To begin with the drive is almost ten hours and Meg and my Mom were coming. Not only that but so was Gypsy Rover and my Mom's dog Domino who had just road tripped together the prior weekend as we visited Brent, Alabama. And because two dogs was so much fun we added my Uncle's dog, Bailey, who Meg and I were dog sitting.
We loaded the two pups we were responsible for into the car and drove to my Mom's condo with a plan to be on the road to Florida by 6am. The dogs and Meg sat in the back with double seat down so the dogs could easily spread out into the hatch back of our C-Max Hybrid. We started out on time but we were slowed by some snow as we drove towards Georgia and in to the mountains. I knew that St. Augustine, Florida the temps would be an amazing mid 60s range but I hadn't checked the entire route. We left Nashville at 30 degrees and ran in to the snow fairly quickly. I had been looking forward to driving into the spring from what had been some dismal cold weather. At one of the rest areas near Chattanooga I stopped to take a picture of a tulip pushed down by snow, basically how I feel about winter right now.
The snow slowed us down enough that we had to change some of our plans for our first night in St. Augustine. Originally we were going to stop at the Church before Stations of the Cross at 6:00pm. However looking at our progress we weren't going to get there in time. So we changed our plans to go straight to our hotel and get checked in and then go visit a downtown brewery.
Traveling with three dogs, two of which are around 40lbs, made finding a hotel difficult. Most will only allow one if any and usually they are preferred to be smaller. Using the website Bring Fido I was able to locate a reasonable hotel that allowed two dogs per room but I requested adjoining rooms if possible figuring I could open the doors between the rooms. The hotel also had a dog park but we did not use it.
After checking in we drove to the Historic Downtown and parked a block or so away from the Church in a small lot with an attendant. The weather was perfect so we looked forward to stretching our legs and walking the dogs around town a little bit. I had checked in with a few local breweries to see if they were dog friendly and one was right next door to the Church which had seemed perfect when I thought that we were going to the Church the first night. However I have terrible luck as has been covered in a previous blog post so while they may have normally allowed a pup in, and definitely do in their other larger location, they were having a private event and could not allow in any dogs. We didn't get to drink there but the place looked real nice and the staff was welcoming. They also recommended we try Dog Rose Brewing which was just a short walk away in the Lincolnville area of St. Augustine.
As we walked around we passed several building that were part of Flagler College. The school is named for Henry Flagler (1830-1913). He was born in New York but as a young teen moved to Ohio to start working and by his mid twenties he was a partner in the store he worked in. Henry was a good business man and by 1861 he had already begun collecting a small fortune equaling $50,000. In 1867 Flagler joined with John D Rockefeller and Samuel Andrews to form Rockefeller, Andrews, and Flagler Oil which became Standard Oil Company, a company whose success Rockefeller credited to Flagler. In 1878 Mary Flagler, Henry's wife, became ill with tuberculosis and doctors recommended a trip to Florida. Mary sadly passed a way a few years later leaving Henry Flagler with a very poor opinion of St. Augustine. However after forming a new company aimed at developing Florida Flagler returned in 1883 with his second wife to Honeymoon with John Rockefeller. In 1885 Henry bought stake in the railroad business when he purchased the Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Halifax River Railroad as well as land in St. Augustine. On his plot of land he built the Ponce de Leon Hotel with an aim to provide 'modern' comforts while keeping in mind the historical architecture of the area; after all he wanted to celebrate the historical value of "America's oldest city." In 1968 the Ponce de Leon Hotel became the corner stone of Flagler college, a Liberal Arts college with over 30 majors.
Everywhere we turned it seemed like there was a historical marker or placard which makes sense for "America's oldest city" or more correctly the oldest continually inhabited European settlement. The city was founded and claimed in the name of Spain by Pedro Menendez de Aviles who named the city St. Augustine because his crew had first spotted land on August 28th, the feast day of St. Augustine. For two hundred years the city served as the capital of Spanish Florida until it became the capital of British East Florida, until it returned to Spain, and then finally the capital of the Florida territory when it was ceded to America in 1819 (Florida did not become a state until March 3, 1845). I hadn't really thought about all the history the city had witnessed.
Most of the buildings we passed were beautiful examples of Spanish Renaissance style. It was dark but we still stopped multiple times to enjoy different buildings and sights. When we reached Dog Rose I ordered a flight of their beers and a bag of dog treats for the pups. I also asked the bartender for any recommendations to eat in the area. She asked the time and then recommended the Bantam Chef, which closed in a little less than half an hour. The restaurant was in an adorable little house and proudly displayed on their menu their "Famous fish sandwich" so it only made sense to order that and I added a basket (fries and cole slaw). Now I'm not usually a big flounder fan but this was so good! You could tell how fresh the ingredients were and for the price I had soooo much fish on the sandwich!
On the way out we bought a growler filled with their Lincolnville Lager to take home and enjoy later.
Yelp review of Dogrose Brewing.
Yelp review of Bantam Chef.
