Saint Augustine

We leave Orlando and the Disneyworld parks, and continue our american road-trip. I hope you’ll forgive me for this very delayed post (this travel story dates back to fall of 2016!) but at least it’ll bring some sun into our very morose parisian weather.

So, today we’re headed to Saint Augustine in Florida, known to be the oldest town in the USA.

Indeed, Saint Augustine was where the Spanish conquistadors first disembarked on american soil in 1513. The european/spanish atmosphere is palpable at every streetcorner. We had one day planned to visit the city, and we found it to be sufficient.

 

Saint George street

It was quite nice to walk down this shady/touristy/shopping street, lined with Spanish colonial houses.

There are shops with food, candy and souvenirs of course, but you can also stop to visit the oldest school, the oldest house or the oldest prison of the United-States.

“I’ll take you to the candy shop ♬”

 

The historical area

Saint Augustine basilica cathedral

It’s around St George Street and the Saint Augustine basilica cathedral. It’s possible to visit the Castillo San Marcos fort – which we missed out on, we found ourselves trapped in a candy store (which probably had about a million food dyes and other artificial elements to them) (so shameful, I know).

Flager college

 

Bridge of lions

It got its name from the two massive marble Medicis lions that guard it. We enjoyed watching the sunset from there, all these hues!

 

My favorite food spots at Saint Augustine

Except for all the candy stores (that you definitively can’t miss if you walk around the city), we tried two spots (one for lunch, one for dinner), that were quite conclusive.

 

OC WHITE’S (18 Avenida Menendez)

Looks like we are in Dawson’s creek ! ^^

Recommended by Comptoir des Voyages, we enjoyed our lunch under the terrace parasols. Seafood is a big part of their menu.

Clam chowder

Heat nonewithstanding, we tried the homemade clam chowder, that apparently won a “best soup” award : it seemed pretty deserving – it was delicious.

Crab gouda stuffed Portobello sandwich & Lunch shrimp abaco

We shared a crab gouda-stuffed portobello burger and shrimp spaghetti. Even if the presentation of the food is quite homely, everything was delicious.

 

CATCH 27 (40 Charlotte Street)

This place serves only local food, with an emphasis on seafood as well. I especially loved the fish tacos and the deviled eggs topped with fried oysters. So good.

Fish tacos & Deviled eggs BLT with southern fried oyster

Bye Bye Saint Augustine !

I hope this rather quick tour of Saint Augustine will have given you a feel of the atmosphere. It’s a lovely town that you can easily discover by foot (rare enough in the USA that it deserves to be noted!) and the historical aspect makes it an interesting place to visit.

Our next stop is Savannah in Georgia, where I think I spent one of the most scary nights of my entire life! To be continued … (English translation by Marine)