St Augustine
A week in the St Augustine area
After the trip we asked Hailey to write up what she liked. This is her writeup as written.
“Its fun and hot and we did ghost tour and dinner and shopping and drinks and shelling and walking in town and get dinner and gets drink and ice cream and ghost tour and my Favorite part is ghost tour and shopping and walking around the town and get shells and get ben and jerry ice cream”
Prohibition Kitchen for lunch
Gamble Rogers State Park 7/15/2023
We left Haines City for our Saint Augustine beach vacation. Our choice of Campgrounds was Gamble Rogers state park. We had the Fleetwood Excursion with the Jeep in tow. The rain was coming down so hard we could only drive 45 mph for most of the drive. Once we were near Flagler Beach and off the highway our trusty phone took us down a road that had an 8’8” Bridge. We are a little taller than that, about 3 feet. Once I made the turn and was committed the alarm went off on my Garmin rv gps. It has the ability to specify height, width and length. We were on a narrow road with no turnarounds available. We had to back up so we disconnected the Jeep. Pam was going to stop the traffic at the intersection and back me out. Just then the police showed up. Normally I don’t like flashing lights, but tonight it was getting darker and he was a welcome sight. He helped guide us back after about 30 cars went past us. We backed up onto the main road and continued by using a different route through Flagler beach. If you head to Gamble Rogers go through Flagler or Ormond Beach from the south.
After getting set up, we went outside, sat and relaxing and listened to the waves crashing on the beach. It was a beautiful night. The temperature was perfect, no bugs and a light breeze. Unfortunately, this was the exception. Most the other evenings had small biting bugs.
Sunday started early with a walk down the beach at sunrise. We found two fresh turtle nests. Shells were underwhelming on the beach to the point Hailey only picked up a couple and didn’t take any back with us. This was our first day to really hang out. I watched a couple of dolphins playing in the ocean. The pod came past almost every morning. Our campsite was right on the beach. It was one of the few beach sites you can actually see the beach without looking over the foliage covered dunes. That afternoon we drove up to Saint Augustine. It was a little bit further than what we thought. We drove highway A1A along the coast. Our first stop was Castillo de San Marcos. We have been to many forts and enjoy walking through them. Interestingly, we found that this was a Spanish Fort and was not French. Most of the old forts in the US were built by the French when we were fighting the British. This fort was built much earlier. We walked around town exploring George Street and the surrounding area. If you need T shirts this is the place.
***Disability smart tip! The National Park disability access pass gets your disabled person into the fort for free.***
You can apply for the pass online and at certain National Parks.
Everyone was getting hungry. Hailey wanted shrimp and we found that Meehan’s Irish Pub listed it on the menu. After we sat down to look at menus, we found it was an old menu and they no longer had scampi. Hailey will not eat fried shrimp or popcorn shrimp. She likes shrimp just about any other way. The Waiter took care of us and made Hailey a grilled shrimp dinner. Pam and I split the fish fry. Today the fish fry was Mahi instead of Haddock. The Mahi was excellent with a good-sized portion. There tartar sauce is a spicy but good. I ordered a Black and Tan it was one of the best black I have had in a long time. We had a nice evening wandering around. After the drive back home, Hailey needed some down time so a movie and popcorn was the answer.
Saint Augustine 7/16/2023
Monday, I woke up earlier to go down to the beach and walk it in the dark. I was hoping to find some turtles that were still on eggs. They like to get back to the sea before sunup. If you ever search for nests at night use a red light if you must use a flashlight. White light will make them go back out or leave the nest. Any nests you find stay away from and don’t disturb. In the morning the volunteers will check the beach and mark the new nests. I walked north until I was well outside the park. I found one nest that had been laid last night. All you could see were tracks coming up to the nest and back to the ocean. No baby turtles going down to the sea, no Turtles on the nest. Back at camp I watched another pod of dolphins. They were swimming along, just playing straight out from our campsite.
***Do not disturb turtle nests***
After breakfast we made a drive to National E bike to look at an Electric Trike for Hailey. Frank welcomed us even though he was actually closed. He opened the door and spent an hour or so with us. We were already set on the Lectric bikes but hadn’t seen the trike and didn’t know what Haileys impression would be. She liked the trike and we will be ordering one for her. Pam and I will also be ordering 2 XP 3.0 bikes. We have ridden a bunch of e bikes and have kept coming back to Lectric. They are well built and you get a lot for the money. One of their biggest selling points for us was the ability to fold up. With some modifications to the storage compartments on the motorhome, we should be able to store the bikes underneath. The Trike also folds but will either go on a hitch rack or inside the jeep.
