Tony Bennett: You Can Find Your Heart in St Augustine!

Frankly, I'm not entirely sure how you leave your heart anywhere...isn't that the type of thing that you usually pack first? And then you tap your chest on the way to the airport, just to remind yourself that it's still with you? (That's what I do with my driver's license on the way to the airport, every time).

Anyway, as I mentioned in the last blog, Mr. Bennett is coming to Saint Augustine on March 20. And YOU can see him for FREE!!

There is a small catch: you have to win the "History with Heart" contest at www.450years.com. It's easy to enter--just post a short video or write a small essay about why YOU (heart) St. Augustine, and if your answer is chosen as the winner, you get a pile of stuff:

2 free tickets to see Tony Bennett sing his heart out at the Saint Augustine Amphitheatre
Romantic horse and carriage ride around the oldest city
Brunch for two at the Raintree Restaurant
Dinner for two at the Floridian (one of our faves!!)
Mini flip cam
Basket full o' goodies
PLUS a whole lot more!!

All you have to do is go to www.450years.com and click on the CONTEST link. While you're there, check out the other cool things planned for the big 4-5-0...it's only three years away!!

Good luck!!

Top Acts in Saint Augustine

We moved to Saint Augustine because we thought it was the most beautiful town we had ever seen. We loved the architecture of the old houses, the fort, the charming narrow brick streets.

Without sounding like too much of a geek, we also loved the amazing culture we found here--the Lightner Museum, the Oldest House museum, the Dow Museum of Homes, the pirate museum. For a little town, we've got a big list of museums!!

But as they say on the infomercials...THAT'S NOT ALL!!

It turns out that Saint Augustine also has an amazing venue for top-tier acts. It's the Saint Augustine Amphitheatre, and it's right across the Bridge of Lions. In the next few months, here are some of the scheduled events:

The Moody Blues, March 17
President Bill Clinton, March 19
Tony Bennett, March 20
Lyle Lovett, March 23
Martina McBride, April 13
The Beach Boys, May 2
Ringo Starr, June 29

Impressive, right? That's the kind of line up you might expect to see in a huge metropolis!! But no, it's right here in St. Augustine, and--unlike some of those "other" big venues, you don't have to lose $1000 gambling, or drive around for hours looking for a safe parking space (they have a huge lot right there).

Plus, you get all the charm of St. Augustine thrown in as a bonus.

If you want to see all of the acts playing in the next few months, you can check it out at www.staugamphitheatre.com. Don't forget, when you buy your tickets, be sure to reserve a room at the inn--because most of these acts are playing during high season.

Mike and I already have tickets to see The Beach Boys and Ringo Starr. But I'm eyeing some of those other acts, too...I just can't get over what a great line up we have this year!!

Holler if you need a ride across the bridge!!

MORE to Eat: Annual Oyster Roast

As if there weren't too many great food choices ALREADY in St. Augustine, today there's one more: the annual Cathedral Parish Oyster Roast.

For just $20 in advance ($25 at the gate), you can slurp down all the salty slick goodness you want!! Bring your own oyster knife--or buy one at the event. While you're there, you might also want to purchase chowder, shrimp boil, wine, or funnel cakes (they're Pennsylvania Dutch, you know--who else could make a yummy fried dessert with leftover gooey dough!)

And yes, in case you're wondering, this event is about 30 steps away from the inn. So waddling home is easier than ever!!

Swing on by from noon til 4 today.

All proceeds benefit the school.

You (Still) Light Up My Life

If you visit Saint Augustine, you might think--"Boy, that's a great place, and very cosmopolitan with all the museums, and artist studios, and high end architecture." But if you lived here, you'd know that deep down Saint Augustine is just a prettier-than-average country girl with a bit of a shyness problem.

All of us residents think that it's a great place--don't get me wrong--but at the end of the day it's just our little town. Despite all the prettiness, we don't have a lot of high-falutin' ideas about ourselves.

So you can imagine the uproar caused when our little, shy, prettier-than-average town was named as one of the Top Ten Places to See Holiday Lights by National Geographic. And we're not talking about one of the top ten places in the United States (although we would be pretty darn proud of that as well). We're talking about one of the top ten places IN THE WORLD.

Yup, it's us and a couple of little towns around the globe--towns like Vienna, Brussels, Copenhagen, Hong Kong and Madrid. Maybe you've heard of them.

It's like that shy, prettier-than-average, little country girl just went and got herself crowned Miss America. NO...WAIT...Miss WORLD!!

Anyway, we're all pretty psyched about it. It was on the front page of our local paper three days in a row.

Feeling left out? Well, you might not have time to fly to Hong Kong (I think their lights are down already), but you still have time to get to little Saint Augustine. The lights will be on through the end of January.

If you can't make it, here are a couple of pictures to whet your appetite for next year.

This is the park. It's the epicenter of romance, with all the trees lit up overhead.

The Casa Monica.

The town tree. (Note: the gift boxes are empty. A cruel joke).

And a little place we like to visit--the Bayfront Marin House.

Hope we see you there soon!!!

