Vital Adventure's: Since Love Grows Within You, So Beauty Grows.

Since love grows within you, so beauty grows.
For love is the beauty of the soul.
~ St. Augustine

I have to do a little bit of bragging on my wonderful husband. The months feel like they are flying by and I decided I want to go on a tiny vacation before my baby Tristan comes. Drew and I talked about this in February, but did not make any definite plans- or so I thought. Drew asked me to arrange my schedule in April to have a three day weekend, but he said he wanted to keep everything a surprise for me.  One good thing about my pregnancy is it has made me very laid back to the point where I think "Oh it will work out one way or another." So I did not harp on the subject, and I just patiently waited :).

Saturday morning we packed up the car. My clues were bringing my bathing suit, beach towels, beach chairs, Drew's fishing gear (hmm...), and tennis shoes for a lot of walking.  Drew kept on making jokes about spelunking in the Tennessee caves, but I really had no idea where we were going. We drove north to I-10 and took a right heading east!  I started guessing Eufaula?, Disney World? Apalachicola? Tallahassee? Well, we kept driving and passed all of those exits. We were headed toward Jacksonville. I started to get excited, but I did not say anything in case we were not going to St. Augustine. I have wanted to visit there for 2 years now.  One year I wanted to go for our anniversary, but Drew said "What is there to do in St. Augustine?" so we went to New Orleans instead.

We drove right into the downtown historic section of the city and it is breathtaking. I asked, "where are we staying?" as he pulled up and parked in front of a quaint B&B overlooking the bay called Casablanca Inn. With a smile he said "Right here," and I looked at him in disbelief knowing this could not have been cheap and knowing my frugal husband. When we walked inside it was even more gorgeous. Built in 1914, with patriot blue walls, decorated with antiques, and fresh baked cookies ready for the arriving guests, we received our key and headed toward the carriage house suites.

Drew had set up a "Discover St. Augustine" package which included, a three day pass on the Trolley Tour, a walking Ghost Tour, tickets to the Historic St. Augustine Museum, a horse-drawn carriage ride, a sunset Bay Cruise, and a bottle of champagne (which I could not enjoy but thoughtful Drew brought me sparkling Welch's Grape Juice instead so I could pretend.)

Here are some pictures of our accommodations. I highly recommend the Casablanca Inn.  Each night of your stay you receive a $15 bar tab at the Tini Martini Bar (again I could not enjoy, but Drew loved), a delicious fresh breakfast, and 5pm hors d'oeuvres.

St. Augustine is the oldest city in the US. Established almost 450 years ago, you can imagine there is a lot to do and see. I will not be able to post our entire trip in one blog post so expect at least one more post to follow (yes, we were very busy tourists.)