Will be in St Augustine for the weekend, will no doubt hit up the beach and the Fort there. Anyone have any other suggestions regarding touristy stuff to do there?
They’ve got a Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum.
You can hit up the old section, see America’s oldest school building and so on.
The Fountain of Youth is pretty cool, in a cheesy way. http://www.fountainofyouthflorida.com/
Potter’s Wax Museum was nice and creepy last time I was there. http://www.potterswax.com/
There’s actually quite a bit to see and do.
I heard the pub crawl is pretty nice.
Make sure you buy a trolley pass(get the red, not the green). They run all day and you can get on and off as much as you like. It’s kind of a guided tour and I would suggest doing that first as you can get an idea of where everything is and what you might be interested in. There are also dozens of ghost tours to choose from, if you’re into that kind of thing. We did the Ripley’s tour which was great cheesy fun.
I’m not a foody type of person so we didn’t try too many fancy eateries but we had a great meal at the A1A Ale House.
One thing we thought was weird is that the bars close promptlyat 1:30, meaning they start warning you at about 1:15 and your drink will be snatched out of your hand at 1:29:59. Not only that but once you exit the bar the streets empty immediately. Walking back to the motel through silent, deserted streets was both creepy and exhilarating.
Even if you don’t do anything particularly exciting it’s a very interesting, atmospheric little town.
Ghost Trolley
We were just there for a week a couple of months ago. Besides the famous fort there, there is another fort that can only be reached by boat, Fort Matanzas. It is also a national park so they have boats that run all day back and forth. Very much well worth the short drive on 1A south to get there. When done there, travel just a bit further south to the bridge and park on the north side (don’t cross). You can walk down among the sandbars and whatnot. We were lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins making their way down the bay. After, cross the bridge and immediately on the right is a non-toursty hole-in-the-wall place with a wonderful view and very good seafood.
Also, make sure you enjoy a bowl of Minorcan chowder, basically a Manhattan clam chowder, but made with the region’s spicy, but tasty datil pepper, and if you enjoy it, pick up a bottle or two of Datil hot sauce in the historic area.
There’s the beach of course, not remarkable, but hey, beach. The Fountain of Youth is cheese, but at least enjoy the grounds after the tour. When you are done, before you catch a trolley back (we actually walked back), check out the street just outside it lined with the huge trees. It is designated as one of the 10 prettiest roads in the country. We were lucky enough to get some photos while standing in the middle of the street (not that hard, it’s set back from the main road).
Gatorland, one of the oldest ‘amusement centers’ in the US might be worth a visit if you are into reptiles.
Lastly (for now), just get lost in the shops of the historic area, pick up a travel guide and see everything there is to see. The trolley is helpful, but not necessary, unless you want to hit the winery, but even then, we walked back from it to the historic center with no difficulty.
A1A Ale House has outstanding food. There are lots of boutique shops to peruse and I like just walking around in the historic area. The Forts are good if you are into that sort of thing. When I went out to Ft. Matanzas, I wasn’t having a very good day and since the only way to and from is by boat, I couldn’t just go back to the car.
The St. Augustine Lighthouse is nice if you’ve never visited a lighthouse before.
Also Flagler College (the old PonceDeLeon hotel) is a really cool buiding to see and take pictures of.
If you like dolphins Marineland is a short drive down the coast.
There’s a lot of interesting little shops along St. George Street.
Pro tip: Do not give the monkey a hot cinnamon Tic Tac. Just don’t.
Gatorland is in Orlando, unless they have a park up in St. Augustine too? Orlando is about a two-three hour drive away, so if you really must see Gatorland, it’s doable.
Yea, they have one but it’s called “St. Augustine Alligator Farm”.
Nowhere as nice as the real Gatorland.
Do you like golf? The World Golf Village is there, lots of fun.
I think he means Marineland, which is right off the really pretty part of A1A but always looks like it’s about six days from going out of business whenever I drive past.
ETA: Do the pub crawl and the ghost tours. And Fort Matanzas, obviously.
Appriciate the suggestion all. Easily looks like enough to fill out a weekend.