St Augustine - why I loved it. *spooky halloween update* (St. Augustine)

Member Name: jrtpixie

Product:	St. Augustine
Date:	08/10/00 (126 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful history, lovely beach, great buildings and walk-around sightseeing.

Disadvantages: not for the pubbing and clubbing set - decidedly quiet

After the obnoxious tourism of Orlando, St Augustine was a breath of fresh air. The oldest settlement in America, it still has a distinctly european feel to it, with many old buildings still remaining. The best of these is the San Marco Fort ($4), built to protect the city from pirates. Watch out for scrawls on the walls by soldiers practicing their alphabet, drawing ships that they have seen, and the marks left by long dead prisoners.

Another good old set of buildings is Flagler College, once a hotel, which has some lovely old stained glass and nice towers in it.

At night, there isn't much to do in the way of bars, but you can take a ghost walk around St. Augustine (there are several operators) and hear stories of the many haunted buildings (including several of the B&B's). *scary bit!* The best story is that of the first Bishop of St. Augustine, who spontaneously exploded during his own funeral. The St. Augustine Record (the old local newspaper), reports that the congregation 'rose as one', to rush out the door and vomit in unison. Afterwards, the priests went around and scraped him off the walls, the floors, and the people, put as much back in the coffin as possible, and finished the ceremony. Understandably, the Bishop doesn't rest too well, and has been seen wandering around his tomb at night.

Ok, so there was a scientific explanation for this (I don't want to spoil it, but I'll email it to you or post it in the comments if anyone wants it), but it was still a great lot of fun. Particularly when the story is told by a fat man in 'period costume' - brown pants, dodgy shirt and suspenders, swinging a lantern in a reckless fashion.

The main street, St. George street, is good for a walk down, although many of the smaller attractions aren't worth going to, at two to five bucks a pop. There is, however, a Greek Orthodox church which is free to enter, and has some good history about th
e area, as well as some beautiful paintings.

The best attraction in the area is the St. Augustine alligator farm, nearer the beach than the town, which is about $10 a person with a coupon (shop around). Every species of crocodillian, even albino alligators (very spooky), a big swamp with 300 juvenile alligators, emus, baby alligators, small monkeys, and three different shows. Well worth a look, and a far better way to spend your money than the Ripley's Believe it or Not in town, which is a shrine to American tackiness.

Theres also, of course, a beach, which is also lovely, with nice white sands and blue sea.

As with everyone else in Florida, do make sure you get your hands on the travel booklets such as 'See Florida', etc. At the St. Augustine beach visitors centre I also found a coupon (apparently old, but had no expiry date), for a free gift from a crystal shop on St. George Street. My prize was a tiny crystal pendant in the shape of a heart, but hey, it was free!

I stayed first at the St. Augustine youth hostel - one of the nicest hostels I've seen in a while, with free pancakes in the morning! - which was $45 for a double room with ensuite and $15 for a dorm bed. About a buck cheaper if you're a member of hosteling international. And its right next to a great hot sauce shop and very near to George Street, too.

Afterwards I got out my hotel coupon book and found a place fairly near the historical centre for $32 a night, double. If you are travelling in a group of three or four it is usually much cheaper to get a room in a cheap hotel (two double beds, so I hope you don't mind sharing), than it is to stay in a hostel - and you get your own bathroom and can lock your door, even.

Hotel coupons books are huge thick things that usually cover the whole of Florida and can often be picked up at visitors centres or the nearest branch of Waffle House (24hr food stop - nothing they can s
ay can convince me that steak and grits and 3am is, indeed, a good ideal for a meal)

This is a must-see stop in Florida - America, but with culture. It's almost scary.

Summary: