St. Augustine - The Nation's Oldest City

This is the fort. Rachel Crumbliss took this picture, one of my
dearest friends, old roommates, and one badass photographer!

This is Dave from Nobby's. He's kind of famous. ;) I got this
picture off their facebook, it had been tagged from a
Facebook page called Float Collective. Just trying to give
credit to whoever took it!!

I have had the pleasure of living in the nation's oldest city (founded in 1565) for the past two and a half years. I fell in love with this charming city's Spanish architecture and its bumpy brick roads. I attended Flagler College while I was living there, which was once the Ponce de Leon Hotel. The campus is beautiful: buildings dating back to the 1900s, a swimming pool, and a beautiful palm garden. It is definitely a relaxing spot and is open to everyone to walk through or to take a nap under the palms. Right across the street from the school is a really cool record shop called Tone Vendor. You can also buy online from them here. If you head down King Street towards the water, you'll see the Bridge of Lions and on the left is Castillo de San Marcos, which is a national monument and an impressive fort. We like to hang out on the lawn around it during the day, but it's really fun to visit at night. You can walk around the walls to the point and then make shadow puppets with the giant lights that shine on its walls. Cross over the Bridge of Lions and you'll find my two favorite bars in St. Augustine: Shanghai Nobby and Planet! Sarbez. Shanghai Nobby's has Ladies' Night every Wednesday and ladies drink free from 10:00pm-12:00am. I have been going to this bar ever since I came to St. Augustine and the owners, Jill and Dave, are so sweet. They make you feel so welcome. Planet! Sarbez just opened a little over a year ago now, I think. It's a very hip place opened by a guy named Ryan, who recently graduated from Flagler. Everything in this place was well thought out: the crazy decor, the cool lighting, the gourmet grilled cheese menu, the art... I LOVE IT! They have local music all the time and the bands are always awesome. Planet! Sarbez and another bar that's downtown on the walking part of St. George St. called Mi Casa Cafe have open mic nights on Tuesdays. If you want to share your music or sing some covers, those are the perfect places!

This is Planet! Sarbez's grilled cheese bar. I got this
picture off their facebook.

This is the love tree that's downtown near the parking garage.

The palm garden on Flagler's campus is perfect for
slack-lining or hanging your hammock for a nap!

What I really recommend doing while you're visiting St. Augustine is getting lost in Lincolnville. All the houses are charming and the streets are lined with old oaks with Spanish moss hanging over the streets. If you take a right on Cordova Street off King Street, you will eventually run into Lake Maria Sanchez. Go from there... whatever direction. Left is towards the water, right is deeper into the heart of Lincolnville. There is a public pool back there, a baseball field, a basketball court, and a walking track. In this area, there is a farmers market held every Sunday. Over near the basketball court, is a fantastic tree(s), which we have fondly named the love tree, because a palm has grown up right next to an oak almost as if the two are hugging. We love to climb the branches and hang out there. There is another "love tree" downtown also near the public parking garage where a palm has grown out of a knot in an oak. Both trees are incredibly spectacular. If you're into the trees, you gotta make sure you take a cruise (either by bike or skateboard or by foot, you won't be able to take it in as much in a car) down Magnolia Avenue. The street is completely lined with old oaks and Spanish moss. It's breathtaking. When we go to the beach, we either go to Vilano Beach or regular St. Augustine Beach. On the way to St. Augustine Beach is the Alligator Farm, which I still have never been to. You'll also pass a free skate park that was opened by the Surf Station. I'm not sure what the park is called, but it's right next to the Surf Station. It's not hard to find.

My favorite restaurants in St. Augustine are Flavors, Schmagel's Bagels, and Taco Shop. Flavors uses the best ingredients. My favorite thing on their menu is a toss up between the Red Thai Coconut Curry Wrap or the Chicken Curry Wrap. You've got to order a smoothie with that, the Miami Beach is my fav. Schmagel's makes all their bagels and cream cheeses themselves. If I'm feeling spicy, I'll get the jalapeno bagel with jalapeno cream cheese, but if I'm feeling fruity, I'll get the blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese. It tastes JUST like a smoothie. At Taco Shop, you gotta try the UFO, which is a lot like a crunch wrap supreme from Taco Bell but real and delicious. All my friends work at these restaurants, so you better tip good! :)

Here's a video I made of us skating down Magnolia Avenue, checking out the love tree, and slack-lining on campus. I'm still trying to figure out the whole video making thing and I lost a ton of the quality on this for some reason... It's way prettier in person, trust me!