30 Jul 36 hours in St. Augustine, FL

We picked the wrong weekend to go to St. Augustine: it was HOT! I know it is summer, in Florida, and most of the country had been uncharacteristically hot, but a heat index of over 110 F does not equate to “let’s casually take our time and explore the historic district where there is practically no shade”. My Minnesotan skin does not tend to agree with those type of conditions. But, none the less, we had one day to explore, and we were going to take advantage of it.

In between sitting in any shade we could find, we checked out St Augustine beach, glanced at the lighthouse, caught the end of the farmers market, visited Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, wandered the historical district, sipped wine at the San Sebestian Winery tour and tasting, relaxed on the winery’s rooftop patio, The Cellar Upstairs, while listening to live music, and topped it off with a relaxing dinner at a little Italian restaurant located along the oldest street in the United States, Aviles Street. All in all, it was a fun quick trip and we earned 45,000 bonus Club Carlson miles from their BOGO promotion by staying at a Country Inn and Suites hotel. We will be using these points towards an exciting trip abroad–more on that later!

Check out our video of the sights of St. Augustine: