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Come explore St. Augustine! It's a great family destination that blends historic and modern attractions.

Many tourist destinations tout only their newest attractions, but most people come to St. Augustine to see what's been around for a long time. And, despite its most famous attraction, when my wife and I first visited here almost two decades ago with small children, we found it was a family destination that offered something for all ages.

St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the continental United States. When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, the city already had a fort, a church, a hospital, a seminary, fish markets and more than 100 houses and shops. Not to mention the infamous Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth (800/356-8222), a natural spring supposedly found by the Spanish explorer and now a rather kitschy attraction fit for busloads of seniors. (Entry into the park requires a small fee.)

Seniors are among the million or so visitors who come here and find the old historic area is only about eight blocks square, and easily walkable. If your family can't or doesn't want to walk, there are horse-drawn carriage tours and sightseeing trains. Historic Tours of St. Augustine (904/829-3800) has 20 stops where passengers can get off and on at will, as many times as they want. Tickets are good for three days.

Family Attractions

Visitors can buy various tickets to see some of the 85 historic sites and attractions. One definitely worth a peek is St. Augustine's Oldest House, also known as the Gonzalez-Alvarez House (904/824-2872), dating back to 1727. One recent addition to the historic homes is the Old St. Augustine Village (904/823-9722), where costumed guides take visitors through nine homes and a country store depicting life in the 16th century.

Children and grandchildren usually like the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse (888/653/745), especially if they think their own classrooms are modest. This school, dating back to 1763, shows an old classroom with life-sized figures of a professor and pupils, rare schoolbooks and tools that used to be common, such as slates and slate pencils (talk about primitive).

St. Augustine is a small town that has a variety of activities, at least during the day, and its offerings to visitors have steadily increased in the almost two decades we've been visiting. Visitors can even take in a winery without having to worry about driving home. The San Sebastian Winery (904/826-1594) is only a few blocks from the historic area; there are free daily winery tours and tasting hours. There's also wheelchair access and an elevator.

If you're with children too young to appreciate wine, you might reward them with a dessert -- a visit to the Whetstone Chocolate Factory (904/825-1700) where they'll show you how chocolate is made. And it's free.

When my wife and I visited here long ago, we put at the top of our list the coquina-stone Castillo de San Marcos(904/829-6506). This dingy, prison-like castle with hard dirt floors was started in 1672 and took 23 years to complete. Blood-soaked battles took place here which involved the British, the French and the Spanish.

Our young children at that time were far more interested in Ripley's Believe It Or Not! (904/824-1606), so we compromised and went to both.

Other Ripley-like attractions children may prefer to historical homes include the St. Augustine Alligator Farm (904/824-3337), which has 2,700 gators and crocodiles, as well as monkeys, exotic birds and giant tortoises. Not far away is the Potter's Wax Museum (800/584-4781), which has 160 famous figures including Michael Jordan.