Belated St. Augustine trip report
Jan 25th, 2008 | 06:07 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2005
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Belated St. Augustine trip report
Better late than never! I wrote this right after our trip and never got around to posting.
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St. Augustine trip report, November 2007
We stayed with family at Anastasia Condos, Dondanville Road. www.anastasiacondos.com
Thanksgiving Day: The day started with a walk on the beach. The temps, weather, and (lack of) crowds were perfect. Noontime Thanksgiving dinner at the Raintree restaurant, 102 San Marco Avenue, www.raintreerestaurant.com. Excellent location near Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum. Busy busy, service was excellent. I would rate food a B+. My chicken dish was a little overcooked. Server said it was the restaurant’s busiest day of the year with over 720 reservations. Stroll on St. George Street afterwards. About a third of the shops were open.
Friday: The day started with another walk on the beach. Once again, the temps, weather, and (lack of) crowds were perfect! Lunch at Mango Mango restaurant, 700 A1A Beach Blvd in St. Augustine Beach. The menu was excellent with a Cuban/islands flair. Service was ok but very slow. Food was good. Once again I’d rate it a B+. I ordered a Cesar side salad with my meal and it was huge. The afternoon continued with a tour on the Old Town Trolley, www.staugustine.com/directory/old_town_trolley/. Trolley tickets are good for three days and include unlimited on-and-off privileges. We agreed that it would take at least that long to do all the shopping, eating, museuming, and sightseeing that you’d want to do. The service and commentary were excellent, and the company offers several package deals with a variety of museum/attraction tickets packaged with the tour. Evening dinner and entertainment were at the Alhambra Dinner Theater in Jacksonville, 12000 Beach Blvd, www.alhambradinnertheatre.com. I personally would rate the food a C-. It reminded me a lot of college cafeteria fare. I could picture the kitchen staff opening jumbo food service cans of green beans and carrots and dumping them into the trays to be warmed and served. Chicken did taste good but again was dried and overcooked. Menu included cubed carrots, green beans, half-ears of corn, potatoes, macaroni salad, a broccoli casserole, rolls, chicken, and roast beef. A salad was served at the table. Dessert was offered at a table at the front of the theater and consisted of green jello, a fruit cup, chocolate mousse, or chocolate cake option. Dinner included iced tea, water, or coffee to drink. Soft drinks and alcohol are offered for an additional charge. Once the show started, the below average meal was forgotten. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was a fun, energetic, entertaining production.
Saturday: The day started with a visit to the Alligator Farm Zoological Park at 999 Anastasia Blvd., www.alligatorfarm.us, which is a far more interesting and entertaining zoo than I expected. Allow a half day for this visit, maybe more in the spring when birds use the area for nesting, there will many to photograph and watch. There are several demonstrations that take place in a central alligator pit, including a feeding demo. There are some brave employees of the park, including one who stands in the middle of about 40 alligators in one pit throwing out pieces of food (dead, furry rodents) and prodding the gators to open their jaws or get up and walk. Lunch was at JP Henley’s at 10 Marine Street in the Old City, a block from the Bridge of Lions (www.jphenleys.com). This bar features over 50 beers on tap, about twice that in bottles, and a wide selection of wines. We enjoyed their small but inventive pub menu featuring sandwiches with an Italian bent. The restaurant features many many many tv’s so you can watch your favorite sports team. But don’t let that scare you away — the main bar room is rowdier than the quieter wine-themed dining room adjacent. We continued our Trolley tour from the previous day, enjoying three days of on-and-off privileges. The day ended with a drive to Jacksonville for the annual boat parade and fireworks spectacular. We had crazy good luck with parking and traffic both before and after the event.
Sunday: After church services, we returned to the Old City for lunch at Columbia, “gem of restaurants,” located at 98 St. George Street, www.columbiarestaurant.com. The Columbia has a Spanish/Cuban flavor. We enjoyed it very much, but as with every restaurant this weekend, the service was good but slow. The day continued with a trolley ride to the Fountain of Youth, America’s oldest tourist trap! It’s finely aged cheese, though, and an enjoyable way to spend a couple hours. There are 15 acres to explore. The park includes a planetarium demonstration that helps you understand celestial navigation, the GLOBE OF DISCOVERY (you have to say that in your best cheesy announcer voice) showing how the Spanish explorers crossed the ocean and settled various places in North and South America, and finally the Fountain of Youth itself, a sheltered spring that provided fresh water to the natives and later to Spanish explorers. We followed this with a last stroll down through St. Augustine, checking out the shops on St. George Street and ending with drinks outside at O. C. White’s, also a block from the Bridge of Lions at 118 Avenida Menendez, www.ocwhites.com. Dinner was had late in the evening at Napoli Pizza south of St. Augustine on A1A near Crescent Beach. The antipasto salad was loaded with olives, cheeses, and meats, and the pizza was delicious.
~~~~~~~~
St. Augustine trip report, November 2007
We stayed with family at Anastasia Condos, Dondanville Road. www.anastasiacondos.com
Thanksgiving Day: The day started with a walk on the beach. The temps, weather, and (lack of) crowds were perfect. Noontime Thanksgiving dinner at the Raintree restaurant, 102 San Marco Avenue, www.raintreerestaurant.com. Excellent location near Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum. Busy busy, service was excellent. I would rate food a B+. My chicken dish was a little overcooked. Server said it was the restaurant’s busiest day of the year with over 720 reservations. Stroll on St. George Street afterwards. About a third of the shops were open.
