Saint Augustine, our Nation’s Oldest City….

Discover blocks of pedestrian only traffic along guaint streets, lined by 18th century homes which are now historic landmarks. An excellent way to view unique shops, restaurants, galleries and museums. Explore the Old City’s brick-lined streets, tour a historic church, walk along the beautiful bayfront, learn about early Spanish and English settlers. See the many historic buildings which have lured northerners for winter vacations a century ago. Visit Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, Fl (1695), the nation’s oldest and only remaining 17th century stone fort, a National Historic Monument which you can tour inside and out. A more leisurely approach would be a horse and buggy ride to provide that unique way to absorb the stories of yesteryear. Evening ghost tours delight you with their tales of spirits past and present. A bayfront cruise can give you yet another perspective of this beautiful ancient city. The city’s calendar is filled with special events, pageants, reenactments and celebrations of history and culture. Nights of Lights which bathes the Old City with sparkling white holiday lights and of course July fireworks over the bayfront and much more.

Casa de Solana Bed & Breakfast is located on the oldest European settled street in the nation. The narrow brick paved street has charming galleries, antiques, restaurants and a variety of shopping experiences. All within easy walking distance and the historic district should not be missed.

Fountain of Youth Park

The Fountain of Youth Park is a magical and unique place.  A fully fledged archeological park, the park is believed to be the site where Ponce de Leon first landed in the New World in 1513.  Numerous artifacts can be seen here, in addition to the famed fountain that Ponce de Leon went in search of after hearing legends and tales of it from bimini Indians he encountered on the islands.

The Oldest House Complex

The nearby Oldest House one of St Augustine’s finest treasures of local history. The local trollies provide an excellent opportunity to exit and re-board as you explore. Horse and buggy offer narrated tours by day and night. The city’s bayfront makes all types of water activities readily available, including harbor cruises and kayaking.

Festivals fill the calendar year-round, many celebrating historic events or offering reenactments. Enjoy arts and craft fairs, seafood festivals, colonial celebrations, Native American ceremonies and torchlight parades. November through January, St. Augustine sparkles with white lights, celebrating “Nights of Lights” through the holiday season.  St. Augustine Attractions there are many, allow yourself a few days to absorb the history and beauty.  This is a magical city and your senses will be satisfied.

Ximenez-Fatio House

The Ximenez-Fatio House, a Historic Museam House circa 1798, is located at 20 Aviles Street, directly across from Casa de Solana Bed & Breakfast Inn.  Andres Ximenez, native of Ronda, Spain had come to St. Augustine in 1790.  Records show that in April 1791, he married Juana a 15 year old daughter of a Minorcan family in St. Augustine.  Ximenez bought a two-story wooden house on the corner of what is now Aviles and Cadiz Streets.  The debate over Casa de Solana’s circa is still ongoing, built by Manual Solana.

With a store in his house, Ximenez prospered enough to acquire the bordering corner lot. He built his coquina block house, two warehouses and a separate coquina kitchen building.  His general store occupied the ground floor and living quarters were upstairs in Spanish style. Today, the Ximenez-Fatio House restored and furnished to show how it might have looked during Florida’s Territorial Period. This house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Father Miguel O’Reilly House Museum

The Father Miguel O’Reilly House has been a part of the lives of the Sisters of St. Joseph since the first eight Sisters arrived from the Motherhouse in Le Puy, France, amid the late summer heat of September 1866. The Sisters had volunteered to come to St. Augustine in answer to the call of Augustin Verot, then Bishop of Savannah, who had traveled back to his hometown of Le Puy the previous year. verot wanted the Sisters to come to Florida to teach the children of the recently freed African-American slaves. The O’Reilly House, which by the time of their arrival had been held in trust for 54 years, became their first convent and first school.

Sixty-three years earlier, Father O’Reilly, then pastor of the St. Augustine parish, had the foresight to prepare a detailed will in which he left his residence, which had served as the parish rectory, for the benefit of an order of nuns “for education according to the plan of St. Francis de Sales.” (The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, though primarily based on the constitutions of the Society of Jesus, were influenced by the works of St. Francis de Sales.)

The Spanish Military Hospital, St. Augustine, Fl

The Spanish Military Hospital Museum building is a reconstruction of a Military Hospital that stood on this site during the Second Spanish Colonial Period, 1784-1821. Showcased in the museum are areas of Military Hospital life you would have experienced had you been a patient in 1791. The Hospital’s Haunted Happenings, when the city overhauled its waterlines, which went underneath the structure, they found piles of human bones. It is now believed that the hospital was built over an old Indian burial site along with the remains of patients. The building is called “Florida’s most haunted Hospital.” Stories abound of beds moving across rooms, footsteps coming from an empty upper floor, the sounds of screams and moans coming from nowhere! Visitors are often touched by invisible presences, the smell of sulfur is often detected. In the mourning room, the sounds of praying and sobbing can be heard. The surgeon’s office, objects move and shake on their own. The apothecary, shadows move strangely across walls and sobbs of men can be heard. Experience these hauntings, tours are given each night.

The Dow Museum (formerly, Old St Augustine Village)

The Dow Museum is a collection of nine homes combined into one area block of the Old City.  The structures were built in the 18th and 19th centuries, a great example for anyone who loves architecture, history and romance.  The elegantly restored homes are complete with gardens and courtyards.  A few have museums and galleries inside for a more history absorbing visit.

The Colonial Spanish Quarter

The Colonial Spanish Quarter is a living History area and a fun place to spend the afternoon.  Interpreters act out what life was like for those that first settled in the Old City.  You are able to watch as they go about their daily duties much as they would have if it were still the 16th century.