St Augustine in Florida is a historic town, dating back several centuries to the times when the Spanish colonizers ruled this part of America. Driving to St Augustine is quite easy from Orlando or Jacksonville but if you fly into Miami you might want to make St Augustine a stop on a longer road trip.
St Augustine is the oldest European settlement in the United States of America, full of history and interesting stuff about the centuries long wars between the Spanish, the English and the local Seminole people.
St Augustine is best known for its Spanish colonial architecture, its colossal stone castle and amazing sandy beaches and friendly people.
Oldest US Colonial Settlement
I first read about St Augustine about 10 years ago and was planning to visit here ever since but basically I never had a chance to do it for various reasons.
This time, however, I was in Miami for a conference and I decided to rent a car and come up to St Augustine for a weekend to see what it’s all about.
I am not going to lie, the drive up from Miami to St Augustine was a bit of a torture in one sitting, taking nearly five hours, but it was well worth it and I don’t regret it for one moment.
Toll Free Florida Road Network
There are many rumours and “fake news” on the internet that the Florida interstates are toll roads, but if you do a bit of research you will soon find out that you can travel on most of them for free. That’s what I did and it was super simple.
Basically, there are various toll roads in Florida: some are tolls on all lanes and others are mixed use.
The road up to St Augustine is the I-95 and on this road the inside lane is a toll lane, but the outer lanes are toll free. So I made sure to stay in the toll free lanes all the way up to St Augustine. It was absolutely fine and made no difference whatsoever to the length of the journey.
Most rental cars are fitted with toll transponders anyway, so if you stray into a pay lane then the money will be deducted from your credit card. Just make sure you read the terms and conditions before you sign anything.
Planning the Trip to St. Augustine
Since I am a European I had to register for ESTA (Visa) in advance. I used my Hungarian passport for this but at the check-in desk I handed over my British passport which created a little confusion.
What you need to remember is that when you register online for your ESTA you must bring the same passport with you to the airport because your plane ticket is linked to it.
Fortunately I had both passports on me, otherwise I would have been in trouble! Luckily the BA staff sorted it all out and I was on my way five minutes later.
The plane departed and landed on time, which was quite unusual for BA but made for a good start to my trip to Miami and then on to St Augustine.
Arriving in Miami Airport
Once we landed in Miami I just walked off the plane and headed to security as I only had hand luggage. Incredible, we got through security and passport control in Miami in less than 15 minutes which is unprecedented!
The ESTA system makes everything so simple and streamlined! In the past I would need to go to the US Embassy to apply for a tourist visa and pay for it. Then of course I would worry until I found out whether I’d received it or not! And on top of it all I had to pay nearly $100 for it!
Anyway, this time it was a breeze to go through security and passport control, which I will probably talk about even in my 80s…!
Renting a Car from Alamo in Miami
I rented a car from Alamo on the Netflights.com website about three months in advance for about £140 for a week. The pick-up process took about 10 minutes using the automated kiosk. Once I received the pick-up ticket I walked downstairs and picked a Nissan Sentra from the underground car park.
Renting a car in the US is so simple: you book your car online, go pick up at the desk or kiosk and walk up to any car you like then drive off! The keys are in the ignition, just make sure you check everything before you head out! The clerks will check your paperwork at the exit and then off you go into your Florida adventure!
Driving to St Augustine from Miami
Like I mentioned, I drove up north to St Augustine on the toll free sections of I-95. I was using my iPhone from the UK – I am on the Three network and they offer a special “Go Roam” package that includes internet and telephone access in 71 countries at no extra cost.
So once I got in the car I set the GPS to “avoid tolls” – the difference between the toll free and toll roads was only 20 minutes.
When I couldn’t cope with driving any more, I stopped at a Popeye’s Chicken Restaurant near a junction. The problem is, the meal was pretty awful, very oily and fatty.
St Augustine Bojangle’s
In contrast, the following day I went to Bojangle’s in St. Augustine and that was amazing with the bread crust soft and fluffy but the inside nice and moist!
The Bojangle’s sides were also much better like the Mac and Cheese and the smoke flavored green beans.
Their mega specialty is the Bojangle’s biscuit which is honestly just something else! It simply melted in my mouth yet tasted perfectly salty and buttery on the crust! I will definitely go back here if I am near one!
By the time I arrived in St Augustine it was past 10PM and started raining so I checked into the Quality Inn, had a shower and turned the TV to HLN to watch Forensic Files. Incredibly, for four years I’ve been coming to the US and HLN always plays Forensic Files every night!
Walking Around St Augustine
It was raining all morning which was a bit inconvenient but it did not bother me that much.
I visited the Flagler College campus which used to be an exclusive hotel but now functions as one of the expensive liberal art colleges in the US.
The inside of the building was absolutely stunning and the best part is that the main hall where the cupola is located is free to visit.
Tour of Flagler Hall
In the end I paid for a tour of the building that cost $12 plus a voluntary $5 tip to the tour guide who was Amy.
She was very knowledgeable and provided some interesting snippets. Incredibly, she is studying to be an elementary teacher at Flagler’s College which costs her nearly $100,000 in tuition fees!
If that’s not unbelievable enough, she will only earn around $30,000 a year once she’s graduated!
Imagine starting your working life with that kind of debt, excluding your credit cards and a future mortgage and car financing! Paying that off on a teacher’s salary will be nearly (if not completely) impossible!
I asked her about this and what she thought the future held for her, but she said she loves kids and has always wanted to be a teacher – so good on her!