Friday: The day started with another walk on the beach. Once again, the temps, weather, and (lack of) crowds were perfect! Lunch at Mango Mango restaurant, 700 A1A Beach Blvd in St. Augustine Beach. The menu was excellent with a Cuban/islands flair. Service was ok but very slow. Food was good. Once again I’d rate it a B+. I ordered a Cesar side salad with my meal and it was huge. The afternoon continued with a tour on the Old Town Trolley, www.staugustine.com/directory/old_town_trolley/. Trolley tickets are good for three days and include unlimited on-and-off privileges. We agreed that it would take at least that long to do all the shopping, eating, museuming, and sightseeing that you’d want to do. The service and commentary were excellent, and the company offers several package deals with a variety of museum/attraction tickets packaged with the tour. Evening dinner and entertainment were at the Alhambra Dinner Theater in Jacksonville, 12000 Beach Blvd, www.alhambradinnertheatre.com. I personally would rate the food a C-. It reminded me a lot of college cafeteria fare. I could picture the kitchen staff opening jumbo food service cans of green beans and carrots and dumping them into the trays to be warmed and served. Chicken did taste good but again was dried and overcooked. Menu included cubed carrots, green beans, half-ears of corn, potatoes, macaroni salad, a broccoli casserole, rolls, chicken, and roast beef. A salad was served at the table. Dessert was offered at a table at the front of the theater and consisted of green jello, a fruit cup, chocolate mousse, or chocolate cake option. Dinner included iced tea, water, or coffee to drink. Soft drinks and alcohol are offered for an additional charge. Once the show started, the below average meal was forgotten. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was a fun, energetic, entertaining production.
Saturday: The day started with a visit to the Alligator Farm Zoological Park at 999 Anastasia Blvd., www.alligatorfarm.us, which is a far more interesting and entertaining zoo than I expected. Allow a half day for this visit, maybe more in the spring when birds use the area for nesting, there will many to photograph and watch. There are several demonstrations that take place in a central alligator pit, including a feeding demo. There are some brave employees of the park, including one who stands in the middle of about 40 alligators in one pit throwing out pieces of food (dead, furry rodents) and prodding the gators to open their jaws or get up and walk. Lunch was at JP Henley’s at 10 Marine Street in the Old City, a block from the Bridge of Lions (www.jphenleys.com). This bar features over 50 beers on tap, about twice that in bottles, and a wide selection of wines. We enjoyed their small but inventive pub menu featuring sandwiches with an Italian bent. The restaurant features many many many tv’s so you can watch your favorite sports team. But don’t let that scare you away — the main bar room is rowdier than the quieter wine-themed dining room adjacent. We continued our Trolley tour from the previous day, enjoying three days of on-and-off privileges. The day ended with a drive to Jacksonville for the annual boat parade and fireworks spectacular. We had crazy good luck with parking and traffic both before and after the event.
Sunday: After church services, we returned to the Old City for lunch at Columbia, “gem of restaurants,” located at 98 St. George Street, www.columbiarestaurant.com. The Columbia has a Spanish/Cuban flavor. We enjoyed it very much, but as with every restaurant this weekend, the service was good but slow. The day continued with a trolley ride to the Fountain of Youth, America’s oldest tourist trap! It’s finely aged cheese, though, and an enjoyable way to spend a couple hours. There are 15 acres to explore. The park includes a planetarium demonstration that helps you understand celestial navigation, the GLOBE OF DISCOVERY (you have to say that in your best cheesy announcer voice) showing how the Spanish explorers crossed the ocean and settled various places in North and South America, and finally the Fountain of Youth itself, a sheltered spring that provided fresh water to the natives and later to Spanish explorers. We followed this with a last stroll down through St. Augustine, checking out the shops on St. George Street and ending with drinks outside at O. C. White’s, also a block from the Bridge of Lions at 118 Avenida Menendez, www.ocwhites.com. Dinner was had late in the evening at Napoli Pizza south of St. Augustine on A1A near Crescent Beach. The antipasto salad was loaded with olives, cheeses, and meats, and the pizza was delicious.
Feb 1st, 2008 | 11:59 AM
#3
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,360
Likes: 0
xrae-
Glad you "found" Mango Mango's in St. Augustine Beach and enjoyed it. I like it too. It's not haute cuisine, but then they don't pretend to be anything more than a small, casual beach restaurant. Their food is Caribbean-inspired and pretty good.
Glad you "found" Mango Mango's in St. Augustine Beach and enjoyed it. I like it too. It's not haute cuisine, but then they don't pretend to be anything more than a small, casual beach restaurant. Their food is Caribbean-inspired and pretty good.
Feb 1st, 2008 | 12:53 PM
#4
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 700
Likes: 0
You are the only other person I have read a post from who has actually gone to the Fountain of Youth. We made the mistake of stopping by on a trip about 5 years ago...cheesey doesn't even begin to describe it! Do they still hand out samples of the water in little cups?
