During our recent visit to St. Augustine we sat down with Barbara Golden, Communications Manager at the  St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau. Having been with the organization since 2005 she is an expert on the destination, with superb knowledge and a brilliant memory, able to recite historic facts and details instantly.

To complete our coverage we asked Golden about important factors you need to know while planning your escape to this unique destination. Read on for answers to lodging, beaches, dining, and what makes St. Augustine a place worth visiting.

HOMBRE: We previously covered the historic attractions found in St. Augustine, but many of our readers are looking for a beautiful beach. What does the destination have to offer?
Barbara Golden: We have forty two miles of pristine beaches. There’s nothing a​l​ong ​t​hose beaches that ​i​s built t​aller than ​four stories so you don’t have shadows blocking late day sun. There are also several strips of land that are in conservation and preserved.

HOMBRE: What can you tell us about them?
BG: One is Anastasia ​State ​Park. That is ​a four ​m​ile stretch that ha​s beautiful sugar white sand dunes. That park has camping, day access,  you can hike, or ride your bike for miles and not see another person.

Anastasia State Park

They have programs for bird watching. It’s also the site of the ​Kings ​Quarry where they dug up all the coquina blocks to build the San Marcos Castillo.

St​. Augustine ​Beach is beautiful, all the way to Matanzas inlet where the ​Fort Matanzas is.

GTM Reserve

North it’s Ponte Vedra ​Beach and along the way we have the GTM ​Reserve. It’s five miles with nothing built on it and the sand there is coquina crossed with tiny shells. The big difference is that north of the St. Augustine inlet is coquina sand, in the south you’ll find more of a white sugary quartz.

H: What can you tell us about hotels and lodging?
BG: We have many lodging options. Starting at the beach we have several motels and hotels and branded properties like Hampton ​Inn, Quality ​Inn, ​Days ​Inn.

Embassy Suites Hotel

We have the Embassy Suites Resort which is a beautiful oceanfront resort.

Ponte Vedra Inn & Club

North on Ponte Vedra Beach there’s a AAA Five Diamond Resort, the Ponte Vedra ​Inn & Club which is very impressive.

The Lodge Inn Club at Ponte Vedra

And there’s the sister property the Lodge Inn Club at Ponte Vedra.

Bayfront Marin House B&B

H: What about B&B’s and high end properties?
BG: In historic St. Augustine there are more than 27 ​historic ​Bed and ​Breakfast inns. They have anywhere from six to thirty rooms. Some are family friendly, some are adults only. They’re all elegant. These are not your mom and pop bed and breakfast, these are very well done. They have to be.

Casa Monica

We have a couple of historic inns, we have the Casa Monica ​Hotel which is a historic hotel built in the 1880s by Franklin Smith and then ​bought by Henry Flagler. In the 90s it was purchased by the Kessler Group who have many themed high end hotels. Now it’s part of the Autograph Marriott brand.

Renaissance St Augustine

Then there’s the Renaissance Hotel which is right on the edge of the Historic District. It was built to look like a historic Victorian inn.

Hilton Bayfront

We have the Hilton on our Bayfront. It was built to look like Colonial Spanish architecture. It’s the smallest Hilton in the chain with only 72 rooms.

HOMBRE: Why should someone visit St. Augustine?
BG: Really to learn history. It’s such a beautiful place to feel relaxed and have an authentic historic experience.
Besides, the food here is incredible. We have so many influences on our food. There’s Mediterranean with ​Menorcan Greek food, because they also settled here. We have Spanish influences. We’re seeing more influences from South America coming here. We have superior Peruvian restaurants. We have Puerto Rican restaurants, they’re everywhere. There’s also amazing traditional Southern food.

Lotus Noodle Bar

This has become such a great foodie town that we’re seeing the influence of fusion restaurants. Last night for instance I went to a Japanese Fusion restaurant that just opened, ​Lotus Noodle Bar.
We have so many seafood restaurants. So food is a main thing.

There’s also romantic getaways, girl getaways, family retreats. Corporate incentive programs. We see a great deal of different types of markets that we host.

Something that is really important is that because we are protective that the experience stays authentic we’re fortunate that the University of Florida took over all of the historic buildings, including the Archives.
In addition the St Augustine ​Historic ​Society has additional original Spanish records.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine

We have records going back to the first Africans being born and baptized here, to the fists Spaniards being born here. The first Catholic ceremonies taking place here. We have the oldest Catholic parish in the country (Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine).
It’s really a great place to come find your roots.

MORE INFORMATION

To learn more about St. Augustine visit www.floridashistoriccoast.com and follow on Instagram @FloridaHistoricCoast and
on Facebook.com/St. Augustine