Walt Disney What?

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When thinking of Florida, it is consumed with one word: Disney. For people who want a stress free holiday and opt for the Orlando package holiday, which can include over a week’s worth of theme parks, this becomes more of a stress filled holiday with each day being a twelve hour race to get everything in, running around like a school of fish.

If you want to experience Orlando but enjoy non-tourist areas too, Florida has much to offer. Unfortunately, in a package holiday, you are stuck in a bubble where you stay on International Drive, which can only be described as Blackpool without the seaside. If you don’t rent a car, you are restricted to a bus that doesn’t take you out of the claustrophobic location. In most of this busy area, walking is prohibited, unless you see a pavement, or ‘sidewalk’, which is rare.

Flying into Orlando International Airport, it is easy to rent a car from the car hire facility in the airport including major car companies such as Axis and Hertz. However, a fly-drive ticket is also available when you book your flight, which means you get a voucher to rent a car. This is strongly recommended as once you arrive at the car hire suite and hand in your voucher, you are shown to your car, which enables you to be like a prisoner unlocking the key to their shackles.

Florida as my childhood holiday destination every summer meant that I wanted a change and didn’t believe that Orlando was it. Although there are other popular destinations such as Miami, I was more intrigued by Florida’s ‘Ancient City’, Saint Augustine.

From Orlando, Saint Augustine is approximately two hours by car and roughly 100 miles. This means that if you want to avoid spending more money on hotels in the area, Saint Augustine can simply be a day trip. There is a town and a beach so it is very versatile if you only want to visit the town, or want to explore both in a day. By following the Interstate 95 and the Interstate 4, the journey is very straightforward.

The town is one cobblestone street, which could be mistaken for a quaint English town; every building is made with dark authentic wooden slats, which looks like a saloon. However, this is mixed with the smells of fresh pancakes and warm cinnamon floating out of wooden shutters of the surrounding cafés. It isn’t a typical high street as the shops are restaurants, cafés and small shops selling trinket homemade gifts. This is evident with the wind chimes hanging outside of shops, the dripping metal clinking together, creating a peaceful idyllic state juxtaposed with the rush of Disney World.

At the end of the street to the left is Fort Matanzas and Castillo de San Marcos and to the right is Flagler College. It is surprising to see a university in the middle of this small town. It looks like a million dollar mansion with its fountain and palm trees that surround the terracotta and cream castle-like building. It is also astonishing to see a fort surrounded by stunning bright green grass good enough to be a golf course and looks out onto a silk blanket that is the Intracoastal Waterway. Saint Augustine is known for it’s architecture and it is apparent when you see these stone and mortar buildings.



When visiting Florida, one thing that is noticeable is their friendly culture as they are not afraid of asking you how you are. When taking pictures near the castle, a local asks

“Hey ya’ll you want me to take a picture? If you wanna know anything about Saint Augustine give me a holler, I moved here when I retired and so have spent days being fascinated by its history”.

Their relaxed and genial presence confirms that it’s not just Disney where people are happy in Florida.







Florida is known for its beaches, with the fact that you are no more than sixty miles away from a beach. Saint Augustine is no different and has a sandy beach approximately two to three miles away from the town. With the Atlantic Ocean literally at your toes, you can see the sunset symbolises the end of a relaxing, yet cultural day in the United States’ ‘Oldest City’.

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Photos

Clockwise from top left:
Cathedral of St. Augustine; St. George's Street; Castillo de San Marcos National Monument; again the main street through Saint Augustine, St. George's Street