For my birthday we took a weekend road trip to Saint Augustine! I was looking for a low key road trip where we could take our dog Bear, so the 3-hour drive was perfect!
Map of Route
About 1.5 hours from Tampa we hit Silver Springs State Park. This is a beautiful state park centered around the clear water springs, the park is packed with miles of walking and horseback riding trails PLUS you can kayak here too! This was the perfect pit stop for Bear to have a break from the car. It was $8 for us to enter, we walked the boardwalk trails for a bit and relaxed.
They have a small cafe and plenty of restrooms, making this a very worthy stop. We are even planning a day trip just to come back and use our paddle boards through the crystal-clear spring system.
Note: the boardwalks are beautiful to walk and watch people on their kayaks BUT BEWARE there are loose monkeys that can cause trouble. I've never seen them, even though I've been a few times but there are signs about it!
On prior visit we also did the glass bottom boat tours! I'd highly recommend these if you're pet free when you stop! Here's a few pictures from us taking the tour! Tickets are about $20-$30 depending on the length of the tour.
After a few more hours of driving we got to our hotel. The Embassy Suites St Augustine! Last time we stayed more in the downtown, so I was so excited to stay RIGHT on the beach!
My goal this trip was to have a chill evening and then get to watch the sun rise on the beach. Being in Tampa we get all the beach sunsets, so I wanted to see a beach sunrise for a change.
The hotel was great for us and Bear. Our room had plenty of room and hard wood floors, so we had less to worry about with Bear. The staff we very accommodating of us with plenty of spaces we could take Bear, direct beach access and even extra pet supplies in their gift shop. There were so many other people traveling with their dogs too!
It was so much fun taking Bear right outside our hotel to walk the beach, watching him wonder why the waves were so much larger on the ocean side and watch other dogs play in the sand too.
We had a great morning watching the sun rise on the beach. The hotel had an extensive breakfast buffet, packed with fresh items. We will definitely be back!
Hotel Spend Review
Here's what we spent at the hotel for a total of $245 + 80,000 Hilton Points, I earned a free night credit to any hotel, so I used it for my birthday!
- Valet Parking - $39
- Nightly Pet Fee - $75
- Dinner for 2 on Arrival Night - $118
The morning after we also did some walking in St Augustine! Just to walk the shops and relax before the drive back. The main streets can get a bit busy, so we loved the back courtyards many of the businesses had to chill in.
We stopped at the Sweet Spot and Bens Pretzels (my favorite) for a quick bite! There were MANY other pet friendly things we missed on this visit like other restaurants, walking tours and parks so shout out to the Bring Fido App for helping us find pet friendly restaurants and activities along our travels!
Thank you for reading my blog post! We are starting to do more road trips in the US with our dog Bear so I'm excited to share more of them with you! Happy Travels!
