St Augustine.

[disneygirlie11]

We are going to be in St. Augustine in October for 3 days and I need some help as I haven't been there in 16 years--& I was only 12! We would like a clean, cheaper hotel in a good area. The main things we would like to do are: Golf Hall of Fame, beach, & the gator farm. Open to more suggestions, but really looking for hotel ideas. I saw another post about st Augustine, but they were looking for suggestions on a deluxe hotel. Thanks !!

[Patricia]

Just this past December, we stayed at Best Western Historical Inn (2010 N Ponce De Leon Blvd St Augustine)

Not fancy, but it was clean, comfy bed and staff was helpful. We used a coupon out of one of those books you pick up at rest stops.. I think it was around 69.00 with the coupon.

We were there on Christmas day and I thought it would be deserted, but the town was packed with tourist. We will go back when we have more time, the History is amazing. Aside from the obvious Castillo de San Marcos, we were blown away by The Cathedral Basilica and Flagler College (formerly Hotel Ponce de Leon).

Just. Wow.

[Altair]

Fort Mantanzas National Monument 14 miles south on A1A. Free admission includes ferry ride over to fort. Don't know how budget problems will affect this.

[disneygirlie11]

Thank you for your responses! I will definitely look into that hotel and those attractions. Is there an area you would suggest staying away from?

[thrillme]

My goodness...

You NEED to go eat at the Santa Maria ask for a table by the window. They give you a loaf of cheap bread to drop down to the hungry catfish below...it's so wild watching them climb over one another to get tot he food. The water is totally alive. People food is pretty good too.

We enjoyed touring thru one of the forts. I can't remember the name of it though. But it was supposed to be the OLDEST Fort in the US. Castillo...something I think. It was cool because the walls were made of a caliche (however you spell it). A "soft" material. When the enemy fired on it...the cannon balls would stick in the walls rather than tear them down. Occupants would collect the balls at night and fire them back at the enemy in the morning.

They also had Ponce de Leon tour. Kinda quirky but you could drink a small drink from the fountian of youth...

I would have liked to go to the beach. It's supposedly powder white sand. That would have been neat to see. All of Florida's waters are nice.

[Kenny1113]

I haven't been, but I hear the pirate museum is nice too! It was originally in key west and moved to St Augustine.

Hope you have fun! I really want to try to get away to St Augustine some time.

[Tigerinvestigator]

I will second Best Western Historical Inn. It was very clean and a good location to do the things you want to do. We got a great AAA rate. We haven't seen it in awhile but the St. George Inn is actually in the old city and has always been very nice and reasonably priced. With the St. George Inn you can walk the entire old city and never move your car. Make sure you walk the old city at dusk and take a ghost tour (starts beside St.George Inn). Pizzalley is one of our favorite places to eat in the world. Its in the heart of the old city.

[disneygirlie11]

Thank you for that info! Not having to use a car much would be great!

[Sylvia]

A few years, we spent a week in St Augustine and had a wonderful time. The history is amazing.

We stayed at the Bayfront Inn on Avenida Menendez; our room was in the historic section of the Inn - the Rodriguez House, which was a First Spanish Period building built by Royal Decree of the King of Spain.

We were able to walk to many sites, including the Castillo de San Marcos (the oldest fort in the US), the Lightner Museum, and the shops and restaurants of historic St. George Street. As someone already recommended, be sure to have dinner at the Santa Maria; you can also feed the catfish with the bread your server will give you.

We also took a great sightseeing tour - Old Town Trolley Tours of St. Augustine. If you google the name, the website has a lot of help information, as well as a map of St. Augustine and descriptions of the sites at the various tour stops.

If you enjoy history, you'll love St. Augustine. Have a good itme.

[wdw_bound]

We love St Augustine. Even when we are not staying there, we stop at the outlet mall on our way through town. They have a character warehouse that carries park merchandise a great way to get a quick fix!

[DonaldDuckUSA]

The Alligator Farm was actually a really neat little outing and I'd probably go back.

We did the Ripleys Believe it or Not Ghost Tour. They give you electromagnetic readers so you can monitor ghost activity and at the end of the tour you go to the Ripleys Museum at night. It was cheeky, but my boyfriend liked it.

Apparently there is also a famous lighthouse, but I've never been to it.

There is a pub crawl tour, if you're into that. There is also a "Ghost" pub crawl tour where they tell you ghost stories at every bar. I've never done it, but I know a few people have.

Also, the shell walls at the fort are called coquina (pronounced co-keen-a). :-D