Florida Key to Virginia Road Trip Part 4: St. Augustine, Florida

Our 2024 Spring Break took us from Norfolk to NYC by train, to Miami Florida by plane, and Key Largo Florida back to Norfolk by car. Follow our steps with this series of blogs:

AMTRAK & NYC
THE FLORIDA KEYS
SOUTHERN FLORIDA: THE EVERGLADES & KEY BISCAYNE
DEERFIELD BEACH TO ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA
ROAD TRIP- THE LOW COUNTRY: SAVANNAH, GA & BEAUFORT, SC (coming soon)
ROAD TRIP- CHARLESTON SC TO EMERALD ISLE NC (coming soon)

We’ve been to St. Augustine many times over the years, primarily during the popular holiday lights season. This was our first overnight stay during the spring, and our first time participating in any kind of guided tour through Old Town Trolleys.

GHOST TOUR

Trolley Tours

We pre-booked our tickets for the Old Town Trolley Tour before arriving, knowing that we were arriving during the busy spring break season. The company offers a variety of historic tours, and manages the Fountain of Youth and other Florida historic sites.

The tour was a mix of an actual historical timeline of St. Augustine and ghost-related folklore. There were two stops on the 1 1/2 hour tour. The first was at a historic cemetery and the adjacent Wax Museum. Inside the museum staff reenacted the story of the “almost execution” of pirate Andrew Ransom with some audience participation and jump scares.

The final stop was the old jail house, where we were “locked inside” a cell with a convicted criminal who was set to be executed. The experience was cheesy enough to not be scary for older children, but would too frightening for those who don’t understand that the experience isn’t real.

Old Town St. Augustine

Historic District

The streets of the historic area are crowded and traffic crossing the Bridge of Lions is a notorious stop and go area. Our hotel, the Voco St. Augustine, was a a great location because we could park and walk across the bridge. It was our first time staying at this mid-range option for the IHG brand and we loved the small renovated building and quiet rooms, and highly recommend it over staying in the loud and busy historic area.

One restaurant keeps brining us back to the historic area of St. Augustine. The Floridian is a little off the main tourist drag and has a southern comfort food menu that is a bit on the lighter side and caters well to vegetarians.

We made a few stops; one at the St. Photios Shrine Greek Orthodox National Shrine. The small shrine, dedicated to the first Greeks to arrive in America in 1768, is accompanied by educational exhibits, artifacts, and a gift shop.

The “Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse is America” is exactly what it says, and is well-worth the small fee for families with children. Artifacts, exhibits, and animatronic characters share the history of the space. The small schoolyard is also a nice spot to find shaded seating away from the crowds.

Before leaving we stopped in a less touristy but still St. Augustine centric shopping area on the northern end of San Marco Ave. This area is lined with small restaurants and local shopping. We stopped at and the Spinster Abbott’s Bodega, with an attached bar, courtyard with a food truck, and vintage clothing shop.

Alligator Farm Zoological Park

Alligator Farm History

This was our second visit to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park. The first was mid-winter, and we quickly learned that a spring visit would be an entirely different experience. Each year in the spring flocks of birds nest around the alligator enclosures, which is a huge draw for families as well as wildlife photographers.

The zoo has a fascinating history that dates back to the late 1900s. The walls of the theater area have a timeline and photos that highlight the marks in the zoo alongside major world historic events.

The zoo’s popularity grew exponentially when it acquired Gomek, an 18-long crocodile captured in New Guinea that lived at the zoo through most of the 1990s. He is now “tastefully preserved” and displayed in an indoor interpretive space. Just outside of the Gomek area is the current mammoth crocodile in residence, the 15+ foot Maximo from Australia.

Alligators & Crocodiles

The bulk of the collection is, obviously, alligators and crocodiles. Our fact for the day was that there are actually only two alligators; the American Alligator and a smaller species of Chinese Alligator. There are two large enclosures for the adult American Alligators; one enclosure centrally located near the entrance and the other in a natural wetland area with a long boardwalk.

Rookery

The bulk of the rookery is located over the larger alligator habitat where multiple species of birds choose to nest in the late winter-spring. Like in wild habitats, the alligators provide protection from raccoons and other predators that would eat the eggs and young birds from the nests. In early May most of the birds had laid eggs and many had hatched. Photographers were abundant, from amateurs like us to people with the fanciest gear to capture the unique birds in flight and in their nests.

Alligator Farm Zoological Park, St. Augustine, Florida, 2024

Birds & Mammals

There are a few non-reptilian residents, including two lemurs that were very active during our visit.

We found two hours enough time to see the highlights of the zoo, but easily could have spent longer. Quick service dining and snack kiosks were located throughout the small zoo. During our visit there were also educational talks at the top of each hour, some in the pavilion and some (including feeding times) at the alligator enclosures.