Monday, Memorial Day, we headed for St. Augustine. We picnicked and then walked out to the beach at Anastasia State Park. We recommend this beach if you would rather not go to one of the crowded, popular beaches along a hotel strip. We also camped here about a dozen years ago. It’s a great spot and close to all you can do in St. Augustine.

It was warm and very windy so that the waves were too strong for most of us. We took walks and Josh and Jenny made a sand castle similar to Castillo de San Marcos. Sus enjoyed looking for shells. She found quite a few razor clams and a few dollar-size green jellyfish. The big find was a stick with live Pelagic Goose Barnacles. (See the video of them feeding in our bucket, above.)

We headed over toward St. Augustine. Discovering that Bonnie had never seen a lighthouse, we stopped at the St. Augustine light station, just to walk around the grounds.

Of course, the fort was new for Bonnie, so we walked around there next. Castillo de San Marcos was going to close at 5:00, so get there before 3:00 at least, if you want to go inside.

Walking around the historic, old buildings of St. Augustine, America’s oldest city, we decided on dinner at Café Del Hildago. The Hidalgo Salad was very good, as well as the gelato for dessert. Gelato, an Italian ice cream, was new for a number of us. (We liked the white chocolate kiss, the mint, the chocolate peanut butter, and the pistachio flavors.)

We spent another hour walking around after dinner and ended our day enjoying the beautiful Spanish Renaissance architecture on the campus of Flagler College, whose centerpiece is the Ponce de León hotel, originally built as a luxury hotel in 1888. Here’s a peek inside. The college offers tours of the hotel.

Tuesday morning, Ben and Bonnie drove over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Ben worked in the parking lot for the Animal Kingdom for three consecutive summers during college. Bonnie was impressed with the size of the parking lot and they saw some elands and other animals around the lodge.

When they returned home, we all headed out for lunch and to see Campus Crusade headquarters. We visited all the offices where Mike, Sus, and Jenn work and the prayer center and then took the Jesus Film tour.

Sus put together a slide show with pictures from our fun-filled family mini-vacation.

Want more ideas about visiting Central Florida?
See older posts on St. Augustine, Gainesville, and Sea World.   This post is part of the series of recommended tips for enjoying I-95.