December 2011: Saint Augstine, Florida

After a four night cruise out of St. Augustine, Glenn and I headed up to Saint Augustine, Florida. We had heard a lot of great things about the oldest settlement in the country. We were not disappointed. We pulled into our bed and breakfast: Bayfront Marion House.

 It is awesome! It opened in 2010 so everything is new,b but tastefully done with antiques. I loved our room.

Glenn did a great job picked it out.  The location is perfect too. We parked the car and didn’t use it again until it was time to leave. We decided that the first stop had to be the Fountain of Youth. 

Ponce De Leon may have made a stop here on his quest. What is true is that this parcel of land was the location of the first Spanish settlement. While the fountain was Florida-kitsch chic, the overall plantation was great. We say a live cannon demonstration.

Those things are seriously loud. After getting more youthful, we hit up a bakery for a cupcake hit and then wandered through the town square. We had a drink at the Tavern of the Rooster in the Old Colonial Spanish Quarter.

 Next stop was A1A Brewery for dinner. I liked the Brown Ale and loved the view.

The next day we had our breakfast in the gazebo. Two wonderful women met us out there with our pre-ordered breakfast – French Toast, yogurt, croissants and coffee.

 It was so much fun. After breakfast, we walked over Dow’s Historic Homes to check out a city block that was over 200 years old. The best part was one of the groundskeeper told us a couple stories about the people who lived in these houses. Then we walked down to the San Sebastian Winery.

 We skipped out on the tour, but tried the wine. We were surprised that we liked the sparking wine and Port offerings. Then we walked back into downtown and visited several of the local shops. We find a cute wine shop with a great wine tasting. We also went to the Pirate and Treasure Museum. We didn't have high expections but it ended up being fantastic. Lots of authentic treasures, well laid out and it also had a fun scavenger hunt. Then it was time for our Food Tour. City Walks Saveur Fair Tour was fantastic. It was a walking tours of several restaurants. One of the more surprising stops was Meehan's Irish Pub. The Reuban Egg Roll and garlic parmesan oyster were fantastic!

 After the Food Tour, we headed back to the bed and breakfast to relax on the second floor deck and enjoy the happy hour – delicious homemade sangria and snacks. 

Once the sun set, we headed to talk our Holly Jolly Tour - A trolly around town to see all the decorations and lights.The funny part was it included glasses that made the brake lights of cars look like snowflakes. 

 It even included a stop to see Santa. Downtown was beautiful with all the lights. 

 Then we head to the Tasting Room for delicious wine tastings and Spanish cuisine. 

After a wonderful breakfast of Eggs Benedict, we hit the road Saturday morning - headed back to Oralndo for our Tables in Wonderland Holiday Party.

Overall, we had a wonderful time in St. Augustine.  The Town Square is so cute. We were impressed with how much there is to do and all the great restaurants. We will definitely be going back there.