplein(?) (if those are the right names), it was easy to imagine how a defensive position be maintained there with good visibility into the harbor. Seeing how the glacis earthworks helps the defenders was really cool too, as well as the barracks, chapel, prison, etc. inside. We really enjoyed that. Glad we went back for our parks pass. And it was nice to see the National Park Service still somewhat in operation after all the recent cuts. We also did catch a glimpse of Fort Matanzas from across the river, but sadly missed the boat trip over. Being stationed there for a month with five or six other soldiers must’ve been quite the experience. It’s quite a beautiful stretch of river, but god, it must’ve stank… St. Augustine overall was definitely touristy (reminded me of a ritzier New Orleans/Bourbon Street). We mostly managed to avoid the tourist traps, but the history parts were awesome. Too bad Flagler College wasn’t open to the public… from a video we watched ([Inside America’s Oldest City - Peter Santenello](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ8_JgXT_Qk&t=31s)), that would’ve been fun to see too. Must be quite the interesting (and expensive?) private liberal arts experience for the students there. It was apparently some sort of graduation weekend while we were visiting, with lots of kids in fancy outfits along with proud parents. And the food, god, I forget how good meals could be outside of rural Oregon where we live… > [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > As was mentioned, St. Augustine is the oldest continuous settlement in the US, but I’m guessing that’s not too impressive compared to where you’re from 🙂 Um… Bend, Oregon? 🙂 We have some logging, settler, and tribal history there, but in terms of European settlements, at least, St. Augustine is way older (and cooler!). There is so much more diversity here too, both in colonial times (between the Spanish, French, British, Americans, and tribes) and in modern times. Oregon can feel very homogenous and cloistered, and I forget what it’s like to be mixed in with so many other cultures and ethnicities, both locals and tourists. We need to get out more often, lol. Didn’t go to the Ripley’s… went to one in the LA already (didn’t realize that’s what you meant). But still, what is a “gas”? Never heard that before 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2025, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-things-to-do-and-vegetarian-food-in-orlando-and-st-augustine-florida/1017468/25 "2025-04-27T12:32:01Z")
It’s a term from the’60s meaning fantastic. “I’m Jumpin’ Jack Flash, it’s a gas, gas, gas.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-things-to-do-and-vegetarian-food-in-orlando-and-st-augustine-florida/1017468.md?page=1)