Saint Augustine, Florida

 The first time we planned on staying a few days in St. Augustine, I fell down the stairs at our rental and broke my arm. I was quite fortunate that a broken arm is all I suffered, in the middle of the night, I literally went head over heels all the way down.

We decided it was time for a do-over. Nov. 17, 2025, we headed out for the week. Since we couldn't check into our rental until 4 p.m. we were able to take our time leaving the house -- I even got some work in before we hit the road.

The first evening was pretty basic, hit up a grocery store stock up on what we'll need for the week, fix dinner and chill. It was a pretty nice house, but it had weird floors; no curtains or blinds over the all-glass front door; and strange furniture in the living room, a couch that was only a few inches off the floor, a swinging chair that sunk way down low and couldn't swing without hitting the wall or the couch and an odd woven -- something! It had a nice backyard but the lawn furniture was so moldy, as soon asI sat on it I started coughing, I went inside to get a drink, as soon as I moved away from it I stopped coughing. Went back, as soon as I sat down, it started again - move away from it, everything was fine. Across the street was a weird castle-like building. Through a google photo search I learned it was simply a private residence built in the 1980s.

 

One of the great things about where we stayed was that it was only about a block from the St. Augustine Lions' Bridge, which takes you right into the heart of downtown. So, we could stay parked at the house and take an easy walk across the bridge; we were right where we wanted to be. One night, we did have to wait while the bridge was raised to let a ship pass under, but that doesn't take too long.

When we first drove into the city we passed by a sign that said "Fountain of Youth." That's when I remembered the story about Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth. The way the sign looked, I half expected it to be a kitschy touristy trap. Boy, was I wrong and I am so glad we checked it out. The natural spring, which still runs today, was thought to be the fountain of youth -- and yes, we both drank of it, but I gotta admit the fresh spring waters off the Blue Ridge mountains sure tastes better!

I loved learning the history of that exact spot, the native Americans who lived there, the first colony settled in what is now the United States of America. When looking over the land, it was hard to imagine the life that spot once carried. 

Two other museums that we visited was the oldest general store and the oldest jail. Keep in mind, St. Augustine is is considered the oldest continuously occupied European-founded city in the United States. It was founded by the Spanish in 1565. As such there's a lot of "America's oldest" to be found there. Our main goal on this visit was to explore the oldest jail. When purchasing the tickets, we learned the next tour wasn't for another 45 minutes or so and we could get a discount for the Oldest Store tour, which was just about to start. 

Honestly, I had to kinda internally roll my eyes cause -- really, big deal, an old store. Again, though, I was surprised. Molly was our tour guide and transported us back in time as she described all the new and wonderful things she offered her store, including a goat-operated washing machine. And every thing could be delivered in two weeks! Time flew and we had a lot of fun but just as the tour was coming to an end I looked at the time and saw the Oldest Jail tour was about to start. 

The two are right next to each other so we quickly joined the group led by Lizzy, who, like Molly, was an outstanding tour guide. The oldest jail is really an interesting facility but if you put too much thought into it, you'll see just how horrid human beings can be to one another. Built in 1891, the jail served as the county's correctional facility until 1953. Conditions were far from humane, and it's hard to phantom  the pain and agony prisoners, guilty or innocent, had to endure.

We also checked out the Oldest House Museum Complex. The original house was built in 1720 and had several owners. The complex includes the Webb Museum, the oldest purpose-built museum in Florida, gardens, a rotating exhibit gallery, Surf Culture Museum, and the Page Edwards Gallery.

The downstairs of the house is in its original shape and condition, while the upstairs shows the renovations done in the 1880s. The first family that lived there fled to Cuba when the British gained control of Florida. The next owner lost it to bankruptcy. For almost 100 years, it was passed down through the Alvarez family.

This trip was not without its downfalls. Before we left, we had looked at different available tours. Just a few days before we arrived, they had their official lighting of the Christmas lights. We thought about taking a land and a water tour. When we saw the Black Raven Pirate Ship sunset tour, we were like, "Oh yeah." That turned out to be an aggravating 90 minutes. As everyone was boarding the atmosphere was great - everyone was playing up the pirate role, but immediately the announcements that the bar was open started - that was fine, except it became overly pushy, constantly being reminded - the bar is open, the bar is open, the bar is open. And yes, we got some drinks - and while I cannot prove they watered down the alcohol, I really believe they did! Way too expensive for cheap ass drinks. 

But ya know, we expect that on a touristy pirate ship. But that's not where our disappointment ended. The ship is rather small; there's the main area where the bar is at one end, and some seating along the side. On either end of the boat, there's an upstairs area. 

We found a comfortable spot to settle down in the upstairs forward area. There were great views, the sunset was gorgeous, but we couldn't really enjoy it because of the out-of-control brats that were literally running all over the ship. I'm not talking about moving about either. One of the "pirates" in his ultimate wisdom thought it would be a good idea to give them foam swords and turn them loose. They chased each other up and down the stairs around the poles and seating area, hitting people with the swords, pushing past, and knocking into people for a good 45 minutes. And the staff and their parents did nothing. Finally, one of the staff put the toys up, but the kids were already hyped up, and we were approaching the bridge that we would go under to get back to the pier. That's when a couple of them joined us on our bench, stood up on the bench, and leaned over to get a better look. One of them looked my way, and I mouthed, Sit down, he started to say something, but the look I gave him and his buddy, they both took off. Later, they came back. I was a little kinder this time when I tapped him on the back and told him to sit down. 

I would say this was something that wasn't the staff's fault, but there were several times that they seemingly disappeared. 

But, on the positive, before all that happened, the staff seemed knowledgeable and gave a decent presentation about the area. And the sunset was gorgeous.

 

After having walked all over the downtown area, we really didn't see the value in paying for a trolley tour of the lights. But it was gorgeous. St. Augustine really goes all out. My  phone camera photos do not do it justice at all.

    

For our final day in St. Augustine, we debated hitting up a couple of other museums but opted instead to head to the beach -- it's always a good day for a beach day

 

That night we took one last stroll downtown, which was all decked out in its Christmas finest. We decided we were glad that we didn't take a tour of the lights. Several open-air tour busses passed by playing holiday music, but there was only one that the people seemed to be happy and having fun.