My family and I made our third trip up to St Augustine because we love it so much. This is a city that is full of history and life. St Augustine is getting ready to celebrate it’s 450th anniversary. Their vibrant downtown boasts many things to do from museums, places to shop, restaurants and bars to their beautiful waterfront.
Ponce De Leon Fountain Of Youth Archaeological Park
The first place we visited in St Augustine was the Ponce de Leon Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. This park is located in the area that was first explored by Ponce de Leon. One of the first things you can do when you enter the park is visit the Spring House located right next to the entrance and have a drink from the Fountain of Youth.
It has been recorded as early as the 17th century in a Spanish land grant. The spring comes from a Floridian aquifer which lies under most of northern Florida.
While at the Fountain of Youth Park you can see a show at the planetarium, encounter beautiful peacocks throughout the park, see an original native american burial ground, walk through a native american village to see how they once lived, see the 1565 Menendez Settlement, walk along the riverwalk to see breathtaking views of Matanzas Bay and St Augustine Inlet, and see a Spanish Watchtower. One of our kids favorite things to see was the cannonball and musket firing. Most of the people working at Fountain of Youth Park are in costume and tell fascinating stories about the history of the site. The man who gave the musket demonstration was even nice enough to give my kids each a gold doublin, which my son later put in the gumball machine in the gift shop.
Colonial Quarter
After lunch we stopped in at Colonial Quarter for a visit. I have to say this was one of my favorite stops in St. Augustine. We had a casual tour through 4 centuries of St. Augustine history. Our tour guide was Grimm. Grimm was a fantastic storyteller who even kept my 3 year old engaged. We got to play in an archaeological dig, see a blacksmithing demonstration, see a musket drill and firing (this was particularly entertaining as it took a few times to get the musket to fire) and climb the watchtower to see a great view of the Castillo. I highly recommend visiting Colonial Quarter for anyone who would like to learn a little bit about the history of St Augustine.
Pirate and Treasure Museum
Our last stop was to the Pirate and Treasure Museum next door to Colonial Quarter. This was by far my 3 year old’s favorite stop during our trip to St. Augustine. This is a very hands-on, interactive museum. You get to walk through a pirate ship to see what life was like as a pirate. At the beginning of the tour the kids get a treasure map. All along the tour they can look for drawers with skull and crossbones to find the treasure. There are animatronics located throughout the tour telling pirate stories. There is even an interactive gun deck where the kids can fire off cannons. My 3 year old would have stayed there firing the cannon all day long if we would have let him. If you have a pirate lover in your family this museum is the place to go!
Thank you to the Fountain of Youth Park, Colonial Quarter and Pirate and Treasure Museum for giving my family a day of fun that we won’t forget. For more information on any of these places visit the web sites and social media pages listed below:
Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park:
Website: http://www.fountainofyouthflorida.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FountainofYouthFlorida
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/FOYexplorer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WorldFamousFOY
Colonial Quarter:
Website: http://www.colonialquarter.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColonialQuarter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ColonialQuarter/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ColonialQuarter
St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum
Website: http://www.piratesoul.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePirateMuseum
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThePirateMuseum
You can read more about our Florida visit here.
Yeah, this WAS def. an awesome trip, and how cool that you got to see a musket fire! My son would love this trip, and I would too.
I think my girls would enjoy this and I am proud of my self for actually knowing what you are talking about. I never paid attention in history class but this I did pay attention to,,, pat on the back for me.
That is a trip i want to take.. i have heard so many good things about that place.. and maybe i can get a little younger! lol
I have been to St. Augustine once while I was passing through leaving Orlando. My family and I stopped by a taco shack near the beach before we got back on the road again. I never knew that St. Augustine had so much history there!
Wow, what an adventure. I would love to take a tour through St. Augustine one of these days!
Awesome post! I was born and raised in Jacksonville, so we always visited St. Augustine. It is beautiful. You really learn a lot and get a fun history lesson!
I would love to visit! Hope to get there one day! This period is so interesting, and sad, in the history!
I have always wanted to go to St. Augustine! We lived in Naples and it was more convenient then, so now we must plan a time to go and visit all our Florida friends and make it a point to stop there during our vacation. Lovely place!
I love that you posted this piece. My in-laws live in Orlando, and I’m so sick of Disney World and I was just telling my husband that we need to find a new Florida getaway. St. Augustine looks beautiful and intriguing.
I’d love to visit St Augustine sometime. Sounds like you had a great trip.
Fascinating!! Our boys would have love the pirate ship too!!
We love this city!
This looks like super fun memories in the making!
I knew it was rich with history, but I didn’t realize how much there really was to do. I’ve got to get down there soon!
I think this is so cool, history is always so much fun to learn about!
I think the Pirate and Treasure Museum sounds like a lot of fun to explore for visitors of all ages – I’ve always been interested in finding ‘buried treasure’. I still had thoughts in the back of my head of stumbling upon a gold coin when wading in Florida waters during a trip. My nephew would love to visit an attraction like this.
Sounds like a great trip! Now that you drank from the fountain of youth, you can look forward to staying young forever (well, young at heart at least) 🙂 Thanks for the great recap of your trip!
Wow! This trip looks really cool. My son would absolutely love the pirate area as well. Very cool history and 450 years!!!
Truly is historical. I admire cities and places that are keeping the history and old artifacts of the past. Very educational, too.