Venture out to St. Augustine, a quaint college town on the northeast coast of Florida, famous for its Spanish architecture, vast history, amazing weather, and Atlantic Ocean beaches. It is the oldest city in the U.S., founded in 1565 by the Spanish, with a lot of charm and a whole lot of history. Before the Spanish moved in, let’s not forget about the Timucuan Natives who first lived in the southeast long before the Europeans claimed cities for their kings. Read more about the Timucuans here.
St. Augustine
St. Augustine is easily walkable, and the beautiful European cobblestone streets make walking around this town a treat! This tiny seaside town boasts beautiful Spanish architecture from Flagler College, the Lightner Museum to the Casa Monica Hotel along with pastel-colored buildings and window boxes filled with bountiful flowers.
Most visitors stay in the downtown historic district of St. Augustine or venture across the bridge to St. Augustine Beach, the nature getaway where water activities and wildlife abound.
Casa Monica Resort & Spa
On my third and most recent visit to St. Augustine, I celebrated my birthday here with my mom on what was the first stop of our southeast road trip.
We arrived late evening, after an afternoon spent paddle boarding in the Ginnie Springs and checked-in to Casa Monica. This is definitely a luxurious splurge if you’re not using points (which we did, thanks Chase Saphire!) and such a unique hotel with so much history. The minute we pulled in front of the hotel, a marble staircase and a stain glassed chandelier greeted us with pure elegance and luxury. From the Spanish-revival exterior design to the elegant Moroccan interior art and décor, this hotel was an extravagant treat for me and my mom.
We settled into our rooms and went out for a late dinner and evening out to explore the night scene. St. Augustine is not known for a late-night scene and most dinner places were closing around 9-10pm, leaving few options for us to have dinner.
Le Macaron & Forgotten Tonic
We ended up getting Le Rocher gelato and macaroons from Le Macaron as we were waiting for our table at the Forgotten Tonic. When we arrived at Forgotten Tonic for dinner, we sat outside on the patio on historic Aviles Street, which seemed less crowded than some of the other streets, and shared a baked brie wrapped in puff pastry with raspberry sauce appetizer plate and the FT salad, both which were fantastic. We also tried the fried green tomatoes here, which weren’t anything to rave about. Forgotten Tonic comes highly recommended for its cocktails, which we will have to try next time!
Post dinner, we strolled the historic streets of St. Augustine before heading to back to our hotel for the night.
St. Augustine Track
The next morning, I drove to St. Augustine High School to get my track workout done before working out at the hotel, while my mom sipped coffee by the hotel pool enjoying a quiet morning before we headed out for the day.
Salt Spa & Cave
We started out with a visit to the Salt Spa, where we relaxed in a Salt Cave before our massage treatment to really unwind. It was my mom’s first massage, so I wanted to make it more comfortable and special. We were both in one room, and her masseur ended up being from Poland. What a small world, and it couldn’t have been a better experience!!!
Lightner Museum & Cafe Alcazar
After a relaxing morning of self-care, we ventured around town and to the Lightner Museum, walking around the beautiful gardens and enjoying lunch at Café Alcazar, an elegant eatery situated in the space of the Lightner Museum which used to host the largest indoor swimming pool. This restaurant is on Granada Street which filled me with great beautiful nostalgia of my studying abroad in Granada, Spain. We lucked out with getting the last table for lunch without having to wait! This was our favorite spot of the trip, where we enjoyed a fresh Hummus Salad and their famous signature dish, Shrimp Giovanni, fresh local shrimp baked with bread crumbs, sherry, Asiago, served with linguine tossed in mushrooms, white wine, garlic butter.
Castillo de Marcos, Historic Downtown & Hyppo Pops!
After lunch, we strolled around town, from the riverside and Castillo de Marcos to the famous historic streets such as St. Georges, bopping in out and of cute shops and restaurants. We stumbled upon a Crepe place that looked incredible but were too full from lunch to try. We did try the Hyppo popsicles later in the day and this indeed was a refreshing treat!
Ice Plant
Before we left the historic downtown, we went in for a cocktail at the Ice Plant, a place that I never miss on any trip to St. Augustine. I love the ambience of this place – the 1920s vibe, the architecture inside, and the signature cocktails and tasty happy hour menu. Last time I was here, the bartender made me a Teal Signature drink, which was so refreshing with the right amount of sweet and sour. This time, the bartenders were unfortunately not up to the challenge so we chose the cocktails from their menu.
Serenata Beach Club
After the Ice Plant, we ended our afternoon at the Serenata Beach Club, which has an amazing pool overlooking a private beach. This private beach club was a bonus for staying at the Casa Monica and included in the stay. It was a windier afternoon so we relaxed on the private beach for an hour, with no one else within sight.
Although we wanted to stay longer in St. Augustine, it was time to head north on our southeast road trip, so we left around 5pm to drive to Savannah. We were both so excited to see Savannah. Everyone who had been there before told us “Savannah, oh Savannah, just wait till you see Savannah!”
