The Saint Augustine Adventure List

Of all the places Jen and I have traveled within the state of Florida, St. Augustine is hands down our favorite. As the oldest continually occupied city in the country, there is no other place in the Sunshine State, or all of America, for that matter, that makes me feel more like I'm wandering through the vestiges of the Spanish empire. From the 17th century fortress built from coquina to withstand cannonballs to the pirate museum, the myriad ghost tours, the Ponce de Leon Archaeological Site and a slew of fantastic restaurants, every time we visit we discover something new, or old, rather. Here is the adventure list we composed for our first visit three years ago. It is by no means comprehensive, but it was enough to keep us busy for a few days.

• Item #1: Casablanca Inn - Our mini adventure began at the Casablanca Inn, which was a charming B&B that appealed to both Jen and I for different reasons. Casablanca is one of Jen's favorite films; I was more interested in the fact that some consider the 1914 building to be one of the more haunted spots in one of America's most reputedly haunted cities. 
• Item #2: Pirate & Treasure Museum - With artifacts and treasures recovered from various pirate ships on display and histories of some the area's most infamous buccaneers, this was a must see for me and it did not disappoint.
• Item #3: Potter's Wax Museum - The first established wax museum in America, set inside the country's oldest pharmacy.  
• Item #4: Villa Zorayda - An Alhambra-inspired building that houses a fantastic collection including possibly the oldest rug on earth said to be woven from Egyptian Nile cat hair (The Sacred Cat Rug, as it is called, is the subject of another blog entry).
• Item #5: Ponce de Leon Hotel (Flagler College) - Once an opulent hotel, now home to Flagler College and the subject of a blog post elsewhere.
• Item #6: Ghost Tour - St. Augustine is said by some to be the most haunted city in America. For our first visit we went on the Ghosts and Gravestone Tours which is probably the largest such tour operator in town.  
• Item #7: Treasury Street - The narrowest street in the United States by design as a defense against pirates. 
• Item #8: The Great Cross - Standing 208 feet high, this cross is said to mark the approximate spot where Christianity found a permanent foothold in the new world in 1565. It is part of the Shrine of Our Lade of La Leche and when it was first erected in 1966, it was the tallest cross in the world. 
• Item #9: Ripley's Believe it or Not! Museum - Robert Ripley surely ranks among the patron saints of offbeat travel. As a model and inspiration for me, how could I not spend time among the more than 800 odd and unusual items on display there?
• Item #10: The Fountain of Youth - First explored by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513, the archaeological site includes the remains of native people and a fountain you can drink from. It may not grant you eternal youth but it will certainly leave the taste of sulfur in your mouth for what will seem like forever.

Castillo de San Marcos 

• Item #11: Gator Bob's - if you're looking for the obligatory St. Augustine souvenir, this is where you will find it.   
• Item #12: Wolf's Museum of Mystery - This quintessentially St. Augustine experience was part curio shop, part demented house of horrors. Sadly it burned down in 2019 but the proprietor has relocated his wares to Friendship, NY.
• Item #13: The Lightner Museum - This meta collection housed in the former Alcazar Hotel includes a mummy, Sir Winston Churchill's Lion ROTA (stuffed), and an awe-inspiring collection of 19th century fine and decorative art. 
• Item #14: Old Town Trolly Tour - Hop on, hop off and get some quick historical facts along the way.
• Item #15: Love Trees - St. Augustine's love trees are composed of two different types of trees that have grown into and through one another in an eternal, symbiotic embrace. Local lore says that a kiss under such a tree will produce an equally unbreakable bond between lovers. 
• Item #16: The Oldest Wooden School House - Complete with a Harry Potter-esque dungeon under the stairs.
• Item #17: Andrew Young Crossing Site - where a famous civil rights leader was knocked unconscious during a protest. You can follow his footsteps up the point where his forward motion was arrested for a time. He has been back several times since to complete his intended path.
• Item #18: City Gates - the original entrance way to the city remains partially intact and is the site of many supernatural tales including a frequently encountered "woman in white." 
• Item #19: The Old Jail - Of all the supposedly haunted sites in town, this certainly was the creepiest. It was included as one of the stops along our ghost tour.
• Item #20: Old Spanish Trail Zero Milestone Marker - A small monument at the Atlantic end of the Old Spanish Trail (US 80), the other end of which terminates in San Diego, California.

The Lizzy Borden room inside of the Wolf's Museum of Mystery.

• Item #21: St. George Street - My agreement with Jen is that any trip involving pirates, ghosts and oddities must also include shopping. Seems pretty fair to me.
• Item #22: St. Augustine History Museum - located next to the Old Jail, it provided a nice overview of the history of the region including a deeper dive into the life and origins of the Florida Crackers.
• Item #23: Castillo de San Marcos - When most people think of St. Augustine, this fort is most likely what they envision. It represents the oldest masonry and only 17th century fort still standing in North America, unique not only for its design but also for the material (coquina) which was used in its construction.
• Item #24: The Oldest Store Museum - Here you'll find interactive displays and a look at the "good old days" when you could purchase your meat, farm equipment, general supplies and snake oil all at the same place. 
• Item #25: Huguenot Cemetery - Every ghost tour Jen and I have been on stops here, as there are many tales including those of the Yellow Fever which decimated the city and the story of Judge John Stickney who is said to appear from time to time seeking his stolen gold teeth. 
• Item #26: St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine - A lesser known spot in the city, which provides a history of the early Greek settlers in the area and a reliquary containing bones from 18 different saints, making it one of if not the largest such collection outside of the Vatican.
• Item #27: Fort Matanza - A smaller lookout fort south of the city which was crucial in the defense against pirates.
• Item #28: Scarlet O'Hara's Bar & Restaurant - The way I feel about Star Wars, Jen feels about Gone with the Wind. And, like virtually every other building in St. Augustine, it's rumored to have a ghost or two. The only spirits we encountered there were those we imbibed, and frankly that's just fine by us.
• Item #29: Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church - Built by the train and hotel magnate that made St. Augustine a tourist destination, in honor and memory of his daughter.
   

The main entrance to what was once the Ponce de Leon Hotel (now Flagler College).