St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum

We’re big fans of St. Augustine. Pablo actually lived there when we first started dating, so it’s become a nostalgic place for us to visit as our relationship has progressed. For our 2 year anniversary, we visited a St. Augustine spot that had been on our radar for a while – the St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum.

The museum is relatively new. When they held their grand opening, Johnny Depp was in town. (Still sad I missed that. Johnny Depp, people!) I’ve had an infatuation with pirates since I was little – I’d go on The Pirates of the Caribbean ride over and over during our Disney visits and years later learned I’m related to Blackbeard. So, yeah, I like pirates.

We didn’t have very high expectations for the museum. We bought our passes from a group deal site and thought we’d be there no longer than a half an hour or so. Boy, were we wrong! A full hour and a half at the museum was barely enough time to cram it all into one visit.

The woman at the front desk gave us our treasure maps and told us that the museum had hidden artifacts. If we were able to find all of them, we’d get an official pirate stamp. We did the mature adult thing, of course, and scoured the museum to find all of the hidden artifacts. (We found all of them, so… I’M A PIRATE!) I thought this was a lot of fun. It kept us from glossing over the artifacts and gave us a reason to examine everything in the museum. I’m so glad they hid these – it’s a lot of fun finding them!

I won’t spoil the museum for you, but I will tell you that one of the highlights of my visit was taking the photo below. I grew up in love with the movie Hook and guess what they have on display at the museum? ONE OF THE MOVIE’S PROPS! So excited.

This museum is worth the money. It’s a great place to come with kids, but we had a blast with just the two of us adults.

Be sure to like my Facebook page! There are even more photos of our adventure on it.

Lightner Museum in St. Augustine, FL

I haven’t had a chance to profess my love for St. Augustine yet, so let me just say: I’m in LOVE with that place! It’s in my top 5 favorite cities list, without a doubt.

For Pablo’s birthday, we decided to spend the day at one of the most popular attractions in the nation’s oldest city: The Lightner Museum. Life being what it is, we only ended up having about an hour to spend there. (But what a glorious hour it was!)

This place is straight up amazing. It’s been a house, a hotel, and now a museum. The architecture and details will leave you breathless.

The artwork and artifacts housed here are nothing to sneeze at either. From stained glass windows to hand chiseled marble statues, stuffed lions to shrunken heads, meteorites to glasswork, this place had it all.

I could see younger children being bored here (and potentially breaking things), but this is a great stop for adults and older children. If you love art, you’ll love this place. We’ll definitely be back for another trip!

Check out the full album of photos on my Facebook page.

(Major props to my friend, Megan Belcher, who gave us her Groupon to visit the Lightner!)

Fort Matanzas: The “Other” Fort

Before I go any further with this blog, I need to confess something: I’m in love with St. Augustine. Pablo lived there for the first year and a half of our relationship. We really got to know the city well during that time.

When most people think of St. Augustine, they think of “the fort” – Castillo de San Marcos. I love that fort. I have many happy childhood memories picnicking on its lawn and then rolling down the grass hills. (It’s also a favorite spot for ghost tours, which I highly recommend if you’re in the area!)

And now I’m about to blow your mind: there’s another fort in St. Augustine – Fort Matanzas.

Pablo and I checked Ft. Matanzas out last fall. There’s an adorable picnic area covered by trees, which is the first thing you see when you arrive. There’s also a nice little hiking trail. We were on a time crunch and didn’t get to enjoy these things, but we’ll definitely include them in our plans on our next visit.

You take a ferry to reach the fort, which is located on an island. Once you arrive, you’re greeted by someone in period clothing who will explain the fort’s history. (It’s pretty bloody and disgusting, not gonna lie.)

If you want the full experience, climb up to the upper level. I think the hole to get up there is maybe 2 feet wide, give or take. It’s really small. (If you won’t fit, please don’t climb it – we had the pleasure of seeing a large man’s shirt get stuck in the hole. You can’t unsee that.)

I really liked Ft. Matanzas. It’s different from “the fort” in downtown St. Augustine and provides a refreshingly new perspective on the area’s history as the beach/swamp near the fort is more typical of what things used to be like.

A few tips if you go: bring a water bottle with you over to the fort and go to the bathroom before you get on the ferry to go to the fort.