Visiting St Augustine Castle
I also visited St Augustine Castle on the waterfront which looked totally fascinating! It is an actual stone structure left behind by the Spanish colonizers.
The Spanish built this structure in the 1600s and it took more than 20 years to finish! Never mind that, the important thing is that it never got captured! The English tried to take it but had no luck, after which the Spanish simply signed it over at the end of a Global War called The War of Jenkins’ Ears’.
This war was most likely the first real world war, fought on the seas of the world between Spain and Britain! I thought “how fascinating”! The things I never knew about, even though I love history and I read a lot!
By this time, after four hours of walking in soaking rain I was so wet through and through that I had to go back to the motel to tumble dry my only set of clothes. Very conveniently there was a tumble drier at the Quality Inn so this did not take very long!
The St Augustine Quality Inn
I was staying at the Quality Inn on Beach Boulevard, which was very nice comfy with a large room, a big TV and a clean bathroom. I would say it was probably recently renovated by the Indian owner who operates the Franchise.
When I checked in the receptionist told me that there were many Hungarians in the area and even some of their housekeepers were Hungarians! The next day, while my clothes were drying, I met one of them with a 9 year old daughter with her during the weekend. She told me her daughter had to be with her because childcare costs are too high in the US!
She also said that there used to be a lot more Hungarians in St Augustine but since Trump came to power the authorities have started dealing more seriously with undocumented migrants and people that overstay their visas.
I hope these people are not here on an ESTA tourist visa overstaying because the Americans will get fed up with them very soon and might make ESTA registrations more difficult! And that would pretty much mess up my life too!
Back to St Augustine Castle
I had lunch at Bojangle’s by the Interstate then headed back into town to check out the castle again. Here they regularly fire the cannons and I just caught the demonstration at 230PM. In the end the exhibition was so interesting I spent nearly an hour here!
The best part was that the castle entrance was included in my annual National Park Pass, saving me $15.
After the castle it was time for a walk around St Augustine’s historic town center. Back in the day all the soldiers and residents complained how much they hated the place but now everyone is flocking here – and for good reason!
St Augustine is a truly amazing place with so much history that an entire week wouldn’t be enough to learn everything!
Having walked around the old town streets, I bought a candle at Yield, a local workshop run by artists in St Augustine.
The candles smelled so nice I couldn’t stop myself and bought one called “Wright”! They also sell books and I really enjoyed reading about the new California Modern style in the 1940s and 1950s.
My absolute favorite was the Case Study #22 design by the Stahls on Hollywood Hills, overlooking the sprawling Los Angeles Downtown region!
This house is probably the most iconic building of Los Angeles and I always think of the 50s and 60s when I see photos of it. I can just imagine the dreams and hopes of people looking at this mid-century modern building, overlooking the sea of lights beneath, which was LA at the time.
The Candy Store in St Augustine
Next up I went back into the historic district and stopped at a local candy store and also checked out the Greek Orthodox Church. It was quite fascinating to see all the gold and silver everywhere and by chance I also bumped into a couple of Benedictine monks.
They were from Miami originally but were up in St Augustine for the weekend. We started chatting about religion, this and that and the other and in the end we spent almost half an hour talking.
They were a nice couple and they run a professional accounting service in Miami where you can do your income tax, corporate tax and other financial stuff with them.
The James Coleman Signature Gallery
A little later I also visited a couple of Galleries, one of which is inside a hotel called James Coleman Signature Gallery.
This gallery exhibits the works of James Coleman, who is a famous Disney designer and drawer from the 1970s and 1980s. Coleman created a tonne of animations for Disney and later decided to quit and start drawing and painting for life.
On exhibition were his spectacular paintings called ‘John 8:12’, referring to the New Testament and scenes from the Garden of Eden.
I am not making this up but looking at one of his paintings, depicting the moon, a huge pond and many flowers I was overcome by emotions and had to force down my tears!
It is hard to describe these paintings but I can tell you right now that not a single piece of art has had that kind of impact on my before! His paintings are framed in a wooden frame and the scenes in the paintings are kind of surrounded by a stunning golden and silver cloud, allowing us to peak through into these magical worlds! Wonderful!
Unfortunately I only paid for carry-on luggage so I didn’t buy any of the paintings!
The Phillip Anthony Signature Gallery
From here it is a two minute walk to the Phillip Anthony Signature Gallery where they exhibit paintings by different artists in color and black and white.
There was a special viewing room here with adjustable lighting to display the paintings in different light environments. Needless to say it was all very interesting and I saw some really pretty pleasures of art here!
I say ‘pleasure’ and not ‘work’ because working is generally a chore but creating something as beautiful as these paintings cannot be a chore – only pleasure!
I had a nice chat with the gallery owner called Elisabeth (Liz) Bouvia and we exchanged cards to follow up later. She was super friendly and very knowledgeable – I would have definitely bought one of those paintings if I had a bit more luggage space!
Dinner: 2nd Best Pizza in the US
For dinner I went to a pizza restaurant on the High Street called Pizza Time which is voted 2nd best on Tripadvisor in the entire United States of America!
I can testify: the garlic bread tasted delicious and the Tuscany pizza slice was totally out of this world!
They even bring the tomatoes here directly from Italy (fresh!) and make the sauce on site! I am not even going to try to describe it because it would just be a futile attempt at something impossible to achieve! Instead, just come and try it – but be prepared to QUEUE!
This then ended my day trip to St Augustine which made me a bit sad but just like Flagler – I myself will probably return again – and who knows, I might even achieve as much or more in life as Flagler did!