Last Updated on January 15, 2024 by Marybeth
There are few secret places in Florida anymore, but now and then a town pops up that you have never heard of. Granted, some of the destinations’ addresses will say “St. Augustine” even though they’re also just down the street from (can we keep it an almost-secret?) Butler Beach. Crescent Beach. Have you heard of these beachside communities?
We’ve found the perfect vacation spot, for your family or your travel squad, to experience fall in Florida. Fall comes here too: we do get chilly evenings paired with warm beach days! Explore the glorious St. Augustine Nights of Lights, during which the nation’s oldest city is illuminated with more than three million lights. From November 18, 2023, to January 28, 2024, businesses stay open later, and trolleys offer specialty tours for this award-winning holiday display. You can also choose from less traditional means of touring the town to see the lights; via golf cart, pirate ship, sailboat, cycle boat, or helicopter. The list is almost endless. Or just walk around! You will be dazzled by this spectacular festival.
STAY
If you’re like us you’ll delight in staying close by, but not too close. Stay away from the fray is one of our favorite catchphrases. We found the best place to stay: Rush Slowly House. A .4 mile walk to the beach, (Butler Beach) just down the street from the Intracoastal, and approximately 10 minutes to downtown St. Augustine. Not only is the oldest city within easy reach, the oldest restaurant in St. Augustine is a 5-minute walk from this lovely home-away-from-home. The perfect name for your next holiday destination: Rush Slowly House. Stop and smell the hibiscus, enjoy the little things… Rush Slowly.
You may decide to just ‘stay home’ at Rush Slowly House. I say this a lot… because we do this, a lot. Once we’re settled into a gorgeous, welcoming, amenity-filled vacation place, the everyday pace and stresses of life melt away, we look around, smile and say “Let’s stay in tonight.”
We did just that on our recent visit to Rush Slowly House. Granted, the Nights of Lights had not begun, and naturally beach walks happened (the provided rolling cart and rolling Igloo cooler made this super simple), and we scouted out great nearby restaurants and shops. Right there in little Butler Beach you’ll find enough cool stops to explore you may forget that famed St. Augustine is also at your figurative doorstep. The choice is yours, and isn’t that a wonderful thing?
Butler Beach, and St. Augustine Beach (a mile or so away; everything is close here) feel like small surfing towns from summers when we were kids. The quaint, local-centric atmosphere is felt as you walk to the beach, grab a bite at a taco stand, or indulge in an ice cream cone. Locally owned surf shops offer lessons and surfboard rentals if you’re planning on catching some waves in one of the oldest surfing towns around. So many “oldest” experiences here! This surf scene has been called one of the tightest-knit communities of loyal surfers. Rush Slowly House offers a peaceful, modern sanctuary for your home base as you explore the towns around you.
Rush Slowly House will comfortably accommodate nine guests, and its couch will just about accommodate all of them as well. Okay, maybe not nine, but I’m not exaggerating when I say four adults can curl up – some can stretch out – along with a small child for evenings of reading, watching TV, and playing board games. You’ll be staying near one of Florida’s most famous towns, and here I am talking about the couch?
This trip, for me, was an opportunity to travel with most of my adult kids* and my granddaughter. It’s been quite a year for us; full of joy, as always, with Ellis (age three and a half now!) and also some hard roads our family has been navigating together. To be able to gather like this, and just be, was invaluable. So yes, I’m talking about the couch. Also the gorgeous kitchen, the large dining table, and the cozy outdoor porch and gorgeous back yard. And the biggest, most adult-sturdy bunk bed I’ve ever experienced! Double beds up and down, plus a trundle!
Do you make detailed plans for your trips? And do you adhere to strict itineraries once you’re there? No judgement here if you do ( I secretly call myself a planning wizard.) Certainly the opportunities to explore the St. Augustine area are boundless. If you need a little guidance, at Rush Slowly House you’ll find a detailed, beautifully designed Welcome Guide with a slew of insider info from true locals. Things to do (museums, beaches, parks, shops, tours), Anastasia Island Eats, and Downtown Historic St. Augustine Eats. Along with everything you need to know about the house itself – including which local artists created the paintings, sculptures, and some of the furniture.
Besides the abundant amenities and the private-retreat vibe of the home, what stood out the most for us was the evident mission of the owners to support regional makers and artisans. Leaf through the Welcome Guide out on the back porch, sit awhile and listen to the birds, feel the breeze.
Read til the end to view a stunning aerial drone video tour of Rush Slowly House!
We didn’t spend the entire time chilling: out back is a storage cottage with multiple beach chairs, rolling cart and cooler, boogie boards, a big beach umbrella set-up, and so many yard games that we couldn’t help but pull out every single one. (Ellis’s idea!) Our favorites were corn hole, croquet, and KanJam. In the photos it looks like we made our own mash-up game…. Croq-corn Hole?
PLAY
We’ve simplified our categories these days. Stay and Play. Play being all the things you choose to do once the super important decision of where to stay is made. ‘Cuisine and culture’ are at the top the list (after Beaches, naturally) of what 94% of travelers seek to experience in Florida.
With this in mind, see if you can pry yourself away from this homey haven to discover the cheerful small-town streets that lead to the beach, mom-and-pop shops, boutiques, and some of the best food you’ve ever had.
A partial list of recommended restaurants not pictured:
Cousteau’s Waffle & Milkshake Bar
Odd Birds Cocktail Lounge & Kitchen
Some of the not-to-miss shops:
As always we take countless photos around the area, to show you the general ambience of the town and how the residents live. Drawn to the cute, colorful, smallish, and vintage cottages given new life, I tend to boast of those (as if I dug into the renovations with my own tools and grit!) Living simply and modestly in a fun little beach town feels like the best of goals. Yet there are a number of awe-inspiring, architecturally significant new homes as well, living side-by-side with the simple little structures. It’s as if they’re all neighborly people, in my mind, coexisting peacefully. Lest I get way too woo-woo about it all, let me just show you:
Plan your trip now! This mellow little corner of coastal Florida – Butler Beach, Crescent Beach, St. Augustine Beach and of course the wonders of historic downtown St. Augustine – are best explored from Rush Slowly House.
Watch the house tour video by Brad Gleaton here.
Rush Slowly House on Instagram
Rush Slowly House on AirBnb
Rush Slowly House on VRBO
Butler Beach is an oceanfront and intracoastal-front community located on Anastasia Island, a couple miles south of St. Augustine Beach, and a 10 minute drive to downtown historic St. Augustine.
We received a complimentary stay at Rush Slowly House, but all opinions are, as always, our own.
*Maggie, we missed you. Next time!
Many thanks to my sweet husband who stayed home with our cranky elderly Chihuahua. Robert, I am the luckiest!
