St. Augustine Summary

I am going to post more in detail (maybe over several different posts, because it will probably get long) about our trip and include some pictures, but I wanted to post a quick summary for those interested or who may not have the time to read the longer more detailed posts to come.  I will try to keep this one brief.

We originally weren't sure if we were going to stay overnight or not.  We normally don't, because it is difficult to find a room at a reasonable price for all 6 of us, and in most places in our price range, we would require two rooms, which then puts it out of our price range.  I went into it in more detail here: Eye Opener about my feelings on the subject, but I like to be honest and don't feel comfortable booking a room for 4 when there are six of us.  I teach my children not to lie, and I must try to be a good example for them.  A friend recommended a hostel, called Pirate Haus Inn .  It is a hostel with dormitory style rooms, but also has family rooms with a queen bed and 2 sets of bunk beds.  It was an amazing experience and I'd recommend it to anyone with larger families, or anyone who wants to try something different.

We arrived, checked in and walked around. We walked a lot.  We were looking for a restaurant for dinner, but we wanted to see what our choices were before choosing one.  We ran into a couple of problems.  First of all, there was our family size.  Most of the places we found were pretty tiny.  Secondly, we were having trouble finding a family friendly place.  There were tons of bars, pubs, lounges, etc. but they either didn't allow children, or weren't places where I would want to bring my child.   And thirdly, we don't eat meat on Fridays, (with the exception of fish/seafood) so that also limited us.  We ended up with a seafood restaurant.  The wait was long.  We ended up sitting outside so we could get seated faster.  It was pretty brisk for FL and some of the girls were getting pretty chilly.  Thankfully, they had various propane heaters situated all over the patio, so even though we were outside, we were plenty warm. It was really neat, and we had the bonus of live entertainment.  After, we went back to our hostel and to sleep for the night.  St. Augustine on a Friday night is not a quiet city.  Loud car radios, drunken stupor, and steel drums (yep, that's correct) kept me mostly awake until 3 AM, but that's okay.

After all you can eat pirate pancakes at our hostel, we checked out and Nick headed to Flagler College to present.  The girls and I decided to just walk around and see where we ended up.  I am normally a planner, so being totally spontaneous is not my usual thing, but it was awesome.  We window shopped a lot, saw part of the St. Patrick's Day parade (storm troopers in kilts, the ghostbuster car, and period soldiers were among the sights), ate some poutine, saw a Greek Orthodox Shrine, and also went into the St. Augustine Cathedral.  We had a great time.  Beautiful sights. 

We linked back up with Nick and ate in a little local Cuban café.  Cuban sandwiches, fresh fruit sangria, and café con leche later, we were happy campers.  We walked around a little more, enjoyed the beautiful architecture, and then headed over to the Mission Nombre De Dios to see the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche.  Absolutely beautiful.  It was stunning and breathtaking and probably my favorite part of the trip.  After we were done there, we headed back to the van and started back home.

The weekend was so refreshing, and was just what our family needed.  We felt like we were gone for days and not just an overnighter.   We had such wonderful quality family time, and I didn't realize how much we needed that.  The whole time was fun and relaxing and we truly enjoyed each others company.  No bickering or arguing, just lots of laughing and being silly and having fun.  It was hard to believe that we left less than 24 hours after we arrived.  It was that kind of vacation.  It was perfect.