Dog Friendly

St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra and The Beaches has approximately 50 pet friendly accommodations, ranging in price point and type of accommodation, including the Bayfront Marin House Bed & Breakfast www.bayfrontmarinhouse.com , which was recently named one of the Top 10 places to spend the holidays by BedandBreakfast.com. You can see a complete list of pet friendly accommodations by selecting the pet friendly amenity in your room search at http://www.floridashistoriccoast.com/listings/hotels

Leashed dogs are welcome on designated areas of the beach. St. Augustine's Fountain of Youth is pet friendly http://www.fountainofyouthflorida.com/index.php and St. Augustine's historic district, including St. George Street, welcomes leashed pets.

In addition, there are more than 20 dog-friendly restaurants and cafes with outdoor dining options.

Culinary Paradise

Fresh Seafood, year-roundfarm-fresh produce, spicy favorites featuring the destination's signature datil peppers,

Spanish tapas and the very best in New World cuisine are just a few of the culinary delights enjoyed by visitors to

Florida's Historic Coast. The area's temperate weather means you can dine waterside and outdoors all year long.

The culinary culture here is a melting pot of flavors reflecting the influences of hundreds of years of Spanish, Irish, Greek, Italian, Brazilian, Cuban, French, Minorcan and British cultures that have settled on Florida's Historic

Coast. Even today, chefs come from around the world to open their own restaurants or to create inspiring dishes from the kitchens of our world-class resorts.

Foodies can find special events on Florida's Historic Coast year-round:

Noche de Gala (Night of the Ball) Feb. 23.

32nd Annual Lions Club Sea Food Festival March 1-3.

Hot Food 'N Spicy Blues Fest March 3.

18th Annual Rhythm and Ribs Fest April 5-7.

Taste of St. Augustine April 27.

Dine on the Wild Side May 12.

Taste of the Beach May 19.

Flavors of Florida's Historic Coast month-long prix fixe dining October.

Flavors Top Chef Cook-Off October 12.

Spanish Wine and Food Festival October 21-26.

29th Annual Great Chowder Debate Nov. 3.

Hispanic Heritage

Hispanics in the U.S. and abroad can experience the ultimate history and heritage vacation on Florida's Historic

Coast. Thanks to Spanish explorers, St. Augustine is the oldest continuous European settlement in what is now the United States. The destination is celebrating its Spanish history and culture in a campaign called “Vuelve a Donde Nació Nuestro Espiritu” – Back to Where Our Spirit Was Born. Learn more on Facebook.com/MiLatinoSpirit and on Twitter @MiLatinoSpirit.

In April of 1513, Spaniard Ponce de León and his men came ashore and claimed La Florida for Spain. La Florida in colonial times extended north to Canada and west to Mexico. Florida's Historic Coast, St. Augustine and Ponce Vedra, remains the only documented location for Juan Ponce de Leon's 1513 voyage. The only surviving navigational fix from the momentous journey was taken by his navigator, Anton de Alaminos, at noon on April 2, 1513. It showed his fleet was at a position of 30 degrees 8 minutes north latitude. That position is north of St. Augustine and just south of Ponte Vedra Beach. Although the exact location of the historic landing is not known, the most contemporary account of the expedition shows that Ponce and his crew came ashore the very next day to plant the flag of Spain.

The second major historical landing on Florida's Historic Coast took place on September 8, 1565, when Admiral

Pedro Menendez de Aviles came ashore and founded the city of St. Augustine. Menendez, his accompanying troops, men, women and children came ashore and participated in the first Christian Mass, led by Farther Lopez. The Mass took place on the North American continent and included a feast of Thanksgiving with the native Timucuan Indians. Since that day there have been people of European descent thriving in St. Augustine, making it the nation's oldest city.

Among the attractions that document and celebrate Hispanic heritage are the Colonial Quarter, Castillo de San Marcos, the Fountain of Youth, Mission Nombre de Dios, the Cathedral Basilica, the Government House, the Spanish Military Hospital, the St. Augustine Lighthouse, the Villa Zorayda, the Oldest House and many more monuments and buildings throughout Florida's Historic Coast.

Florida's Historic Coast has a full schedule of events from 2013 to commemorate Florida's 500th birthday. Commemoration events will continue through 2015 when the 450th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine, the nation's oldest city.

African American Heritage

You may recognize St. Augustine for its Spanish and British cultural history, but did you know that the oldest city is the birthplace of African-American history? From its earliest days through the turbulent 1960s, African- Americans have played key roles in the story of St. Augustine. This vital contribution by people of color is well- documented, but not well-known.

The first recorded birth of a person of African descent in what would become the United States occurred in St. Augustine in 1606. The first people of African descent to make their homes in what is now the United States did not come here as slaves – they were officers, soldiers and sailors in the Spanish military of the 16th century.

The first legally sanctioned African-American town in the nation was founded in 1738 in Spanish Florida. Former slaves escaping their English masters founded Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, a military community, which is today known as Fort Mose.

Fort Mose Historic State Park is located three miles north of St. Augustine's city gate. On June 22, 2013, Battle of Bloody Mose Anniversary Commemoration will be held at the park. This is an exciting reenactment of the 1740

Battle of “Bloody Mose” which forced the British to retreat from Spanish Florida. www.floridastateparks.org/fortmose.

Freed at the end of the Civil War, former local slaves created the Lincolnville district of St. Augustine—an area that has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1963 and 1964, Civil Rights demonstrations in St. Augustine and the violent attempts to stop them gained national and international media attention. In St. Augustine's Plaza de la Constitucion, the Andrew Young

Crossing commemorates the June 9, 1964 Civil Rights march led by Young, and there is a monument dedicated to the St. Augustine Foot Soldiers who participated in the Civil Rights movement.

Visitors to St. Augustine can tour many other key sites and markers related to the turbulent struggle for civil rights with the aid of a self-guided cell phone tour available for download at www.accordfreedomtrail.org/sites.html.

Located midway between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville, Florida's Historic Coast includes historic St. Augustine, the outstanding golf and seaside elegance of Ponte Vedra Beach, 42 miles of pristine, Atlantic beaches – the same beaches that greeted Ponce de Leon in 1513 when he discovered and named La Florida, an area whose boundaries encompassed what would later become the eastern United States. For more information on events, activities, holiday getaway and vacation opportunities in St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches, go to the Visitors and Convention Bureau website at www.FloridasHistoricCoast.com, become a fan on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/13Sx56 or call 1.800.653.2489.