St. Augustine



St. Augustine lays claim to being the oldest city in the United States. It is 30 minutes south of Jacksonville in the First Coast, and is full of romantic ambiance and old world charm. It is best known for its remarkable historic streets and attractions, Spanish-style architecture, and panoramic bayfront views.

The walkable downtown is made up of narrow colonial streets lined with interesting locally-owned shops and outstanding restaurants. A trio of grand hotel buildings built in the late 19th century by railroad magnate Henry Flagler tower over the smaller, reconstructed historic houses, but the tallest building in town is just seven stories. One of Flagler's former hotels is now home to a small, private liberal arts college whose students add a sense of pulsating life to the centuries-old town.

In St. Augustine you can dine on terraces overlooking narrow brick streets, view excellent art at unique galleries, and visit historic sites older than the United States itself. But the town is more than history and high culture. Feel like going parasailing over unspoiled beachfront or listening to famous bands play under the stars? St. Augustine has that too.

A Spanish, British and American colony
42 years before the English established a colony at Jamestown in Virginia, and a full 55 before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, the Spanish colonial empire settled St. Augustine. Founded by Pedro Menéndez de Aviles in 1565 as the colony's capital and in an effort to protect Spain's claims in Florida from the French at Fort Caroline (present-day Jacksonville), the town had a rocky start. Pirates attacked, as did the local Native Americans, and British privateer Sir Francis Drake burned St. Augustine to the ground in 1586. In response, the Queen of Spain dispersed funds to construct a masonry fort to protect the town, and construction on the Castillo de San Marcos began in 1672. The fort was never captured, despite multiple attempts, including a 58-day siege by British forces in which the town was burned again.

With the end of the Seven Years' War and the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Florida moved from Spanish to British colonial rule. During the American Revolution, St. Augustine remained a haven for those loyal to the British Crown. A group of immigrants that fled from a colony in New Smyrna arrived in town in 1777 and made up much of the city's population at this time, they were and are still known today as "Menorcans". The second Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolution in 1783, freed the original 13 colonies but gave Florida back to Spain.

The second Spanish period was characterized by neglect from the crown, as Spain was engaged in a war with Napoleon and France and regarded the colony of Florida as an unprofitable backwater. The United States, however, viewed it as key to its interests and sought to annex Florida, and they succeeded in 1819. The colony became a territory of the U.S. and St. Augustine continued to serve as its capital until 1824.

The St. Augustine Movement
In the mid-1960s, the Civil Rights movement came to St. Augustine. Local college students held "sit-ins" at the town's Woolworth's lunch counter. In May and June 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leaders from his Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) group, including future Senator Andrew Young, led a series of marches in the city. The Ku Klux Klan was active in the area, and responded violently to many of the marches and sit-ins. Hundreds of black and white protestors were arrested, filling county jails to capacity. King himself was arrested on the steps of the Monson Motor Lodge motel. The motel manager, James Brock, poured acid into the swimming pool after protestors had jumped into the segregated whites-only pool. Video of this was broadcasted around the world, and became one of the final factors in the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Today
Since the late 1960s, many historic buildings in the core downtown have been reconstructed and rebuilt, and most are now in the hands of the University of Florida. A range of unique restaurants have opened in the city, both those with quick, but quality, service and those serving up finer, and more pricey, cuisine. Luxury hotels have also opened up, sparked by the restoration and reopening of the Casa Monica Hotel in the 1990s. The infamous Monson Motor Lodge was demolished in 2003, and replaced by a bayside Hilton hotel, built to blend in with the historic surroundings.

St. Augustine celebrated its 450th Anniversary in 2015 with a three-day music festival throughout the downtown, capped by a visit from King Felipe and Queen Isabela of Spain. With some of the oldest historic buildings in town cleaned up and redone for that party, the town is looking better than it has in years.

Geography
The historic downtown of St. Augustine sits on a small peninsula, with the San Sebastian River to the west and the Matanzas River to the east. The larger of the two, the Matanzas is actually a tidal estuary that forms part of the Intracoastal Waterway, an inland water route that stretches from New Jersey to the Gulf Coast. The Matanzas Inlet lies almost directly across from the Castillo de San Marcos fort at the north end of downtown, and connects the river to the Atlantic Ocean.

Two barrier islands, separated by the inlet, shelter the river and the downtown from the ocean. To the north lies an unnamed island that stretches from Jacksonville Beach down to Vilano Beach, an oceanfront community connected to the city by the Vilano Causeway. To the south of the inlet lies Anastasia Island, home to part of the city of St. Augustine, as well as the beach communities of St. Augustine Beach, Butler Beach, and Crescent Beach. The historic Bridge of Lions connects downtown to Anastasia Island, and a more modern bridge south of the city connects the island directly to U.S. 1 on the mainland.

