A Weekend in St. Augustine

St. Augustine is dubbed the oldest city in the U.S. It was founded in September 1565 and is said to be the origin of Ponce de Leon’s fountain of youth. With this city being just a mere 45 minutes from our home in Jacksonville Beach, we have spent our fair share of time in the city. We love to stop for lunch at Cap’s on the Water anytime we make the trip.

Our first trip to St. Augustine was in 2014. We were exploring Jacksonville as a place to live and made a day trip here to see if was somewhere we’d be interested in moving. While we loved the charm of the city, we ultimately decided it was too far from downtown Jacksonville to make it a viable option. Nonetheless, we’ve continued to make St Augustine a day trip destination for friends and family that have come to visit. We even spent a long weekend there with my sister and her family staying at the beautiful Casa Monica Hotel. One of our favorite memories is sailing the Matanzas with some of our very best friends from Louisiana. It was such a great way to see the city.

One of our favorite things to do in the city is walk around St George Street. The pedestrian only roadway is home to countless restaurants, museums, and boutique stores. The area is bustling with tourists and locals and you can usually hear live music spewing into the streets from the countless bars in the area. Downtown is littered with many things to do including visiting the Castillo De San Marcos fort. It’s adjacent to the Bridge of Lions and marina so not only do you get history on your visit, you’re also treated to some spectacular views of the city. Downtown also boasts some great local shops like the The Ancient Olive as well as the iconic Flagler College.

St. Augustine also has a reputation for brewing with A1A Ale Works, Ancient City Brewing and Bog Brewing among our favorites. But, our favorite drinking destination is by far the St. Augustine Distillery and Ice Plant Bar. Located in and old ice plant, the distillery offers free tours that end with two cocktail tastings. And, the Ice Plant serves craft cocktails using liquor produced in the distillery. San Sebastian Winery is another favorite. The rooftop bar is a great place to hang out and enjoy live music. The wine isn’t very good but several of the local brews are on tap.

Bottom line:

St Augustine is a great destination for a weekend getaway.