St. Augustine is for Honeymooners

By Erin Marvin

Published: December 15, 2007

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The Ghosts & Gravestones trolley tour in St. Augustine gives you a spooky look into the city's history.

Photo Credit: Elena Prostova

The oldest city in the U.S. has a romantic plan in store for you and your sweetheart.

The old matrimonial custom of having "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" to ensure the luck of your wedding ceremony can also be applied to your honeymoon. And whether it's your first or your second chance at romance, the St. Augustine area is the perfect place to build on old traditions, and create new ones, in your life together.

Something Old

Stroll hand-in-hand through the historic district and step back in time at Colonial Spanish Quarter, the Oldest House and the Oldest Wooden School House in the U.S.A. If you get hungry, grab a homemade pastry at the tiny Spanish Bakery. Admire Henry Flagler's legacy at the elegant Lightner Museum, where Tiffany windows and other works of art inspire awe, and take a Legacy Tour of grand Flagler College, keeping an eye out for Henry's ghost. Speaking of ghosts, cuddle up to one another during a spooky, guided ghost tour, available by land (try GhoSt Augustine Haunted Pub & Hearse Tours) or by sea (try Ghost Tours of St. Augustine).

Rent a private coach and take a romantic horse-drawn carriage ride though the historic district and along the bayfront, past the fabled Bridge of Lions. Snuggle closer as the setting sun dips below beautiful St. Augustine Bay.

Something New

Shop for souvenirs along St. George Street and the historic district (splurge on sweets from Claude's Chocolates, handmade at the shop on Hypolita Street); then amble over to the galleries lining King Street, west of the Plaza. Afterwards, stop into San Sebastian Winery to sample wines and listen to live jazz music in The Cellar Upstairs (live music on weekends only). Golf lovers can hit the fairways at World Golf Village and play the new(ish) King & Bear or Slammer & Squire courses.

Something Borrowed

Rent a private coach and take a romantic horse-drawn carriage ride though the historic district and along the bayfront, past the fabled Bridge of Lions. Snuggle closer as the setting sun dips below beautiful St. Augustine Bay.

Something Blue

Spend a day celebrating the sparkling blue waters surrounding St. Augustine. Splash in the Atlantic waves off St. Augustine Beach; take in the view of Matanzas Bay from the top of the St. Augustine Lighthouse; join a narrated dolphin-watch cruise in area waterways with St. Augustine Scenic Cruise.

Spas:

Small Indulgences European Day Spa and Salon (St. Augustine): Book an intimate couple's massage and choose from a side-by-side Swedish, aromatherapy, hot stone, deep tissue or reflexology treatment.

The Spa at Sawgrass (Ponte Vedra Beach): He can indulge in a gentlemen's manicure and "The Rough" signature aroma salt glow body scrub; she in a re-mineralizing body wrap and "Zen Facial."

Spa at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club (Ponte Vedra Beach): The upgraded spa re-opened in fall 2006 with pampering services such as tropical coconut scrubs, couple's massages and Lomi Lomi massages.

Restaurants:

Raintree Restaurant: Awarded too many accolades to count, this restaurant is a St. Augustine tradition, serving outstanding contemporary cuisine (at surprisingly affordable prices) in a historic 1879 Victorian home. Don't miss the made-to-order crepes for dessert.

Columbia Restaurant: Sure, it's in the middle of tourist-laden St. George Street, but you'll still feel like you're honeymooning in Spain amidst the colorful, gurgling fountains and the aroma of steaming-hot Spanish delicacies.

Romance Packages:

Casa Monica Hotel: "Love St. Augustine Style" includes luxury accommodations, a gourmet breakfast at 95 Cordova and a romantic carriage ride around the bayfront during which you can toast your love with a bottle of chilled champagne. (Planning a wedding? The Casa Monica does an "Arabian Nights Fantasy Wedding" complete with belly dancers.)

Casa de la Paz Bayfront Bed & Breakfast: Their honeymoon package starts sweetly with champagne and chocolate-dipped strawberries upon arrival, then continues with dinner for two at one of the city's fine restaurants, a couple's massage and private carriage ride through the historic district. As a memento, you get to keep the plush terry robes you've been relaxing in all weekend.

The Lodge & Club at Ponte Vedra Beach (Ponte Vedra Beach): "Stir the Fire" sets you up in an opulent oceanfront room complete with a Roman garden tub (where there's room for two) and fireplace, not to mention his-and-hers bathrobes. Sip the champagne and feed each other sweets from the box of fine chocolates placed in your room.

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Comments

Most Recent Comment

07/29/08

St. Augustine is so nice and the buildings are beautiful. About the Haunted Pub Tour though... We went on 7-25-08. The tickets were $16 each. First our tour guide "Brie" shows up wasted. My husband is a cop and knows drunk when he sees it. You didn't have to be a professional to tell she was hammered though. There was no tour before us so it was not residual from the last tour. Beside the fact that she was a horrible story teller she was texting on her cell all night. The other thing was we were supposed to go to 5 pubs. She flat out told us that she didn't want to take us of one of them because we would get bad service so we skipped it. Pretty sure they are not supposed to do that. When we did go to a pub or bar Harry's in particular bartenders and waitresses seemed annoyed if not out right p-oed at our presence. Not very nice, we were bring them business after all. We had a group of about 16 so you can imagine after a few drinks and that amount of people there were some cut-ups in the group. No one was laughing at her but she was seriously perturbed at any actual fun that was going on. She said to her boyfriend (who showed up half way through the tour) while sitting amongst us, without even bothering to lower her voice or go around the corner, that we were the "worst group EVER." So in my opinion $32 is a lot to pay to be insulted and jipped! I recommend you don't waste your money. If you want to take a ghost tour do the "sober" ones then go out and drink if you want.

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