We went to Fort Matanzas first. It is a little south of St Augustine and worth it. It is a free fort to visit. You have to take a boat ride to the actual fort and they have reenactments there as well. It was a nice start to our St Augustine trip.
We then made our way to the Dow Museum of Historic Houses. It is a beautiful display of 7 homes that date back to 1790. They are wonderfully preserved, and well worth spending an hour or two there. They have beautiful gardens as well.
Since St Augustine is a walkable city, we made our way to the pedestrian only street St George. It has the usual tourist shops, but there is a great place for lunch. It is tucked behind a little alley and is called The Spanish Bakery. Its a great place for a cheap good lunch. On St George St is also the oldest schoolhouse. Yes the oldest in the US. Our next stop was the Castillo de San Marcos fort. This is a big fort with a lot of history. They had old cannons, and many displays to give you a self guided tour. It was very nice and they also had cannon reenactments.
The next time we went to St Augustine we were able to see one of the oldest drugstores in the US. So many antique bottles it was very interesting. We went to Flaglers College to see some nice historic architecture. We didn't get to do the tour, but it is on my list to do next time. The building was beautiful. We went to the Pirate's Museum. At first I was worried it would be too much for kids, but it actually wasn't. They had real exhibits of items that pirates have used from hundreds of years ago. There was a history area to read about pirates that was interesting too. At the end you got to fire a makeshift "cannon". They had some guns to see which were incredibly heavy. Overall it was a good place to learn some history, and take a break from the sun. St Augustine is also home to the fountain of youth, and they have some trolley tours as well. It is a nice place for families to visit as well.
Restaurant Reviews
Old Spanish Bakery- Good affordable food with only outdoor seating. They had great empanadas and picadillo with rice. Their baked goods are great too
Columbia- We went for some drinks- Sangria and Mojitos. It was a nice place to cool off from the heat and the drinks were good
A1A Aleworks- They had some good seafood and many beers made on site. I had the pale ale and it hit the spot. The restaurant has nice views of the bay. Staff was a little weird but the food was good.
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