Anastasia State Park - camping in St. Augustine, Fl. vacation

Anastasia State Park - camping in St. Augustine, Fl. vacation

St. Augustine, Florida vacation – having as much fun as you possibly can with as small a budget is possible. Well, no – that is not going to happen.

It’s been a long time coming and my wife finally gets her 'St. Augustine' vacation.

Sure I live about four hours away and I somehow had an extra body (the daughter of a friend of the family) who unbeknownst to me, was invited to come along with us, of which I had not factored into my already ballooned budget, but all is good. I have to say I was very excited as well; it’s been awhile since I have been camping with my family and I wanted to see how the kids reacted, especially Wanda our friend’s daughter (she has never been camping before).

St. Augustine – Anastasia State Park, the campground site my wife finally decided on is a wonderful camp site indeed. Not like my favorite place "Kelly Park in Apopka Florida", but it is nice, clean and has a beach which is what my wife loves about the place. Personally I am no fan of the sun or its deadly rays that seem to cook my skin with such ease, but it is a nice place to camp. If having the ocean just 2 minutes away, private and secluded - this is the place for you.

As luck would have it the bathroom was right behind our camp site (#115 if you are wondering) and I love the showers, hot water and it gives you and enclosed space with, yes a door to lock. The last campground site we went to only had a shower curtain to separate you and any onlookers, not my thing. I like camping but there are a few things I will just not live without and a bathroom with showers that have hot running water is a must for me. On the other hand, having washer and dryers available is a plus to my wife, I guess to each is own.

To be honest I personally think the camp site is geared more towards older folks, there was one small swing set for babies and a larger park farther down in the open visitors area. The big plus is that you have the beach, for those who love the ocean and that cruel sun. There is an area set up for windsurfing, fishing, a nature trail and you can rent a kayak or a canoe. You had lots of room to bike ride and the park set up was very easy to follow, except for the first day there, where my wife mysteriously got us lost, all in all getting around is pretty easy.

I did learn something very scary about the campground site or should I say about its animal habitat – it seems the raccoons have learned how to open tents, that is, according to the park ranger who checked us in, he says they can open the zipper with ease and suggested we keep all foods locked in our car. Great, you know me a raccoons don’t get along and of course on the last night there a friendly but noisy raccoon came to visit. I didn’t sleep a wink, I was so concerned that the raccoon would decide to make himself home and come right into our tent.

Personally I love campsites that have everything you need in or on the premises – but this is St. Augustine we are talking about and my wife was here to see the sites not the camp ground. So I admit we spent more time in town enjoying all the cool things in town than actually doing the camp fire, camping activities that we usually do.

Next: More on St. Augustine, Fl.

St. Augustine must be the ghost capital of the world, there were more ghostly haunted sites than you could shake a stick at, again something my wife loves. With so many ghoulish haunts to choose from my wife settled on ‘Ripley’s Haunted Castle Adventure’. It took some coaxing but my scared little boy said that he would do it – for me and only if I held his hand as I walked with him.



Anastasia State Park
1340A A1A South St. Augustine, Fl. 32080
904-461-2033
www.floridastatepark.org