We ran some other errands an checked out Flagler Beach. The pier was closed due to last year's hurricane. We visited some of the stores and found a sign we had to have. We always try to find a sign for our pool area that makes us laugh and reminds us of our trip. We made a stop for lunch at the Funky Pelican at the pier. It was a good meal, but the atmosphere is why we stopped. Unfortunately, all the piers are closed due to damage from last year’s hurricane.
For the evening we headed back to St Augustine. We had a Ghost Tour set up with Ghost City Tours of St Augustine. Hailey loves Ghost tours and is one of our favorite family activities to do in a new town. This one was average by our experience. It was fun and informative. The guide was in period dress and worked with our mobility issues as Pam hobbled along. So much depends on your guide and the group you are with. We learned all the dark tales of the city. Ghost tours are a great way to hear the history with a dark twist. For days afterwards Hailey researches the people in the stories. For months and years, she will recall the people and stories.
Ormand Beach 7/18/23
Today was a nice day for a drive so we headed on down to Ormand Beach. Hailey was checking out restaurants on her phone while we drove and found a Joe’s Crab shack. Being one of her favorite restaurants we had a destination. We spent some time wandering the little shops and had drinks on the upstairs patio. Summer is hot in Florida and today was no exception. You can tell the tourists at they are out soaking up the sun. In contrast Floridians look for a shaded spot to relax. Hailey and I went to the railing and watched all the surfers and people playing in the surf. The water was fairly clear and green. Just down from the pier a couple teenagers were playing in waist deep water. A large shark swam 20 to 30 feet from them in 4 or 5 feet of water. Hailey and I looked at each other trying to decide if we should say anything. The teenagers had no idea. A few minutes later a small skinny shark swam under the pier. Now we were on shark patrol when Pam noticed a turtle heading out to sea. Pam has always had a thing for turtles so this was a special treat. Joe’s was a fun place to hang out and relax for a while before making the 30 minute drive back to Gamble Rogers for a nice diner and enjoy camp.
Ormond Beach 7/19/2023
We met up with some of our friends from the Orlando area, Jeff, Shelly, and their friends David and Georgia. Shelly found a last-minute campsite on the other side of the park. After hanging in camp for a beach day, we headed back to Ormond Beach for a nice dinner at Joes Crab Shack and some shopping.
Most the parking is pay parking but we learned another Disability tip. Pam has a broken foot and has been in a boot for the last 3 months. She is just starting to transition to a special shoe. A broken foot at the beach is a bad combination. The doctor gave her a temporary handicap card for the car. In many areas you get free parking in a pay to park place. We used the perk in Ormond Beach, at the Fort and in the Parking Garage by George Street. We will be losing the pass shortly but for this trip it came in handy.
****Disability Tip! Double check with the area you are in but pay parking may be free with your sticker or card.****
After a short wait getting into Joe’s we had a couple crab pots and Hailey had chicken. For Hailey the shark bite drink was a must. It is normally a Blue Curacao drink that comes with a shark and Grenadine. When Hailey was younger she had sharks all over her bathtub. The Grenadine is poured in the drink to look like blood. Joes makes a big deal over the drink so it’s lots of fun. Hailey enjoys the fancy drinks but really doesn’t care for the alcohol so we order her Virgin drinks. She feels like she is part of the group.
After a nice dinner with friends we visited some of the shops around the pier. We found some great shops and few t shirts. We also found 1 shop that we will never step in again. Christina’s Beachwear had a sign posted 3 t shirts for $25 with logos. Once the shirts were made, they had taken the sign down and tried to charge us $127.50. When questioned the sign was nowhere to be found. We don’t like being taken advantage of, so we walked out telling them to keep the shirts. On our way to the door, they chased us asking “what will you pay?”. We were told “I will have it taken out of my check”, “We have never had a sign like that”, and every other line they could come up with. They came back with $15.00 per shirt. We just walked away. By this point we weren’t buying anything from them.
We stopped in another local store and were told they do that all the time and they hear all kinds of complaints. We were asked to contact the city which we did but never heard anything back. We ultimately found the same t shirts for $10.00 each at Jungle Georges and had a great experience. Another issue we found with the pier area are was the number of beach bums around. In our short time there we saw a woman at the entrance to a store dancing, twerking and being very crude. She was obviously on some kind of drugs and causing a disturbance. The police came and she put on quite a show for everyone. In the end she was let go. We also saw a man pinned to the ground and handcuffed in the middle of the street. This was a fun area and we never felt unsafe. I am not suggesting you pass on the area, just be aware of your surroundings as we did keeping Hailey close to us at all times.
