by johnny st. thomas
I’ve always enjoyed spirits, and how better to enjoy them than with spirits? I learned of this haunted pub tour presented by Ghost Augustine when I set our professional drinkers to the task of finding haunted pubs for Halloween. Jacksonville didn’t turn up much, but that’s mostly because bars and restaurants have a shelf life of about two years here. St. Augustine, on the other hand, is loaded with bars and many of those bars are loaded with people that won’t leave even after the (too early) last call. Some of them don’t leave, though, because they’ve been dead for hundreds of years. A couple of these bars we’ve reviewed before, but never with full disclosure about their haunted nature. This time we had a pro take us to tell the stories. His name was Quentin and he was haunted by the ghost of haircuts past. Although all of the professional drinkers showed excitement at the prospect of this adventure, only our photographer Heath dared brave the adventure with me. We got so haunted we had to crash at a cheap hotel. And that hotel was the creepiest part!
Address or Directions: 46 Avenida Menendez
Type of Place: Seafood Grill and Bar
Serving: Shelf and call liquor drinks, domestic draft beer and house wines.
Atmosphere: No smoking. If you’re at the upstairs bar, you can’t even smoke on the patio. But the view of the bay is spectacular.
Drink Specials: If you’re lucky, the ghost will turn on the tap for you while the bartender isn’t looking.
Ever since my girlfriend applied for a job at Harry’s in Orange Park and was told she had to be willing to do body shots, I haven’t been much of a fan of the chain. But the Harry’s in St. Augustine is in a haunted building, so when a girl gets on the bar to do a body shot, it’s because she’s possessed by the spirit of Catalina (and wasted)! Catalina is a punitive ghost that insists on good manners. Quentin calls this stop the “Weeding out place,” since Catalina has a tendency to punish the riff raff. Bartenders Vance and Melinda also told us casual stories about the beer taps randomly turning on in the upstairs bar, next to Catalina’s old bedroom!
Address or Directions: San Marco Boulevard, across from the Bridge of Lions
Type of Place: Martini Bar
Serving: Shelf and call liquor drinks, bottled beer, and a selection of wines.
Atmosphere: An intimate, elegant little bar with seating that looks over the Matanzas Bay.
Amenities: Featuring a player piano and live music on Thursdays, usually jazz.
This is the quintessential St. Augustine ghost story. Until you know the story of the rum-running owner of the Casablanca Inn that still waves her lantern at boaters at night, you’re still a tourist. Built in 1912, the Casablanca Inn was a speakeasy during Prohibition. The owner was a very “independent woman” who bought rum right off the ships that traveled between Jamaica and the mobsters up north. But the bar of the place doesn’t exactly embrace the tale with their tourist-chic Tini Martini bar. They even have a tiny piano. But there wasn’t room for a ghost tour, so Quentin told the story out front and let us spend more time in the next bar.
Address or Directions: 23 Orange Street in St Augustine
Type of Place: Irish Pub and Restaurant
Serving: Good selection of Import and domestic Drafts with even more bottle selections
Atmosphere: Quaint and authentic. No smoking.
Amenities: Beautiful historic building overlooking one of the country’s oldest cemeteries.
We’ve been to this bar before, but this time was by far the creepiest. As we rounded the corner of Orange Street, Quentin talked about the graveyard, and the unmarked graves below the surrounding area from some ancient plague. And as we approached dear old Ann O’Malley’s there on the front stoop was a Spanish conquistador, a ruffian pirate and some sort of British colonist. Here we were being cynical about the possibilities of seeing any creatures at all and the pub is packed to the gills with ‘em. As it turns out, they are all tour guides having a nip after work. They will go home and fall asleep watching reruns of Scrubs on cable. It seems as though we’ve had an inordinate amount of time at O’Malley’s and perhaps Quentin is getting a little snockered with that pirate.
Address or Directions: 70 Hypolita Street, just off Cordova
Type of Place: Bar and restaurant
Serving: Southern food, bar cuisine, domestic beers on draft (Bud products only) and a full bar.
Atmosphere: Rustic and rickety. The atmosphere is awesome, it belongs in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom. They often feature live music.
Amenities: “Upstairs ghost bar.”
Quentin forgot to tell us the ghost story behind this place (I think he was getting a little sauced – it was his third tour for the evening), but in my experience, Scarlett O’Hara’s is a nightmare every time. In the past year I have tried to go to three times, and although I’ve never been cursed, each time has left me cursing. From their half-hearted beer selection to their slow service, all they have to offer is atmosphere. Although the claim was that we would get 25% off of our tab for having the “Pub Tour” sticker on, instead the bartender was an ass, the drinks were too expensive and after waiting an eternity for a beer, we decided to cut to the chase and head to St. George Tavern. After that, I saw all sorts of things that weren’t there.
We didn’t see any ghosts, but as the night waned on, Heath’s trashed digital camera caught more and more “orbs.” The walking pub tour is $16 and if you enjoy the stories, you should also tip. You walk to four or five pubs and you spend twenty to thirty minutes in each pub, depending on the group in the tour and the daily schedule, but with a group of friends I can see this being a perfect night on the town. Split a room and book your tour early, because this is the season for ghosts in St. Augustine!
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