Climate
St. Augustine has a humid subtropical climate, with mild weather during winters and hot weather during summers. Average high temperatures vary from 64°F (18°C) in winter to 91°F (33°C) in summer. High heat indices ("feels like" temperatures that take humidity into account) are not uncommon during the summer months in the St. Augustine area, and can reach up to 105-115°F. Like much of Florida, it's common for daily thunderstorms to erupt during summer afternoons. These are caused by the daytime heating of the land and water combined with the high humidity.

During winter, the area can experience hard freezes during the night. Such cold weather is usually short lived, however, as the city averages only fifteen nights below freezing. Even rarer in St. Augustine is snow. When snow does fall, it usually melts before touching, or upon making contact with, the ground. Most longtime residents of St. Augustine can remember accumulated snow on only one occasion — a thin ground cover that occurred a few days before Christmas 1989.

St. Augustine has suffered less damage from hurricanes than most other Floridian cities. The city has only received one direct hit from a hurricane since 1871, although it has experienced hurricane or near-hurricane conditions more than a dozen times due to storms traveling across the state or up the coast and brushing the area. The strongest effect on St. Augustine was from Hurricane Dora in 1964. That storm, Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and Hurricane Irma in 2017 all caused extensive flooding in the city.

Rainfall averages around 50 inches a year, with the wettest months being June through September.

Talk
Despite being a Spanish-founded city that still retains influences of the former colonial power in its cooking and architecture, English is the predominant language in St. Augustine today.

By plane
St. Augustine does have a small airport within the city limits:. It is mainly utilized by private aircraft and VIP flights. There are no regular commercial flights as of November 2018. Next nearest airports for scheduled commercial flights to St Augustine are: Jacksonville International Airport is the closest major commercial airport, 40 minutes to the north. It is served by nine airlines, including the three main American carriers: United Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines.

Daytona Beach International Airport is next to the Daytona International Speedway, about an hour south, and is served by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and JetBlue.

Orlando International Airport is a major airport serving Central Florida, and is about two hours south of St Augustine. International flights are from Canada, Europe, Mexico, and South America. Connections are available from almost every major American city.

From any of the above airports, a rental car, taxi, or rideshare is necessary to continue onwards to St. Augustine.

By car
St. Augustine can easily be reached by car, as Interstate 95 passes just west of the city. From the north (Jacksonville), take exit 318 for S.R. 16, then travel east to U.S. 1 or Business U.S. 1, then turn right. From northbound I-95, take exit 298 for S.R. 207, then travel north to U.S. 1 and turn left to reach the downtown/attractions area.



By train
Jacksonville is the nearest large city with a full-service Amtrak station; it is served by the Silver Star and Silver Meteor routes that connect Miami to New York City.

Palatka is closer and is served by the same two Amtrak lines. However, onward transportation to St. Augustine is difficult and limited to ridesharing apps (approx. $35) or local taxi service (approx. $50). Palatka's station does not have luggage service, so if you're carrying anything more than a backpack, you would need to disembark in Jacksonville.

By boat
Various private marinas, and the city's Municipal Marina, operate docks both near downtown and on nearby Anastasia Island. The largest private marina in the area is at the Conch House restaurant and motel complex.

By foot
St. Augustine is a very walkable and pedestrian friendly city. Walking will allow you to see most of the historical buildings and shops in the downtown with relative ease, and is most definitely the best way to get a true feel for the historic core of the city. Further destinations, such as those on Anastasia Island, are much less accessible by foot, and one of the other methods below are suggested.

By bike
St. Augustine offers an electric bike progam. Available to visitors and locals, the bike sharing is accessible by downloading the "Gotcha Powered by BOLT" app in the Apple Store or Android Play Store. The e-bike share service area is limited to most of the city limits and has 13 parking hubs around the city.

By trolley
There are two main tourist trolleys that provide guided tours of the historic downtown area.



Horse-drawn carriage rides also operate throughout the downtown, and can be accessed by going to the "station" on Avenida Menendez along the bay front.

By car
Downtown St. Augustine is rather inhospitable to cars, as the streets are narrow and often clogged with trolleys, horse-drawn carriages, and tourists on foot and bike all sharing the same roadway. However, to reach most of the hotels, chain stores and restaurants, and outlet malls around St. Augustine, as well as the beachfront areas across the bay on Anastasia Island, a car is all but necessary. Alternatively, both tram tours listed above offer hotel shuttles as well as shuttles to the beach attractions.

