Florida is a favorite destination in the US, and this year during Thanksgiving week we chose to visit St.Augustine, considered to be the oldest settlement in the U.S. St.Augustine was founded as a Spanish colonial outpost in 1565, 55 years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock.
We enjoyed the lovely St.Augustine beach, but even more we were delighted by the historic architecture around the town, charming Spanish colonial and Moorish-style inspired architecture which gave the town a European vibe.
Villa Zorayda, for example, is an interesting museum inspired by the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The villa was built by Franklin W. Smith, a Boston merchant, who loved traveling the world. His home is a one-tenth-scale reproduction of a portion of the Alhambra Palace and is filled with antiquities gathered during his travels.
The historic streets of St. Augustine are lovely to stroll around, albeit crowded since we were there during a holiday week. St. Augustine has a central pedestrian-only thoroughfare and St. George Street, Aviles Street, Charlotte Street, the bayfront are all nice to stroll. Trolley tours abound and everyone seemed to be having a jolly time on these tours, cheering and waving happily.
St.Augustine, is nationally recognized for its Christmas holiday lights display. The Annual Nights of Lights dazzles visitors with more than three million lights which adorn the heart of the city in the historic district. The lights display runs from Saturday, November 18, to the end of January. We can attest to its beauty and ambiance, as we enjoyed walking around town in the evening. We stopped by the lovely Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine on the edge of the Plaza de la Constitución in the historic district, to admire its beauty and to say prayers.
We visited the Castillo de San Marcos fortress one morning. It is a national monument, around 315 years old, originally built by the Spanish to defend Florida and the Atlantic trade route. It changed hands from Spain, to Britain, back to Spanish and then finally America over the years.
A tour to see the stunning Flagler college (originally the historic Hotel Ponce De Leon), is a must do on a visit to St.Augustine. The former hotel was built by Henry Flagler, builder of the Florida East Coast Railway, Hotel Ponce Del Leon (now Flagler College) and Hotel Alcazar (now the Lightner Museum) in St.Augustine.
I believe that Flagler College may very well be the most beautiful college in the US. It has the most gorgeous, amazing dining room in the world with priceless original Tiffany, stained glass windows (79 of them) and the most beautiful ornate ceiling, with beautiful hand-painted murals on the walls and ceiling of the university’s dining room. Wow, the students here sure must enjoy their every meal in such grandeur. The first-year student rooms overlook the peaceful, lovely courtyard, must be nice to wake up to such beauty even if you are dealing with tests.
After visiting the breathtaking Flagler college, we walked opposite to the Lightner museum for lunch. Originally a Gilded Age resort, it is now open to the public as a museum. Dining at the beautiful Lightner Museum Alcazar café, in the area which used to be the largest swimming pool in the world, was a wonderful experience, and the food was delicious too.
We also spent some time at the Ponce de Léon’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park which is a 15-acre park overlooking the Matanzas River and St. Augustine Inlet. It is a nice place to spend a few hours among the lush greenery, walking through reproductions of life back in the day, canon firing demonstrations and watching a surprising number of beautiful peacocks who seemed very comfortable in their home walking all over the park.
We enjoyed dining at restaurants which included the Reef restaurant with a lovely view of the ocean, Meehan’s Irish pub, Athena restaurant and Mellow Mushroom. We loved the gluten free items at Kookaburra and their chai and coffee. Thanksgiving dinner, we picked up from Gypsy Cab company as the few restaurants that were open were all fully booked.
Plan ahead, if you visit during Thanksgiving or Christmas, dining options are limited. Recommend staying in the historic district if you do not have a car as all the sights are pretty much in that area. Since we had a rental car, we stayed beach side at the Embassy Suites.
If you enjoy historic towns and architecture, St. Augustine is a destination that is well worth a visit.