# Anastasia State Park - St. Augustine Florida



## 5th Time Around (Jul 8, 2008)

We just returned from Anastasia for 5 nights







This campground is so close to St. Augustine you could ride bikes, but there is construction on the old Lions bridge so there is a temporary bridge. Riding bikes is a good idea because parking is scarse and expensive, the garages are $7 a day, street meters are $1.50 an hour even at the Fort. The place to stay is the Coquina loop. I shouldn't be putting the word out but I trust you Outbackers to keep it a secret. I was however disappointed that sometime in the last few years since we have been there that they have stopped driving on the beach and put in a very long boardwalk to the beach instead. Thank goodness it was winter and we didn't go for the beach. There is free wi-fi at the store by the boardwalk. The park is nice, the bathrooms are clean but need remodeling. The oak canopy is so dense you can sleep late because you can't tell the sun is out. Groceries and restraunts are close by.

St. Augustine is a wonderful town to visit. We went to Fort Mantanzas on the south end of the island, which was free and you had to take a shuttle boat to the island where the fort was. Across from the Fort entrance was a drive on beach.

We visited the Lighthouse and climbed all 219 steps up to the top! It has an amazing view and the history is great. They have an audio tour available, that was fun.

The Castille de San Marco is the large spanish fort in St. Augustine. $6 adults $0 kids 0-15 yo for a week long admission! The weekends are very busy and holidays even more busy, but they fire the cannons a few times a day.

Ripleys - This was our first visit to a Ripleys after passing on it in many tourist towns. It was neat the first time, a lot of collections from the far east and africa. The kids enjoyed it but we will not do it again.

We did not take the train tour but did do a horse and carriage tour (for our anniversary 15 years). We did this tour at night and the town is beautiful at night. Our tour guy Kenny & horse Patrick did a fantastic job so ask for them if you go. The kids went along and said that was their favorite part.

Dining:

#1 Restraunt is Harry's (just as you come over the bridge to the right) My father lives in Ormond Beach and rode up for lunch and said we have to eat at Harry's. It is Louisiana style restraurant. The food was amazing, the best meal we've had! No Lie - It is fabulous. Moderately priced and has outdoor dining. Kids menu up to age 12.

#2 is Pizzalley's Pizza on St. George St. They were outside giving out samples and that was all it took! We ate there twice it was sooooo goooood! My DH and I ate there years ago and I remembered it being very good, but it was much better than I remembered. Tastes nothing like the chain pizza company's.

Other than those two we ate at Chain restraurants or cooked in the camper.

This was not an ordinary camping trip for us where we do nothing but cook all day and explore the park. We were gone from breakfast to dinner time seeing the sites. My DS broke his arm (yes again, other arm) just before xmas so the biking that we usually do was non existant. The camper acted like a hotel room for us - a bed, shower and TV to relax at night. Our campsite #122 barely accomodated our rig. We put out the awning and it barely missed the tree so that was all the room we had. Very tight spots and unfortunately they are dirt. (used to be cocquina shell pads) Book early as it is booked all year round, many drive ups were turned away - no extra spots. They have tons of tent/pop-up only sites though - 2 whole loops dedicated to them.


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## Joe 30450 (Oct 13, 2008)

Thank you for the hint !!

Really good details of your trip, we plan to go in this area this summer (or at the end of the spring) your post will be very helpful

Ciao


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## kyoutback (Jul 12, 2004)

That's a great review of that state park and area. We were there 3 years ago and really enjoyed it. I know you have a much larger camper but we found the sites to be very large. I don't remember the loop we were in but here's a picture of our site.


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## fl_diesel (Feb 15, 2006)

Nice write up. I agree it is a great park (although some of the sites are tight there are some large sites there too).

You can still drive on Vilano beach which is very nearby.


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## 5th Time Around (Jul 8, 2008)

Site 122 Coquina Loop


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

Nice write up! Thanks for sharing the info..!


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## happycamper (Jul 26, 2005)

We stayed here pre Outback in 2004. Only one night and it was not long enough. Hopefully we will get to return with the Outback someday soon. Glad you had a nice time!


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## jcat67 (Aug 8, 2008)

Great info Jennifer. We too are looking forward to our first trip there...without finding a cancellation it is tough to get a weekend spot without a 6 month lead. I think we better go ahead and get our spot for late summer.


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## Crawfish (Sep 14, 2005)

Not trying to hijack the thread, but Jeff you have a really nice RV resort in the town you live in, right? It's called Williston Crossings. I have not stayed there but I have heard a lot of good things about it.

Leon


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