**I participated in a  Bloggin’ Mama’Cation via Bloggin’ Mamas. We were invited by the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra, & The Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau  ‘Florida Historic Coast‘, who provided admission to the sites and also provided our lunches and dinners.

Hotel accommodations and breakfasts were provided to us by Hilton St. Augustine Historic Bayfront.**

Last month we visited the historic and beautiful city of St. Augustine Florida. It was our first time there and we immediately fell in love with St. Augustine’s  small time charm and tranquil surroundings.

We stayed at the  Hilton St. Augustine Historic Bayfront. The hotel is designed to seamlessly fit in to the Spanish colonial architecture that it is surrounded by. It was made to look like nineteen smaller buildings, but it is actually one big building. It has all the small time charm of a B&B, with the amenities and convenience of a larger hotel. And being that it is right in the heart of downtown St. Augustine, you are just a few steps away from walking through history.

This was a “family” vacation, so the kiddos had to be constantly entertained, and they were. From catching up with some pirate history at The Pirate & Treasure Museum, to battling pirates on the high seas with the Black Raven Pirate Adventure.

The St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoological Park  and Marineland Dolphin Adventure took us on a tour of the wild side of St. Augustine, as we fed dolphins and got up close and personal with some gators.

Ripley’s Believe It or Not!  was a fun and interesting museum. It kind of reminded me of the old freak shows back in the day in old Coney Island. The kiddos had a blast running back and forth in  this groovy psychedelic lit swirling tunnel, that is towards the end of the museum. I dare you to try to walk through it without holding on to the rail.

On our last full day we visited the Colonial Quarters, which takes you on a guided tour through the history of St. Augustine.  And at the end you can dine on some tapas at Taberna del Caballo.

All fun stuff if you really want to get into the colonial Spanish mood of the town.

Our last night was spent hunting for ghosts on The Ghosts and Gravestones Tour. We toured the town on a trolley as our guide told us ghosts tales of the town. The tour ends at the Old Jailhouse where you are greeted by an old inmate who has returned to tell his tale. I also had a blast by sneaking into the dark corners and kicking the jail bars and watching everybody jump and wonder “what the hell is going on?” My zombie voice also came into play as I even had the Wifey frazzled.

The Grub

Breakfasts were provided to us by the Hilton as part of their family package. It was a buffet with loads of fresh food. I can honestly say it was the best breakfast buffet that I have ever had. The biscuits and gravy were the “bomb diggy yo”.  It was at the hotel restaurant named Aviles. We also dined there our last night, I had an awesome plate of lamb chops accompanied with a couple of glasses of Stella. Great Combo!

Meehans Irish Pub makes a killer burger and has a great selection of beer.  We dined and watched the sunset on the second floor balcony.

Taberna Del Caballo located in The Colonial Quarters serves a tapas style menu, which the chicken skewers are mad banging yo, especially when you partner them up with a cold Corona.

They also make a really good cubano (Cuban sandwich).

Pizzalley’s serves some really good garlic sticks, and their chicken parm was good too. Portions are huge and the price is right.

St. Augustine was a blast! We miss it so much. Next time the Wifey and I will probably ditch the kiddos and take the “adult” tour.