Then we drove back to the hotel to get some sleep before we returned to the historic area during the day to more properly explore. Our first stop was at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, the entire reason for the trip.
Right across the street was the Monumento a la Constitutión 1813, a simple column monument. The column was built in honor of the Spanish Parliament in Cádiz writing the first Spanish Constitution. There was a royal decree for all Spanish towns to name their main plaza La Plaza de la Constitución and to erect a monument in it's honor. As the capital of the Spanish Colony the residents quickly created their monument. However on September 15, 1814 just one year after the monument was constructed word came that the new government had been overthrown by the monarchy and the monuments were to be torn down. Across the ocean from Spain and unwilling to undue their hard work the St. Augustine government did not tear down theirs and today it maybe the only unaltered monument still existing from that original decree.
There was also a Civil Rights Memorial in honor of Andrew Young's walk in St. Augustine. On June 9th, 1964 with the nation deep in debate of Civil Rights and what that meant for all races Andrew Young lead a march that started in Lincolnville and planned to end at the Plaza. However an angry white mob waited in the plaza. Having been sent by Martin Luther King Mr. Young did not let them deter him and walked into the plaza. He was severely beaten but those with him stayed true to their belief of non-violence. That moment certainly played a large role in stopping the filibuster on the Civil Rights Act which was finally signed on July 2nd, 1964 by then President Lyndon Johnson.
We continued around the fort to the old city gates which once marked the entrance into St. Augustine.
We then began to make our way back to the car by walking thought the historic district. It was filled with beautiful architecture, historic markers, small stores, and restaurants. One neat sight was the oldest wooden school house in the USA.
When we got back to the car to start the long drive home I decided to stop at the coffee shop, The Kookaburra, a few doors down from the Basilica for a drink. Inside was small with just enough room for the counter and a small line. The counter by the way had Australian coins inlayed inside it which was super neat. I tried the honey badger (honey, cinnamon, and vanilla latte) and Meg had a Mocha Nut (chocolate and coconut) latte. One thing I liked was that as they were making the coffee they added some of the flavoring to the espresso and some of it was added to the milk so that as it frothed and heated the flavoring would blend. It certainly made for a nice drink. Also the lid had an opening in the center to allow the aroma of the coffee to escape and add to the drink experience.
We had two last sights in St. Augustine, a drive over the Bridge of Lions and the St. Augustine Lighthouse. The Lighthouse was built in the 1870s and is the oldest brick structure in St. Augustine. The bridge of lions got that name because of the two Carrara marble Medici lion statues modeled on the ones found in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence, Italy. The statues were made by Romanelli Studios in Florence and were gifts by Dr. Andrew Anderson who spent the latter part of his life donating works of art for public spaces.
We were going to stop by the Fountain of Youth Archeological Park but it was already getting later in the day and we really wanted to hit the park so we tabled that for a later visit.
The drive home was going super well filled with calling out yellow car and random conversations. Then my Mom asked us about stickers she had been seeing around Nashville with a 3, sun, and "A" on a light blue background. We discovered it was a highway in Florida and a line of beers at Grayton Beer Company. So we looked up where it was and realized it would add about three hours to the drive. And when you are already driving for the night why not add some more? Also it was Feb 29th, Leap Day, and what better way to use bonus hours on a day that doesn't even exist three out of four years than on a random road trip addition. So we detoured for dinner and a flight at Grayton beer company and we were not disappointed! We had the pretzel and spent grain bread with a honey butter, stout butter, and a sea salt and cracked pepper butter. I ordered the burger and for dessert we had a slice of key lime pie... not to mention a flight of beers. The 1890 founders ale and 30A rose were my favorites!
In total our road trip looked like this and was totally worth the long hours for all the great sites and history we saw, the delicious beers, and awesome conversation!
Everywhere we turned it seemed like there was a historical marker or placard which makes sense for "America's oldest city" or more correctly the oldest continually inhabited European settlement. The city was founded and claimed in the name of Spain by Pedro Menendez de Aviles who named the city St. Augustine because his crew had first spotted land on August 28th, the feast day of St. Augustine. For two hundred years the city served as the capital of Spanish Florida until it became the capital of British East Florida, until it returned to Spain, and then finally the capital of the Florida territory when it was ceded to America in 1819 (Florida did not become a state until March 3, 1845). I hadn't really thought about all the history the city had witnessed.
Most of the buildings we passed were beautiful examples of Spanish Renaissance style. It was dark but we still stopped multiple times to enjoy different buildings and sights. When we reached Dog Rose I ordered a flight of their beers and a bag of dog treats for the pups. I also asked the bartender for any recommendations to eat in the area. She asked the time and then recommended the Bantam Chef, which closed in a little less than half an hour. The restaurant was in an adorable little house and proudly displayed on their menu their "Famous fish sandwich" so it only made sense to order that and I added a basket (fries and cole slaw). Now I'm not usually a big flounder fan but this was so good! You could tell how fresh the ingredients were and for the price I had soooo much fish on the sandwich!
