#4 The Mill Top Tavern

See you at the top. The Mill Top Tavern has, by far, one of the neatest locations in all of St. Augustine. It is nestled in a 19th Century mill and is listed in the historical record (aged from 1888). The Mill Top appears to look very similar to a treehouse from Castillo Drive. There are two entrances into Mill Top, the front entrance is located on the main shopping street, St. George street and the back entrance is off of Castillo Drive across from the Castillo.

The bar is nestled upstairs, and has outside seating on the upper and lower decks towards the back entrance. At the back entrance is on the lower deck is where their live music performs. You are also able to sit inside with open air seating towards the front of the building. The back is where you want to sit though, it has one of the very best views in St. Augustine. I have a favorite seat at the bar and it is a view of the of Castillo de San Marcos, harbor and the inlet. I love looking at the ancient monument as well as watch the sail boats go by.

As a tour guide for the ancient city I enjoy knowing the history and admiring all the work that has been down around this town. It is truly beautiful.

According to their website, the Mill Top has been one of the best known taverns in St. Augustine for the past 25 years. The Mill Top offers live music daily and its not only a bar but a restaurant as well. Here is a sample of their menu, although I reccomend that you do not eat here. As much as a favorite bar of mine this is, the food here is awful and the time it takes is ridiculously slow! Stick to the liquid diet it is far more beneficial especially the way they make their drinks.

The Mill Top offers beer, liquor and wine. If you order a beer you can order up to a half a yard of beer for a fairly decent price. Now Mill Top doesn't really have a happy hour but they do have a list of specilaty drinks. They will also charge you a regular price for a drink and only charge you a dollar extra for a double and let me tell you, they are strong. Little tougher for me to drink personally. I didn't try any of the specialty drinks here because there was too large of a selection. There specialty drinks are actually specialty shooters but for an extra .25 cents they will turn them into a drink and some of the shooters are all liquor. So see below for a sample of some of the shooters:

• Rotten apple- Southern Comfort, amaretto, spiced rum, melon liquor, pineapple and cranberry-4.75
  
• Mind Eraser- vodka, coffee liqueur, soda on ice with straw.

Bartenders Favorite Shooters

• Sheree's Perfect Paradise- Light rum, coconut rum, pineapple, grapefruit and grenadine- 4.75


• Morgan's Blueberry Squirt- blueberry vodka, grapefruit and cranberry splash 4.75

Mill Top has one of the greatest atmospheres in St. Augustine, inside and outside seating with one of the most spectacular views. On my bar list i would give the Mill Top four stars out five, they have a great view, good service, strong drinks and live music. The only disadvantage is that they serve food but I don't find it to be very good, my impression was that it was overpriced bar food, however you tend find that in a tourist town. But don't let the food keep you away, come in for the music and drinks and work your way down to the new Irish bar, Meehans (on the bayfront) and eat their food. I believe that whether your there day or night you will have a good time. Just a side note, they do charge cover after a certain hour, it is only about two dollars just a note in case you aren't one for carrying cash.

The Mill Top Tavern (& Listening Room)

19 1/2 St. George Street, St. Augustine

Phone number: 904-829-2329

Just as side note, i took a majority of the pictures myself but a few were taken of the Mill Top website because the photos had more clairty

# 3 Tradewinds Tropical Lounge

If walls could talk. Tradewinds lounge. If walls could talk, you'd be able to write 100 books. This probably one of the best places downtown St. Augustine has to offer with the best live music. As long as you don't mind fun: dancing, strong drinks, live music, smokey atmosphere and great people, it's guaranted you'll have one of your best bar experiences.

To enter Tradewinds you have to be 21 and don't try to get in if your not, especially if you are trying to use a fake i.d. you just might end up on the Wall of Shame. One evening I tried to go in, under 21, real i.d., as designated driver (yes that is the truth), and I still got kicked out. But many say you haven't experienced Tradewinds if you haven't been kicked out of Tradewinds (even for something as minor as that). Tradewinds, in preparation is loud, smokey, biker dive bar. And an absolute blast. Generally Tradewinds opens at 1:00 p.m. but music wont start till at 3:00 p.m. but it is fun nonetheless.

Tradewinds has some of the best history in St. Augustine here is a brief summary of it that I received from their website, since their history is far more extensive than I'd ever imagine.

Tradewinds Lounge has history that goes farther back before many of us were born. In the creation process of the lounge, it was meant to have the appearance of a sailor, seaside bar. That’s exactly what they did, Tradewinds is full of many island artifacts and collectable items placed all around. Many of them still hang to. It was in 1944 that idea of the lounge came into play, and quickly opened in 1945 and was known as the South Seas Lounge.

