Page 84 - 2024-2025 Travel Guide to Florida

ST. AUGUSTINE & PONTE VEDRA
St. Augustine's Timeless Allure
Look no further than Northeast Florida’s Historic Coast for family fun and culinary adventure in America’s oldest city, St. Augustine. After all, the St. Augustine and the Ponte Vedra Beach area has been welcoming visitors for hundreds of years. There’s something for everyone, including 42 miles of Atlantic beaches, historical charm and renowned golf courses.
SEE AND DO
Talk about a view from the top. The St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum offers breathtaking views from the top, which you can experience day or night on moonlight tours. It features a Maritime Archaeology & Education Center along with a conservation lab, research library, and X-ray room, all of which provide a more interactive experience of local history.
The St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoolog- ical Park gets you up close, but not too personal, with alligators, crocodiles, snakes and birds.
Ready for some oddities? Then don’t miss the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium. A collection of the bizarre and mysterious, the Odditorium has the Jungle Room, where guests can play hands-on games or create their own jungle apparel while dancing to jungle sounds and tones. Ripley’s also has Red Train tours, ghost train tours and mini golf.
Get behind the scenes or, actually, behind the seas at Marineland Dolphin Adventure
FLAGLER COLLEGE • FLORIDASHISTORICCOAST.COM
where guests can interact with dolphins and be a dolphin trainer or even an aquarist for a day. Each year, from late November to the end
of January, St. Augustine shows off its beauty during Nights of Lights, when millions of lights adorn the city’s buildings, street lamps and parks. The lights are strewn over landmarks and the the Bridge of Lions, illuminating St. Augustine’s Spanish Colonial architecture.
DINE AND PLAY
St. Augustine visitors are making food adventures a growing part of their stay. Restaurants include influences from Spain, France, Italy and Greece, reflecting the area’s history. Add spice to your life with the locally grown datil pepper, found in many local
CASTILLO DE SAN MARCOS • VISIT FLORIDA/THE RODRIGUEZ GROUP
restaurants’ prepared dishes. It’s hot stuff! The St. Augustine Distillery uses Florida- grown ingredients to make small-batch whiskey, rum, vodka and other drinks; while City Gate Spirits produces some fun spirits like Apple Pie Moonshine, Peanut Butter Whiskey and Sweet Tea Vodka. Tours and free samples are available. Explore wine rooms around town like the Carrera Wine Cellar (featuring themed wine classes), Casa de Vino 57, and the St. George Inn wine bar, Bin 39. Craft beer tap rooms in town include Dog Rose Brewing Co., Ancient City Brewing, Old
Coast Ales, and Bog Brewing Company.
For drinks with a view, Meehan's Irish Pub & Seafood House provides a scenic view. Nearby, Prohibition Kitchen on St. George Street features flapper dresses, speakeasies,
moonshine and swing.
St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches
FloridasHistoricCoast.com
Castillo de San Marcos nps.gov/casa Marineland Dolphin Adventure marineland.net
Nights of Lights floridashistoriccoast.com/nights-lights Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium ripleys.com/staugustine
St. Augustine Distillery staugustinedistillery.com
St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime
Museum staugustinelighthouse.org
FEATURED LINKS
82 2024-25 TRAVEL GUIDE TO FLORIDA