When visiting downtown with a car, it is recommended to park in the Historic Downtown Parking Facility, an enormous, multi-level, state-of-the-art garage across from the Visitor Center and at the far end of St. George Street. Parking charge is $15/day and the garage is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Limited metered parking can also be found on the street, as well as in the Castillo De San Marcos parking lot ($2.50/hr, limited to 3 hours). An app, ParkStAug, allows visitors to pay for and reload parking meters via smartphone by entering a four digit code found on signage near parking spaces. A few private lots exist downtown, and charge around $10-$12/day. Free on-street free parking is rare but can be found further from the downtown core.

Museums




Attractions

 * Main building, World Golf Hall of Fame.jpg
 * Main building, World Golf Hall of Fame.jpg

Ghost tours
Both Old Town Trolley and Ripley's Red Trains offer nighttime ghost tour trams titled Ghost & Gravestones and Ripley's Ghost Trains, respectively. Both of these nightly versions of the tram tours include several segments where the tour guides park the tram, disembark, and lead the group into allegedly haunted structures. Keep in mind that different tours go to different sites, for example, Ripley's Ghost Trains go through the allegedly haunted Ripley's Believe It Or Not building, while Ghost & Gravestones tours enter the Old Jail, a historic site owned by Old Town Trolley.

In addition, numerous walking ghost tours operate out of the area around St. George Street, with small registration booths or storefronts manned throughout the day.

If ghosts are your fancy, it is worth doing some research into the various tram and walking tours and deciding on the one that piques your interest.

Concerts and live music
St. Augustine is a veritable hotbed for local musicians and bands. On weekend nights, nearly every restaurant and bar in the downtown historic district, as well as many on Anastasia Island, will be offering live music of some sort, with genres ranging from country to classic rock, to blues and jazz.

The St. Augustine Amphitheatre sits within Anastasia State Park, across the Bridge of Lions on the island. An intimate venue with just under 5,000 covered seats, this is a great place to see a show if one of your favorites is in town during your visit. Drawing big-name concert acts from all genres, past acts have included The Beach Boys, Toby Keith, Slayer, and Selena Gomez. Check the website for the upcoming lineup.

The city also hosts Concerts in the Plaza on Thursdays from Memorial Day through Labor Day in the downtown's Plaza de la Constitución. Local and regional musicians perform in the park's gazebo and attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets to relax and enjoy the music. Picnics are allowed, but alcohol is not.

The aforementioned Colonial Quarter's Colonial Oak Music Park offers free live music from local musicians, with the occasional touring act, on Thursday through Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons.

Festivals
St. Augustine is known in the area for its various large-scale events and festivals held in the downtown area during the slower seasons of early spring, fall, and winter.

Year-round

 * At the First Friday Art Walk, held the first Friday of every month, over 30 of the city's downtown galleries stay open late, with most using the night to open new exhibits, offering food, wine, and entertainment.

Buy
St. George Street is the spine of the historic downtown. A five-block long pedestrian street, it offers various unique shops and countless restaurants, bars, and snack stands. Here you can find everything from authentic Cuban cuisine and New York-style pizza to upscale jazz bars and old-school bakeries. The small side streets just around St. George, specifically the cross-streets of Cuna and Hypolita, and the parallel Spanish Street, also contain numerous shops and restaurants that make them worth venturing down. South of the Plaza de la Constiución sits the decidedly less-touristy and more artsy area around Aviles Street, purportedly "the oldest street in the oldest city". Among these narrow streets you can find some great cafes and small galleries.

Outside of the downtown there are a few other shopping centers that may be of interest, including large strip mall centers on U.S. 1 south of downtown. These contain your typical chain stores and restaurants, with a few local places mixed in. Besides those, some other that may be worth a visit are listed below.



Drink




Go next

 * Jacksonville &mdash; Florida's largest city, about an hour's drive north of St. Augustine on the mouth of St. Johns River
 * Ponte Vedra Beach &mdash; beach town east of Jacksonville, and north of St. Augustine
 * Palatka &mdash; town on the St. Johns River to the west
 * From St. Augustine to Hampton Roads &mdash; a comprehensive list of places to go next, this itinerary lists colonial and other historic points of interest on the East Coast of the U.S.
 * Vilano Beach &mdash; northeast across the Intracoastal Waterway from St. Augustine