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From 1565 To Super Bowl XXXIX: St. Augustine's Historic Inns Welcome Gridiron Greats On February 6thBy Susan Scott SchmidtBrenda Bushell, owner of St. Augustine’s romantic Casablanca Inn, is expecting a few extra guests in February.
The National Football League guests are just part of the ripple effect that the country’s largest football event is expected to create in America’s oldest city. With Jacksonville just a short hour’s drive away, the Spanish flavor and romance which make St. Augustine a favorite Floridian getaway are expected to draw fans and players alike to this picturesque bayfront city.
St. Augustine has history to spare. It has four nationally designated historic districts encompassing 144 square blocks and containing hundreds of homes and buildings. Within the historic districts are 27 individual buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. St. Augustine has special Super Bowl events planned. The city’s historic Colonial Town will allow visitors the opportunity to step back into the 1700’s with re-enactments of life in the 18th century. There will be colorful changing-of-the-guard ceremonies, with roaming historical ambassadors in colonial garb and demonstrations of colonial activities and arts. The City’s Night of Lights will use millions of tiny white lights to illuminate historic downtown St. Augustine (an event usually only held at Christmas.) And the city’s art galleries will open their doors from 5 to 9 p.m. on the first Friday of February for the First Friday Art Walk. The Lighthouse Challenge, sponsored by St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum, will create an obstacle course based on drills comparing the physical demands of football with the arduous tasks performed daily by lighthouse keepers. The fun activities will include tying sailor’s knots to retrieve a key, toting oil to a waiting ship and other historically accurate challenges. In addition, Fort Mose Historical Society will present “Flight to Freedom,” a special program depicting the experiences of slaves fleeing plantations in Georgia and South Carolina to the Spanish colony’s Fort Mose, the first legally sanctioned community for free blacks in what would become the United States. The Amistad Freedom Schooner will be docked in St. Augustine to commemorate Black History Month during Super Bowl Week.
“Keep the romance going,” says Busnell. “Casablanca Inn is really a couples place, no children, and no pets.” This 1914 Mediterranean revival historic home, with its sweeping porch and rocking chairs, is a favorite for honeymooners. Every room has its own private balcony. The inn features live music every weekend on its balcony and a champagne tasting party the first Wednesday of every month. My room, the Celebration Suite, was a magnificent space divided by an arch into sitting room and bedroom areas. The room was dominated by a huge carved Victorian bed accessed by antique wooden steps. Other period furniture included a settee, arm chair, bureau, armoire and side tables. An elaborate mantelpiece surrounded a fireplace. The walls were painted Edwardian peach and cream. The woodwork is painted white. The curtains on the four large windows are chocolate brown chintz with pink, light yellow and light green floral motifs. Seven lithographs show such old favorites as Boucher trysts and Venetian and Dutch seascapes. Cherubs figure prominently on bronze lamps and gold-painted wall hangings. Other lamps and vases are of the Capodi Monte type. A bottle of Grand Laurent champagne with two tulip glasses and two chocolates made a thoughtful welcoming gesture for the guests. A private, columned balcony holds two rocking chairs and a hammock. It looks out on one of the finest bayfronts in the country, lined with gas lights and palm trees. The view is bookended by the Spanish fortress and the graceful Bridge of Lions. Sailboats in the bay are anchored prettily. In the early morning quiet, this view is wonderful. On the other side of town, sits the granddaddy of historic inns in St. Augustine -- the St. Francis Inn. Founded in 1791, it is the oldest B & B in the city. It was originally built for a sergeant in the Spanish Army, Gaspar Garcia. Since Senor Garcia had the keys to all of the King’s supplies, the St. Francis became quite luxurious. In 1838, it became the property of Colonel Thomas Henry Dummet of Barbados, an officer in the British Marines. In 1845, after Colonel Dummett’s death, his daughter converted the home to a rooming house. The St. Francis has 17 rooms in four buildings. It is known for its full southern-style breakfast buffet. Outside, the St. Francis has gorgeous gardens, a swimming pool, a private