Saint Augustine, Florida is the oldest city in the United States, so naturally it’s a must-see for the history buff in all of us. Founded by the Spanish in 1565, the city is famous for its centuries-old national monuments, colonial-era buildings, and cobblestone streets meandering between various shops, restaurants, and churches.
Unfortunately, there are some colonial-era attributes of Saint Augustine that don’t quite coalesce well with 21st century conveniences – like where to park an SUV on a busy Saturday. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of 3 things you need to make sure you check before heading to Saint Augustine. These points-of-consideration could mean the difference between spending the afternoon strolling up and down Saint George Street, or circling the city on South Castillo Drive in your car for two hours, so be sure to check them out below.
#1: Events and Attractions
Saint Augustine is rarely on break. Weekends, weekdays, it doesn’t matter; there is always something to do in the historic district of town. Since most of the sights in Saint Augustine require visitors to explore the town on foot, the streets and walkways can get pretty packed during special events. This rings especially true when events hit simultaneously on busy weekends, like the holiday season’s “Nights of Lights” coinciding with “The Tasting Tours,” pitting stumbling winos against families in search of holiday lighting, peace on earth, goodwill . . . well you get the picture. That’s why it’s always a good idea to check floridashistoriccoast.com for the latest in local events and attractions scheduled throughout the year in Saint Augustine. This site is a great resource for anyone wanting to make sure that the events planned for the weekend you want to visit don’t end up raining on your parade. And speaking of rain . . .
#2: The Weather
Ah, Florida. Home to Disney World, delicious orange juice, and weather patterns that make even the most seasoned meteorologist’s heads spin. That’s because Florida is hot and humid; the entire state ranges from a sub-tropical climate in the north to a tropical climate in the south. Combine this with the state’s geographical location – Atlantic waters to the east and warm gulf waters to the west – and you’ve got the essential ingredients for frequent afternoon pop-up showers. People that live in Florida are accustomed to the common occurance of late afternoon showers throughout the state, but most visitors are not. That’s why it’s always a good idea to check the weather before heading out in Saint Augustine, because you’ll be walking everywhere. Unless you can’t find a place to park.
#3: The Parking
During our last trip to Saint Augustine, we planned on utilizing the city’s historic downtown parking facility (904-484-5160). The parking deck is located at the north end of the city’s historic district, getting there is easy, parking is a reasonable $10 for the day, it can accomodate 1,200 vehicles . . . sounds all well and good, until you’re literally one car back from being let in the gate only to see a parking deck attendant wheeling the sign out front that says “GARAGE FULL.” Are you kidding me?!
What’s worse is that (we learned later) if the main parking deck is full then you can count on every other pay lot in the city being full, too. We definitely hit the town on one of the busier days, and after driving around for almost 45 minutes we had to get a little creative. Check out the map below:
So as you can see from the picture above, we drove around for 45 minutes only to return full-circle to our original destination, just to see once again that the lot was still full. So after making our way back down Cordova Street to a right on Orange Street we were about to give up when lo and behold a solitary ray of light, breaking through the divine clouds above and shining upon an empty elementary school parking lot gracefully bequeathed itself to us, not even a block from the historic district parking we originally sought. And it being an elementary school, no parking fees. Hallelujah!
Now this is the part where we mention the obvious disclaimer: Coastal Atlantic Travel will in no way be responsible for the way this information is interpreted or used. We didn’t see any “Tow Away Zones” there, and other tourists were taking advantage of the empty lot as well, so it’s just something to keep in mind should you exhaust every other avenue to secure parking in the city. And if you start feeling guilty about parking in a school lot on the weekend, then remember this: All those kids are at home on their Playstations anyway; they won’t mind.