Marin House Sangria Recipes

If you've stayed here, you know that our happy hours are practically world famous.

And the most famous part of our practically world famous happy hour is our red and white sangria. Can't decide which one you want? We are not judgemental if you'd like a glass full of each, or even if you'd like to mix the two for a festive pink sangria.

We're also not judgemental if you'd like to try your hand at making it yourself. If you want to try, here you go:

Marin House Red Sangria:

ingredients:
cabernet
orange juice
fresca
suga
fruits (we use fresh oranges and pineapple chunks, or canned if the produce doesn't look good that day!)

Pick a jar of any size (the bigger the better, as far as we're concerned). Then mix everythinbg together with these proportions: 3/4 of the jar should be filled with cabernet, 1/8 jar of orange juice, 1/8 jar of fresca, 1 or 2 cups of fruit (enough to fill the bottom of the jar). Then add sugar to taste.

Marin House White Sangria
chardonnay
apple juice
fresca
sugar
fruits (we use peaches and pineapples, canned works just as well)

Use the same proportions--3/4 full of chardonnay, 1/8 apple juice, 1/8 jar fresca, 1 cup of fruit. Add sugar to taste.

And remember--sangria always tastes better with friends. So invite a bunch over (or plan a trip for all of you to come and see us in St. Augustine!!)

Light Up Your Life: A Holiday Special from the Bayfront Marin House

I used to balk whenever I saw Christmas decorations in stores before it was even Halloween.

Then I met my nephew, who--when he was four--opened his last birthday present of the day then said "When is my birthday next year???"

Why not celebrate something that you really enjoy as soon as possible?

We've been thinking about Christmas for quite some time now. And we've got a GREAT deal for our guests who are planning to spend the holiday season with us.

From November 27 through January 26, guests who stay two weekday nights (that's Sunday through Thursday) are going to have a sweet time at the Bayfront Marin House.

First, when you check in, you'll get awesome chocolate peppermint bark and s'mores from the amazing Claude's Chocolates (a local favorite--just ask our staff!) It's a great way to start a romantic getaway with your own sweetie.

After you've fed each other chocolate, you can enjoy our almost-famous happy hour from 5-7 each night. Lounge around in our hammock--or one of our relaxing porch swings--with a glass of our sangria, and a plate of our nom-noms du jour.

But the most fun is yet to come. When the sun goes down, the lights go up--over 2 million twinkly white ones, part of the illuminating Nights of Lights celebration in Saint Augustine. You'll enjoy the perfect vantage point on a FREE and EXCLUSIVE ride on the Inns of Elegance red train. It will pick you up right from our inn (we're one of only 5 Inns of Elegance, so there will be plenty of room on the ride), and take you on a gorgeous tour through town.

If you and your loved one don't feel all lovey-dovey after that, well, then there's really nothing more we can do for you.

But that doesn't mean we're not going to try!! When you check in, we'll give you a gift certificate good for two cups of homemade hot chocolate and chocolate covered biscotti from Claude's. It's our holiday gift to you--to THANK YOU for helping to make our first full year as innkeepers truly sweet for us.

We hope you'll join us for the holidays this year. The Trolley Treat Tour begins November 27 and runs through January 26 (with the exception of the week between Christmas and New Year's, when even Santa takes a break!!) Call us soon to book your stay!!

By the Numbers: Weddings on 11/11/11

A good friend of mine dabbles in numerology.

She can meet someone, add up the letters in their name, and determine if they will be best friends or simply acquaintances. She can tell you what numbers are "lucky" for you, and what months are the best months for business or love or adopting a puppy.

I, on the other hand, can't even split a restaurant bill five ways without the total either coming up short, or our group leaving a 45% tip.

But lately I've been thinking that the numbers are aligning for me to start looking at numbers more carefully. If you're going to study numerology, Saint Augustine is the place to start. Check out this post in wikipedia:

St. Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354–430) wrote "Numbers are the Universal language offered by the deity to humans as confirmation of the truth." Similar to Pythagoras, he too believed that everything had numerical relationships and it was up to the mind to seek and investigate the secrets of these relationships or have them revealed by divine grace.

I've been thinking about numbers a lot lately, as we get more and more calls from star-struck couples who want to be married at our inn on November 11, 2011--which is 11/11/11 for the numerically challenged.

(If you're thinking about doing that yourself, you might want to consider a room for 12/12/12. We already have FOUR couples getting married on 11/11/11--and I think that's our limit!)

So why are couples choosing this date in droves? In my highly unscientific study (I simply asked two of the people planning a wedding with us on that day), this is what I learned: there are those people (read: women) who think that a repetitive date like 11/11/11 is so scarce (this particular date won't happen again in our lifetime--and after 12/12/12 next year, this won't happen again until 2101, when you can get married on 1/1/1) that it simply must be good luck. Other people (men, natch) think it's cool because 11/11/11 seems to be a date that even they can't forget.

I guess we'll find out on 11/11/12.

In the meantime, if you want to get married on a special date, give us a call at 904.824.4301. We have availability on 1/2/12, 10/11/12, and 12/12/12!