parking lot, and a fish pond filled with koi. Just down the street at Casa de la Paz Inn, owner George Dann will tell you how a ghost named Mabel makes occasional appearances there. Mabel was the wife of a fisherman who went down with his ship. Guests still see her standing watch for her husband. She will question people, “When is my husband coming home?” With only seven rooms, Casa de la Paz is one of the highest volume B & B’s in town. It too has gleaming floors and a spectacular waterfront view through a big picture window. It was recently voted “Most Romantic B & B” by bedandbreakfast.com. The Casa de Solana is the second oldest inn in St. Augustine, built in 1803. The building was built for an Englishwomen, Mary Mitchell, the first wife of Don Manuel Solana. Its grand courtyard has been the scene of many weddings. Most of its 10 rooms have gas fireplaces, refrigerators and Jacuzzis. The building is set among tropical gardens and a walled courtyard. Former New York lawyer Robert Graubard owns the Wescott Inn and the Bayfront Marin House, two of the city’s luxury inns on the bay. Every afternoon, he serves his guests wine in the parlor. The second story balconies are an ideal place to watch the waterfront. For 50 years, the Marin Inn was a boardinghouse. Its three buildings combine to make up 15 rooms. (One of the rooms is a 1791 coquina stone building.) The Wescott Inn has nine rooms, all carefully furnished with period antiques. You’ll see high four-poster beds, armoires and claw foot tubs. Each of the rooms is outfitted with a Jacuzzi tub. While staying at one of the romantic inns, you can top off your Super Bowl visit to St. Augustine with a wine tasting at the San Sebastian Winery. Located on the west end of town on the San Sebastian Inlet, the winery has received more than 200 awards. Its grapes come from vineyards in Clermont, in northwest Florida. The wines are made from Native Muscadine grapes and Florida Hybrid grapes. Opened in 1996, the winery makes 36,000 cases of wine each year. The wine is available only in Florida. On the winery’s second floor, enjoy a wine tasting with wines from port to cream sherry to sparkling wine. On the third floor, the winery has created a romantic open air wine and jazz bar, called “The Cellar Upstairs.” You can watch the stars there and look out onto the city from February until Thanksgiving. (Look at the top dome of Flagler’s Presbyterian Church.) The open air wine bar features live music every weekend. If You’re Going: St. Francis Inn, 279 St. George Street, St. Augustine, phone 904-824-6068 or www.stfrancisinn.com Casa de la Paz, 22 Avenida Menendez, phone 904-829-2915 or www.casadelapaz.com Casa de Solana, 21 Aviles Street, St. Augustine, phone 904-824-3555 or www.casadesolana.com Inn On Charlotte, 52 Charlotte Street, St. Augustine, phone 904-829-3819 or www.innoncharlotte.com Bayfront Marin, 142 Avenida Menendez, St. Augustine, phone 904-824-4301 or www.bayfrontmarinhouse.com Bayfront Wescott, 146 Avenida Menendez, St. Augustine, phone 904-824-4301 or www.wescotthouse.com San Sebastian Winery, 157 King Street, St. Augustine, phone 1-888-FLA-WINE or www.sansebastianwinery.com Images by Susan Scott Schmidt |
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TM
At
her 1914 Mediterranean inn with its smashing waterfront view, Bushell
and her 24-hour staff are accustomed to guests galore. But this year is
special. Casablanca Inn will play host to the NFL Players Association for
Super Bowl XXXIX, scheduled for February 6 in nearby Jacksonville.
With its 42 miles of surrounding beaches and 60
historic sites, St. Augustine and its historic inns are ready. Architectural
stylings in St. Augustine range from the simplicity of coquina rock and
tabby cottages along ancient brick lanes to the magnificence of early 20th
century structures capped by towers, turrets and red clay roofs. St.
Augustine’s back streets, with trees draped in Spanish moss and romantic
hidden courtyards blooming with tropical flowers, are a wonderful way to
explore the city.
St Augustine was founded in 1565, 42 years before the
English colonized Jamestown and 55 years before the Pilgrims landed at
Plymouth Rock. It is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in
the United States. Near the end of the 19th century, oil magnate Henry
Flagler envisioned St. Augustine as “American’s Riviera,” and constructed
the opulent and exclusive Ponce de Leon Hotel, now part of Flagler College.
For St. Augustine visitors seeking history and romance,
Bushell’s Casablanca Inn, with its spectacular view of the
horse-and-carriage rides at the waterfront, is just
one of seven Inns of Elegance, which represent the crème de la crème of the
Oldest City’s inns.