St. Augustine shopping and old town sights

I didn't have a lot of time to spend shopping.  The beach won out over the stores every time!

But on our first morning there we had to swing by this little Saturday market right in town!

It was about what you would expect from a small town flea market.

Lots of kitschy junk.  But it was awesome for people watching and for enjoying a sunny Saturday morning!

And I saw a few things I'd never seen before, like this Luci and Desi cake plate!

And these little Armed Services edition paperback books -- a whole box of them!  I can't believe I've never seen them before.

This guy was having fun with his robot display!

A bag full of vintage trim was ALL I brought home from that flea market!  It was lightweight and squishable, making it the perfect little buy for a traveling gal!

 Much later in the week I stopped by the row of antique stores that I'd been driving past/resisting all week!

 I enjoyed the sea faring theme of their street side displays...

 Look at this fabulous selection of stained glass windows!  It's a good thing they wouldn't fit into my suitcase!

 I took a photo of this display for my friend Lani, who likes flamingos and kitschy paint-by-numbers art.

My one antique find during that shopping trip was this set of "parts of speech" prints.  I saw some just like them in Virginia a couple of years ago and never forgot them.  This set of four had just arrived in the shop that morning, they told me, and the cost for the 4 of them was less than for one in VA!  So they had to come home with me.

I love them like crazy!

My crafty splurge of the week was this expensive set of washi tapes in a bird theme; we all know how I feel about birds.

 One evening, while moseying around the town square...

along the freedom trail, we stopped in an outdoor market set up that has been the site of commerce for a few hundred years.  There were some street artists selling their wares...

and so I had to honor the tradition by ordering a silver wire necklace for myself!

Dennis and I shopped late one afternoon at the award-winning San Sebastian winery in St. Augustine, while Ben stayed at the hotel and spent time on the computer.

We did their free tour and tasting, of course!

There is a whole "old town" section of St. Augustine with cobblestone streets lined with shops and restaurants to explore, too!

I found one mixed media artists co op that I especially loved:

amiro, art and found

a piece I LOVED in their window display; I didn't take photos inside but you can click on their store link above for their website and more photos.  I will definitely be back next time I'm in St. Augustine!

I loved the whole neighborhood, with its old homes, revamped shops, and mini-Santa Fe feeling!

Many of the oldest buildings were constructed with coquina shell bricks...

so if you look closely at walls you can see the tiny sea shells in the bricks.

I liked all the old iron everywhere, too.  (This one looked like a letter "J".)

I got a kick out of this installation: a tile wall/display showing multiple depictions of the town's Spanish (and sometimes violent) colonial history.

This is the reverse of the display.

While we didn't spend a lot of money in the shops, we sure did patronize all the fine eateries and enjoy seafood and local cuisine.

After long days of beach combing and sight seeing, it was so pleasant to go back to the hotel, freshen up, get dinner and then stroll around in the warm evenings!  I could live in St. Augustine!