As mentioned in the previous post - the trip to Florida began after I won a vacation drawing I had entered in randomly while at the mall 🤣 We had been discussing going somewhere to beat the winter blues of Michigan & ironically that night I got the phone call from Bluegreen Vacations saying we had won a 3 night, 4 day trip to a destination of our choosing! Now, of course air fair was not covered, but hell - a discounted vacation was a discounted vacation! 👌 So, what was the gimmick?? The only gimmick was that we had to attend a 2 hour timeshare sales meeting hosted by Bluegreen Vacations. Not bad, right? We took the chance & jetted down to the sunshine state ☀
While we had a lot of different options to choose from, we decided on St.Augustine because we wanted to go somewhere historical & somewhere warm So here's the low down on our 3 day stay in St. Augustine!
//Where We Stayed
Our hotel was paid for by Bluegreen Vacations & we had a few different hotels we could have chosen from, but this one was very nice & close to all the attractions we wanted to see. And while it wasn't on the beach like our first hotel, all the rooms were very clean & very updated. Their continental breakfast was super yummy & they had a nice little fitness room for working out 😊 All in all - great place to stay!
//What We Did
After attending the Daytona Farmers Market - we decided to hop over to the St. Augustine one too! This market featured crafts, textiles, foods & a little bit of produce whereas the Daytona one heavily featured produce. It was a nice change of scenery though! The hubby scored some tamales & I sipped on an iced coffee while wandering around the different stands. Great way to spend our morning!🍍
P.S - Parking was a little difficult though! If you plan on attending, I suggest going to it early!
Unlike Daytona Beach, our hotel in St. Augustine wasn't right on the water, so we had to search around for spot to get access to the ocean. We paid a state park fee to get in for beach access & spent our afternoon on the beautiful Anastasia beach filled with tons of seashells & sea grass. Even though you have to pay to get it in - it's completely worth it if you're going to spend the day there! There's also public restrooms as well!
There's nothing better than grabbing a cup of java & walking cobblestone streets that are hundreds of years old 💙 Bright & early Saturday morning, the hubby & I adventured to the historical downtown district of St. Augustine to explore the different shops, restaurants & pieces of history! The shops were all very cool & some restaurants were pricey, but there were affordable ones! It was definitely very cool to experience!
Since it was so close to downtown, we ventured over to the old Castillo De San Marcos fort for a little history lesson! For $10 a person, we were able to explore & independently tour the fort at our own pleasure! And I must say, the pictures do not do this piece of history justice! It truly was a fascinating experience!
//Where We Ate
Are you forever seeing the stickers on car windows that say "Salt Life" ?! Welp, here's the restaurant after the famous saying! With a modern, beachy vibe, the Salt Life Shack has a huge food & drink menu with tons of outdoor seating! We stopped by after the Farmers Market for a light lunch & filled up on sushi & wings! Their prices varied depending on what you ordered. I didn't find the sushi was anything unreasonable or the wings. The service, food & atmosphere made for a great afternoon!
We got to the downtown area pretty early & thankfully we did because we were able to eat, drink & enjoy the scene before masses of people turned up. Scarlett O'Hara's caught my eye because it was an outdoor, rustic joint with an appealing menu. We by chance stopped in for a bit to eat & ended up loving it! I got a Mahi sandwich & it was bomb ass!
If you're looking for a yummy & healthy post beach snack to cool off with - then I totally recommend Big Island Bowls! Just a simple food truck on the side of the road, but their acai bowls are completely drool worthy 🤤 The hubby got a strawberry banana smoothie while I got a Hibiscus acai bowl 👌 I had randomly found this spot on Instagram one day & made it our mission to come try it once we go to town & I'm so glad we did! The prices are very reasonable considering the beautifully made food they serve!
For real tho - how beautiful is this bowl 🌈😍
Located right in the historic district of St. Augustine is an adorable, shacky coffee shop with a garden area for seating! With an awesome setting & delicious coffee - I highly recommend making this your java destination! ☕
If you haven't noticed already - pizza plays a huge role in me & my husband diet 😅 So after a long day of walking & site seeing, a quiet, low key evening in our hotel with a pizza & some TV sounded phenomenal 👌 We ordered from 5 Star Pizza & it's too die for good! If you're ever looking to be cheap, but still want to taste local places - try their pizza joints! You might be shocked at how good they are! We sure were!! 🍕
You could say I totally embraced the vacation mode! ^
In summary, while we loved exploring St. Augustine, we personally found it to be a little pricey compared to Daytona. Granted, any tourist destination will have its costs, but for this town, a lot of the attractions such as historical tours, the St. Augustine lighthouse, etc. all cost money to experience. I do recommend before traveling to this spot - you prioritize which sites are the most important to you to see because it will add up quickly! Still a very beautiful place & fun place to explore! If you've never been & love history - St. Augustine is a great place to go!
XOXOXO
Mrs. Northern Belle