St Augustine 7/20/2023
After a quiet morning in camp our group headed up to Saint Augustine for the afternoon. Our first stop was Ann O’ Malley’s Bar for drink. The bar is dedicated to first responders with all the decorations one might expect. Walking distance from the garage and close to the city gate this was an easy first stop. They had a husband daycare with a little store attached for the ladies. After the Ladies finished in the store, they came and joined us for a drink. The bartenders were fun and provided great service. They provided us with some places not to miss.
Once on George Street we walked the strip and stopped in a few of the little shops. At one Jewelry shop I was looking for charm for Pam’s bracelet. I found a nice inexpensive necklace for $60.00. Once they were ringing it up, I noticed it had a $18.00 price tag on it. If you visit, watch the people because they are not necessarily honest. Was this a mistake? Was the teller going to pocket the extra? I don’t really know. Just remember they know you are tourists and will probably never be back. This was one of two dishonest businesses we ran into on this trip.
***Don’t just hand someone your credit card! check your items and total****
We found a distillery and went in for a tasting. City Gates Distillery was great with Hailey! They gave her a short shots and made her feel welcome. The people were friendly and fun. They had several stations all serving different sets of spirits. The tasting was similar to others we have done, but free shots why not? Our group did make a few purchases. We also wanted to do the wine tasting but it was too far from the old town area to walk so we chose to do it another time.
Everyone wanted something different so we went different ways for snacks. Some wanted ice cream, some wanted pretzels and some wanted lunch. You can get just about anything you want to eat in the area. Before our day ended our group found several items they couldn’t live without. Hailey had a blast picking out some new t shirts and choosing the design. She has recently lost a lot of weight so we are still working on a new wardrobe.
Back to Ormond Beach 7/21/2023
One of the turtle nests had opened up overnight and little tracks were in the sand. We will go out on the beach the next couple mornings to see if the volunteers clean out the nests. They are usually cleaned out 3 days after the nest hatches. They count the number that hatch, move any that haven't higher in the nest and take any that hatched to the sea. A very hot day with no shade to speak of pushed us to head south again. Hailey wanted to play Putt Putt golf so off to Pirat’s Cove it was. Close to the pier is the NASCAR store. If you have a favorite driver either driving or retired, they have something for you. Daytona and Nascar go hand in hand. Our plans were to visit The Turtle Shack in Flagler Beach for lunch. We had heard good things but never made it. Our friends did enjoy their lunch and would go back.
St Augustine 7/22/23
Our plans for Saint Augustine are heading to the Lighthouse, Sebastian Winery, and another ghost tour. The lighthouse was a great spot to visit. Everything was restored and they had several museums on site. Hailey and I went to the top while Pam couldn’t walk the steps. We have visited several lighthouses this one had more to see and do than any we have visited. The Ghost stories from town told of a child on a swing at the lighthouse. That was all it took to put this place on Hailey’s radar. The swing was actually across from the lighthouse in a public park.
Sebastian Winery is best visited by car or the trolly. The trolly makes a stop and probably the easiest way to visit. Walking in we noticed something familiar about the boxes and labels on the wine. Pam noticed the label on the box was the same as Lakeridge winery. Pam asked at the 1st station. He said is it different??? you tell me. They are a sister winery to Lakeridge. The same wine is bottled by a different name. Being one of Pam’s regular wines we were quite pleased. We bought a couple nick knacks but no wine. They do a nice tasting and have a store for anything wine related. We can get Lakeridge local to where we live.
We went to Prohibition kitchen for lunch. A great atmosphere with music in the afternoon. We were too early for the music so we headed to a couple other places for live music. Just follow your ears, you are sure to find something you like. Our ears took us to a tavern on the second floor for with a 1 man band. We listened and cooled off for a while and moved on.
Our Ghost tour for the evening is a tour that goes into the into the old jail and into the wax museum. They do book up so make plans early. We made our reservations a couple days earlier and the only night time available was 9:00. Ghosts are always more active closer to midnight or so they say. Ghosts and Gravestones was an entertaining tour mixing stories of ghosts with actors playing a role and telling tales as well. They used the trolly busses so walking is not required. A big plus for us on this trip. Many of the stories we had already heard in the other tour, but this was a unique twist on a standard ghost tour.
Gamble Rogers State Park 7/23/2023
we got up early, went down, saw a couple of tracks where turtles had come up on the shore and laid their eggs. We've met the turtle team and watched as they dug out turtle nest A56. There were roughly 117 good babies that made it to the ocean, and another 7 that might still hatch, although that’s a longshot. They put them back in and buried them closer to the surface. There also were 3 that didn't get out of the nest and 3 eggs that had crab damage.
With our time running out we spent the rest of the morning cleaning up, packing and heading home.
