Scarlett

Not your usual Trip Report!
Believe it or Not, Today Scarlett and the Yankee escorted a 13 year old boy around Ripleys Believe it or Not in St Augustine Florida (on Hwy A1A).
I thought this was the cheesiest thing we could do and remembering what a 13 year old boy likes, the best thing we could do.
I was right.
It is a huge building, looks like an old Spanish fort, very organized and crowded but you never feel crowded once you are inside.
For the three of us, it cost about $36-
If you like Freak-ish entertainment, you will love it.
I noticed that the fathers and the kids were all having great times.
The moms looked like they were enjoying the gift shop on the way out.
There are numerous restaurants and a park by the old fort right next door, so you can picnic or have a nice lunch after your tour..if you have a strong stomach.
Hope this helps anyone traveling to/in Florida with bored children

dln

The things we do for the children in our lives! I hope you got to stroll around St. Augustine after Ripley's. Isn't that a beautiful old city? We were there several years back and it was on the verge of a hurricane. We have photos of our (then) little children with their Disney issue rain ponchos blowing in 40 mile an hour winds. What a memory.

Okay, Scarlett. Most gruesome display at Ripley's? Most odd? Funniest? Give us the scoop!

Scarlett

Most gruesome
We all agreed - The man with the horn (unicorn style) growing out of his head.
Most icky:
1- the old lady that knitted hats, gloves and slippers out of her own hair.
2- the man with two pupils in each eye.
Expected but still....
two headed animals
the man whose body stopped at his waist ( we saw him in Todd Brownings movie Freaks)
torture instruments
Funniest:
The wax museum old couple - she is posing and her old husband is taking the photo..everyone who walked past them would smile at them, excuse themselves and walk by..we just stood and watched and got a good chuckle out of that.
Most odd:
There was so much odd about it. I have never gone to this type of place and it sort of depressed me more than anything..those poor people, the tallest, the fattest, the skinniest ( he had an illness from a failed Pituitary gland, never weighed more than 68 lbs)
But the fun was watching the children, all wide eyed and waiting for something weird to happen

GoTravel

St. Augustine always gets overlooked when people inquire about southern cities. Savannah and Charleston get all the press when I think St. Augustine is every bit as pretty.

Charleston does have the best shopping and dining of the three but I think they are all even when it comes to beauty.

OO

So Scarlett...WHAT do they sell in the gift shop?!

Sounds like a good rainy day activity and just the ticket for a 13 year old...and that's what counts.

rb_travelerxATyahoo

Cheesey doesn't even start to describe it, but it *IS* fun -- just gotta keep in mind you're going for "Entertainment value" and not culture or learning.

We got a kick out of a display that tolk how many people can touch their noses or chin with the tongue, and asked you to try. Later you find yourself at a display looking thru the one-way mirror at people doing what you just did, unaware of being watched .. as you were too.

St Aug is a great city ... I especially like the old hotels; try to take a tour of Flagler University if you can while visiting.

Scarlett

Yes, the trick mirror was very funny! Also the part where you could leave your shadow on the wall
Everyone enjoyed that.

Gift shop: mirrors, candles, silk-like doilies with shiney embroiderie, little shrunken heads and that sort of thing Drinking glasses, key chains..

You are right, St Augustine is really nice and interesting, when you step away from the cheese factor. I love wandering the back alleys, with the window boxes spilling over with colorful plantings, the birds are so noisy and busy! It is fun and not that hard to imagine the place before it became a tourist destination.. a sleepy town by the water~

artstuff

Thank you, Scarlett, for the fun trip down memory lane. I remember visiting the Ripley's Museum in 1971, when I was 13 years old. The shrunken heads and the l-o-n-g fingernails are what I remembered the most. Oh, how gruesomely fun!

I had the pleasure of visiting another Ripley's Museum many years later with my husband, this one in Northern California. It wasn't the same - this museum was dedicated to the life of Ripley, although the building was made out of one redwood tree.

I remember St Augustine was a very beautiful little town with the most incredible fort. We took a little trolley that dropped us at the points of interest around town. It was enjoyable just strolling through the streets. I hope the town hasn't changed too much in the last 34 years. Peace.

Robyn

gmoney

Robyn, I'm afraid you will be severely disappointed in how much it has changed. We went there 10 years ago for a long weekend and really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere and the history. We just recently went back for the same thing and when I drove into the historic district I was shocked at how much it had grown and how crowded it was. We finally found our Inn after fighting traffic and were able to relax, but it was definitely different than before. There was even a huge chain hotel being built right on the waterfront. The charm has gone and it seems very touristy now. It was still very enjoyable but just not the same.

Scarlett

Robyn is sadly right. St Augustine has lost much of it's charm with tourist shops and crowds, but if you walk in the back streets on a weekday, you can catch a glimpse of the place you remember.
There was a 4 room house made from a tree trunk in the parking lot

Tandoori_Girl

If I'm not mistaken (which could actually happen as I creep into my twilite years) the Ripley's building was once a hotel owned by Florida author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and her husband Norton Baskin. Miss Marjorie is surely rolling in her grave at the oddities housed in the building.

Or has Ripley's moved? I went to Ripleys in San Antonio. Wonder where they get all that stuff to put into their many buildings. Are there anymore Ripley's out there in the world?

Scarlett

This Museum in Jacksonville is the original Ripley's.
There are over 800 exhibits, many from Robert Ripley's personal collection.
It is in " Castle Warden "..on A1A..

Tandoori_Girl

Yes, that's it. Her friend Zora Neale Hurston used to visit Marjorie there, sneaking up the back servants entrance, to Marjorie's disdain. Hurston hoped not to excite the racists who would rather she stay away from the front door.

Tandoori_Girl

Scarlett, you meant to say St. Augustine not Jax, right?

Scarlett

Yep

shaz60

We've been to the Ripley's in Myrtle Beach on a rainy December day. It was very corny and I'm not sure if was worth the considerable entrance price but sometimes you just have to suck it up and take the kids somewhere, anywhere.