Through several business exchanges that took place over a decade and half and finally in the 60s it became Tradewinds. At the time Tradewinds was located at 1 Aviles Street and was known as place to go to hear great music and have a good time. As it was said Tradewinds was “your port of call.” Then in 1964, the city’s historical restoration department discovered the site of the Old Spanish Military hospital that dated back to the founding of St. Augustine. That means it was time for Tradewinds to relocate. Tradewinds moved to its present address at 124 Charlotte Street. With a change on location meant a change in music. New musicians took the stage such as Jimmy Buffet (who was supposedly kicked off stage cause he stunk), the Sounds of Blue Grass and other bands I have not heard of (at least I’m honest).

As time went by the music acts became some of the best ever. It has evolved from the early music to some of the most current music, the perfect blend of rock’n’roll, blue, country and occasional oldies acts. Now, for the past decade, Troy Locke and Matanzas has been the house band playing nightly (Sunday through Thursday). Or you yourself could take a shot at Open Mic on Thursday night, giving musicians the opportunity to have their songs heard. Tradewinds Tropical Lounge has been determined to continue the tradition to have the vest live entertainment in North Florida, and they have succeeded. As they say “Come on in and relive the history and make a few memories of your own.”

There you have a history of a great place.

The Happy Hour at Tradewinds is from 5-8 p.m. every day of the week (always a plus) and the house band starts at 8:00. The hous band Matanzas is truly a party an absolute blast. Matanzas is said to look much like ZZ Top thats up to you to decide, that sings a variety of country, southern rock and of course rock n roll. If your having a good time Matanzas wants to a hear a "HELL YEAH!"

Here is video of Matanzas performing at Tradewinds, the actual song doesn't start till about 1:45 so if you want to fast forward.

Tradewinds is one bar that you do not want to miss. Tradewinds can also be exceptionally dangerous (in a good way). It is always a blast and often the last stop of a great bar hopping experience. They do not serve food however they do have a popcorn machine in the corner or any specialty drinks. That doesn't matter though because of how strong they are, it can said its a glass of vodka with a splash of cranberry. You will thoroughly enjoy it. It also a note that this may one of the few bars, or the only bar that serves beers in can at about $2.50. Make sure you check out Tradewinds Tropical Lounge. For lack of an outside area I will give this bar four and half stars out of five.

Tradewinds Lounge Is in downtown St. Augustine right off of the town Square, if you are coming west over the Bridge of Lions you should see on your right after you cross Castillo Drive.

Tradewinds Lounge

124 Charlotte Street

St. Augustine, FL 32084

(904)829-9336

Visit the websites at http://www.tradewindslounge.com/home.html

Just a little jealous...

I can't help it but I'm jealous about today. My boyfriend and one of his friends are going on a bar crawl in celebration of their birthday. They have birthdays one day apart, so today they decided they would start early and party till the cows come home (so till about 1 o r 2).

Its not that I am not invited either, sometimes they hope that I come because more often than not I end up being the DD (which is okay sometimes..). However, I have a lot on my plate, especially regarding school work and I need to make the smart decision to get my work first and then have a good time which is always hard. Today I don't have class till about 2 p.m. so I can't join in the festivities till at least 3:30 or 4:00. My public relations class has to be my first priority.

They have the idea the perfect crawl lined up they plan on starting off down by Matanzas inlet. Then they work their way up A1a stopping at many bars along the way. Then they will finally make it downtown where I will join up with them later. They have quite a few good places
picked out and I'm sure I'll cover them individually later.

Tomorrow after I know all the stops they went to, I'll post a map of the layout of our bar crawl. it's going to be a good day...eventually.

A Bar hoping blog?

This blog is meant to be casual. It is pretty much about bar hopping and there is nothing fancy about that. However, I find myself pre-typing all my blog posts and go back through them to check for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Something I never did with homework. This blog is important to me and I can't wait to start posting about bars.

Like I was saying though, there is nothing fancy about bar hopping. No matter how you do it, whether at the cheapest, dirtiest bars or at the high end clubs and lounges in town, 9 out of 10 times people end up going home buzzed. Even if you are "dressed to the nines", you still take the risk of someone spilling their drink on your shoe or outfit and ruining it. Now I am not talking against bar hopping, it's a blast (I plan on doing it tonight) but I have to remind myself a couple of things: it is not classy (nor is order a long island ice tea), but it is always a fun adventure.

That's where the purpose of this blog comes in. My blog is meant to inform people of what I personally think are the best bars in St. Augustine, Florida. I hope this blog comes in useful for both locals and tourists, for a bit of guidance on a good time. This blog will hopefully show the way for a good bar hopping experience. To let people know of good deals, great locations, great drinks bad food, and wonderful atmosphere. All the bars/lounges the city offers has something unique about them, now its about sifting through them to find the best. And that's where I come in, to sift for you.

For anyone who lives in, or has had the pleasure of visiting the nations oldest city (445 years), please feel free to lives comments regarding what and where your favorite bar is.