On the way out we bought a growler filled with their Lincolnville Lager to take home and enjoy later.
Yelp review of Dogrose Brewing.
Yelp review of Bantam Chef.
Then we drove back to the hotel to get some sleep before we returned to the historic area during the day to more properly explore. Our first stop was at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, the entire reason for the trip.
In college my junior year we had what was called the "Junior Project" in our second semester. Basically you picked someone (in my case a philosopher) and researched their works and analyzed their writings and then would spend an hour being questioned on it by at least three members of the faculty. Well the philosopher I had studied was St. Augustine. I will write more about the actual Church in the blog post when I discuss all seven trips.
While my Mom and I were in the Church Meg had waited in the car with the dogs in the Church parking lot. When we came out Meg joined us to walk around town a little bit.
Right across the street was the Monumento a la Constitutión 1813, a simple column monument. The column was built in honor of the Spanish Parliament in Cádiz writing the first Spanish Constitution. There was a royal decree for all Spanish towns to name their main plaza La Plaza de la Constitución and to erect a monument in it's honor. As the capital of the Spanish Colony the residents quickly created their monument. However on September 15, 1814 just one year after the monument was constructed word came that the new government had been overthrown by the monarchy and the monuments were to be torn down. Across the ocean from Spain and unwilling to undue their hard work the St. Augustine government did not tear down theirs and today it maybe the only unaltered monument still existing from that original decree. 
There was also a Civil Rights Memorial in honor of Andrew Young's walk in St. Augustine. On June 9th, 1964 with the nation deep in debate of Civil Rights and what that meant for all races Andrew Young lead a march that started in Lincolnville and planned to end at the Plaza. However an angry white mob waited in the plaza. Having been sent by Martin Luther King Mr. Young did not let them deter him and walked into the plaza. He was severely beaten but those with him stayed true to their belief of non-violence. That moment certainly played a large role in stopping the filibuster on the Civil Rights Act which was finally signed on July 2nd, 1964 by then President Lyndon Johnson.
Next we walked along the beautiful Matanzas River to the Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the Continental US. It has protected the harbor since 1695 and was designed by Ignacio Daza. Construction of the fort began in 1672 after buccaneer Robert Searles attacked and destroyed St. Augustine and the original wooden fort in 1668. Throughout the city's history the fort changed hands and names multiple times. In 1924 the fort was declared a National Monument and in 1933 for the first time in 251 years it ceased to act as a military base. It has survived two sieges and use as a prison during the American Revolution. Three signers of the Declaration of Independence were held there: Thomas Heywood Jr, Arthur Middleton, and Edward Rutledge.
We then began to make our way back to the car by walking thought the historic district. It was filled with beautiful architecture, historic markers, small stores, and restaurants. One neat sight was the oldest wooden school house in the USA.When we got back to the car to start the long drive home I decided to stop at the coffee shop, The Kookaburra, a few doors down from the Basilica for a drink. Inside was small with just enough room for the counter and a small line. The counter by the way had Australian coins inlayed inside it which was super neat. I tried the honey badger (honey, cinnamon, and vanilla latte) and Meg had a Mocha Nut (chocolate and coconut) latte. One thing I liked was that as they were making the coffee they added some of the flavoring to the espresso and some of it was added to the milk so that as it frothed and heated the flavoring would blend. It certainly made for a nice drink. Also the lid had an opening in the center to allow the aroma of the coffee to escape and add to the drink experience.
We had two last sights in St. Augustine, a drive over the Bridge of Lions and the St. Augustine Lighthouse. The Lighthouse was built in the 1870s and is the oldest brick structure in St. Augustine. The bridge of lions got that name because of the two Carrara marble Medici lion statues modeled on the ones found in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence, Italy. The statues were made by Romanelli Studios in Florence and were gifts by Dr. Andrew Anderson who spent the latter part of his life donating works of art for public spaces.
We were going to stop by the Fountain of Youth Archeological Park but it was already getting later in the day and we really wanted to hit the park so we tabled that for a later visit.
The drive home was going super well filled with calling out yellow car and random conversations. Then my Mom asked us about stickers she had been seeing around Nashville with a 3, sun, and "A" on a light blue background. We discovered it was a highway in Florida and a line of beers at Grayton Beer Company. So we looked up where it was and realized it would add about three hours to the drive. And when you are already driving for the night why not add some more? Also it was Feb 29th, Leap Day, and what better way to use bonus hours on a day that doesn't even exist three out of four years than on a random road trip addition. So we detoured for dinner and a flight at Grayton beer company and we were not disappointed! We had the pretzel and spent grain bread with a honey butter, stout butter, and a sea salt and cracked pepper butter. I ordered the burger and for dessert we had a slice of key lime pie... not to mention a flight of beers. The 1890 founders ale and 30A rose were my favorites!
In total our road trip looked like this and was totally worth the long hours for all the great sites and history we saw, the delicious beers, and awesome conversation!
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