St. Augustine, FL: The Fountain of Youth, Ripley's Believe it or Not, Castillo de San Marcos and the Columbia Restaurant...

When you grow up in Ohio, you take your vacations in Florida.  I think it's a law.  At least, looking back, that's how it seemed.  That's where we (my family) - and everybody I knew - went for any vacation lasting longer than 5 days.  We usually drove.  On a side note, I'll never forget my first flight ever, to Orlando, Florida in 1991...

Anyways, being the child of a history teacher, our family usually found places with some history / Americana mixed in for good measure.  One of those cities was Saint Augustine, Florida.

St. Augustine has the honor of being the oldest continuous European settlement in the U.S.   It was discovered by the Spanish in 1513.  If you know your legends, Ponce de Leon was looking for the Fountain of Youth (and gold) when he stumbled here.  The Spanish influence can be seen everywhere, and it's definitely a unique place.  It's located on the east coast of Florida, not far from Jacksonville, off the A1A, never too crowded with tourists, very walkable, and surrounded by plenty of beaches.

The Fountain of Youth Park is a nice afternoon stop that has a 1960's feel to it.  I don't think anything has been updated since the park was built, but there's plenty to do.  My favorite is the planetarium, showing how explorers navigated the seas using the stars.  Make no mistake, this is not a high-tech presentation, but it was interesting enough to hold my attention.

There are also plenty of mannequins showing the not-so-friendly relations between the Spanish and the Native Americans, and re-creations of the original settlement.  Then, finally, you hit the jackpot:

This is it.  The big one.  And, yes, you can drink from it!  But there's one problem - it is disgusting.  Disgusting in a way that makes you choke and gag.  The water is warm, and smells like rotten eggs.  Fountain of Youth?  More like Fountain of Sulfur. If this is the secret to eternal youth, I'll take my chances on the afterlife.  If you're curious and want to try it yourself, you can always order some from the gift shop...

The Spanish influence can be seen everywhere, but especially in the gigantic Castillo de San Marcos, an old fort built in 1672.  The history of this fort involves the Spanish, British, Native Americans, and the Confederacy. and it was used up until 1900.  It's now part of the National Park Service.  I'll let you read about it, but I've never seen anything else like this in the continental U.S.:

Here's a top-down view for a better perspective.  This place is huge, and very well preserved.  Note the people walking around...

Another great example of the Spanish influence is the also amazingly, well-preserved "old town". It's only a few blocks from the fort.  Walking through the city gate, you find yourself on St. George Street.  Closed to traffic, you'll find the street and some shops are made of an incredibly durable, ground-up coral, unique to Spanish architecture of that era:

It's touristy, but it works well.  The "old town" area covers quite a few blocks, and is full with souvenir shops, locally-made clothing stores, antique shops, and restaurants.  Lots of restaurants. 

Speaking of which, since you're in Florida, why not try some Cuban food?  I'd definitely recommend The Columbia.  It's a very popular place in Old Town.  There's usually a short wait, but the staff is good at turning tables over quickly.  The inside is nicely decorated - very classy, and open - exactly what you'd expect.

I ordered a 1/2 Cuban sandwich / salad combo.  The sandwich was a combination of ham, salami, pork, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickle grilled on fresh-baked thin, buttery bread.  The salad was their famous "1905 salad", which is made up *at your table* of a bizarre combination of items; yet somehow, they all work very well together.  The half sandwich was enormous, and filled me up for the rest of the day, and it only set me back about $10.  This picture is from Trip Advisor (not mine), but shows you basically what I got:

Last but not least, why not visit something Bizarre?  How about the original Ripley's Believe it or Not?  Museum...

Set in a beautiful mansion where Ripley himself was a guest, this is the first of the brand's several museums.  This is also where the opening to the circa 2000 television series was filmed.  There are plenty of discount coupons available around the city, so don't pay full price. 

I've been to a few of these around the country, and I've definitely noticed some of the same displays, but, overall, this one is my favorite.  It seems to have the largest amount of Ripley's personal items, and that caught my attention.  I could be wrong about that, though. 

Also, there are a few displays out front that you can't see in this picture, but they're very interesting.  I'll let you explore to lean more...

Honestly, there's too much to discuss in one blog, so maybe one day I'll follow up with more.  St. Augustine is a great vacation destination, with something for everyone.  Please share any suggestions / feedback. 

Thanks for reading!

San Diego, California - Project Pie

At work today, a co-worker asked me if I wanted to go to Project Pie.  I'd never heard of it.  If you haven't heard of it, and you like pizza, read on...

Project Pie is located in the Hillcrest neighborhood.  There are no shortage of great places to eat in Hillcrest, so if you want to stay in business, you need to stand out.  As for what makes this place unique, think pizza at Chipotle.  Well, not exactly, but take the Chipotle model of personalizing your own item, and that's Project Pie.  It's essentially a (not-too-thin) thin-crust pizza that you design yourself.  But, before I get ahead of myself, here's a look inside:

 I didn't take a picture of the entire inside, but there are plenty of tables to sit at, and the walls are decorated with humorous and inspirational quotes.  Enough about the décor, let's talk about the food.

Project Pie offers 2 options:  1) ordering a pizza off the menu, or 2) building your own.  A basic cheese pizza is $6.00, and anything else is $7.50.  The pizza is 12".

So, you order your pizza, and fresh dough is stretched out.  Then the staff starts loading up on the toppings.  Extra pepperoni?  No problem.  Just a little pineapple?  You got it.  as much - or as little - of any topping(s) as you want for $7.50.  You could get mushrooms only, or one with every topping on the menu (and there are many), and the price is still $7.50...

After you've got everything you want on it, two minutes in the brick oven, and you're good to go.  Here's mine (pepperoni, meatball, and sausage - the #2):

 

 

I thought it was excellent!  The crust wasn't cracker-thin, and it was chewy on the inside.  It was also a little black on the bottom, since this is an actual pizza oven, fire and all.  It's cut into four giant slices.  I'd say depending on how hungry you are, you could probably split one with someone, and fill up.  If you're starving, be selfish, and order one for yourself...

 

I'm also happy to say the soda machine (with free refills) offered Boylan's natural cane sodas.  I haven't had Boylan's since I lived on the east coast.  It seems to be a regional favorite in the New York / New Jersey areas.  The cola, birch beer, and grape sodas are my recommendations.  Soda and pizza set me back $9.00.

Finally, I ordered a dessert pizza ($4.50) with nutella and banana to take back to the office.  I gave most of it away to co-workers, but the half-slice I had was good.  Basically, it was a chewy crepe.  My only complaint was that I wish they'd put a little more nutella on it.  I guess I could have asked for it, and would next time.  Peanut butter was also an option, as was cinnamon and sugar...   

In conclusion, I really enjoyed it, and the prices are great!  Try this place now!