St. Augustine is the oldest, continuously inhabited European settlement in the United States. The was founded by Spanish explorers in 1565. It become part of the United States in 1819. In that time is was the capital of Spanish Florida for over 200 years, then it was the capital of British East Florida for a short period, before being returned to Spain, and finally ending up as part of the United States.
Today you can visit the town which contains several historical sites and museums, as well as plenty of shops, restaurants, and bars. There are lots of parking areas throughout town, so it’s easy to arrive to the town by car. Once in town you can easily stroll around town or you can enjoy a fun hop on hop off trolley ride.
We booked the Old Town Trolley Tour, which allows you to hop-on and hop-off throughout town. You also get an audio tour from the driver as you drive through town. There are a few attractions that are a bit further out of the main town center, so using the trolley is an easy way to get between the sites.
We visited the Potter’s Wax Museum, St. Augustine Distillery, Old Jail, and the Castillo de San Marcos.
The Wax Museum was OK. It’s quite small and nothing compared to Madame Tussauds. The displays are simply wax figures standing in different groups. There are no themed areas, or interactive exhibits, which means there aren’t any great photo opportunities.
The Old Jail was great. You visit the jail with a tour guide, acting as a prisoner. The “prisoner” tells you about life in the jail and shows you the different areas of the jail, such as the gallows, bird cage, kitchen, the sheriff’s office, and the sleeping/eating quarters. Our guide was fantastic, as was another guide that passed by our group. They were funny, engaging, and full of information.
The St. Augustine Distillery offers a free tour (currently self-guided due to covid) of the distillery, with several different tasting options. Next door is the Ice Plant Restaurant and Bar, which is where we had lunch. They have a very unusual menu, but all four of us enjoyed are food and drinks. Everything was delicious.
The Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest fort in the United States. Construction of the fort began in 1672. During your visit you will get to cross the drawbridge, view the guard rooms, storage rooms, and several information exhibits throughout. You can also take the stairs up to the terreplein, which gives you great views of the fort courtyard as well as water views over the Matanzas River and Bridge of Lions.
Once all of the attractions closed, around 5pm in the winter, we headed to St George Street to check out the shops and grab some dinner. As we were walking around, we saw several fun looking bars with live music happening (even on a Monday evening). We ended up eating at Prohibition Kitchen. The food was delicious, but make sure you leave room for dessert!
After dinner we walked around the town on our way back to the car park. The night before we arrived was the last night of the Nights of Lights (Christmas displays). Luckily there were still several places that hadn’t gotten around to taken down the lights and they were on for us to enjoy. It would have been great to see all of the lights during the two month long event, but at least we got to see a few displays – they were great!
Overall, we had a great day in St. Augustine. I can see this being a great place to visit for a few nights. There were lots of hotels, and great places to explore. It was a fun atmosphere to wonder around, with great food and drink options. You can visit the attractions and museums to learn about the towns history or just come for the restaurants and bars, or even a fun shopping trip.