Some of the major attractions for kids include the St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoological Park, which is the oldest tourist attraction in the state of Florida. It's kind of unusual, and if you go in there you'd think it just opened yesterday because it looks brand new. It's the only facility in the entire world that has every species of crocodile in residence there. In fact, from that standpoint, that they have a crocodile college there once each year where people from all over the world who manage crocodiles and alligators come. They visit this college to find out the latest techniques in working with crocodiles. They have a great animal show and bird shows and all that sorts of thing that are very fun and educational. Another popular attraction right across the river from that is the St. Augustine's lighthouse. It is one of the more famous lighthouses in the entire United States. It has a great museum and has a lot of children's programs. You can climb to the top of the lighthouse's 219 steps, and once you get to the top you have an incredible view of the beaches and the harbour and the whole city. We also have the original "Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum." The original first one to ever open is right here, believe it or not. And in fact, it's the Ripely's that they show at the opening of the "Ripley's Believe It or Not" television program that you see from time to time. It actually was built as a castle type style; it's a great place to visit. There is also the world famous Fountain of Youth. Legend has it that Ponce de Leon was looking for the legendary fountain of youth when he discovered Florida. It's located right here in St. Augustine and you can go in and actually drink from that fountain and see archeological exhibits and all sorts of things that relate to the early Spanish history of the area. And then we have the oldest wax museum in the nation; "Potter's Wax Museum." It has great displays of not only historical figures, the signers of the Declaration of Independence, but people like Sylvester Stallone and Michael Jordan and lots of entrainment people. So that's a fun thing for everybody to do. The kids also have opportunities to go on sailing trips here in the harbour. There is a schooner that goes up several times a day and kids actually get a chance to raise the sail. If you do that at nighttime, then he you get to meet a pirate. There is also the old Florida Museum here which is a "hands-on" type of museum that's actually outdoors. It's designed specifically for kids. You get to walk-through the different periods in Florida history and actually get to experience that. You can see one of the early Native Americans and visit their village and see how they made their weapons and how they lived from a day to day existence. Then it goes from the Spanish period right up to the mid to late 1800s where people lived out on the docks of Florida and raised cattle and that sort of thing. And of course we couldn't forget to mention the ghost tours. This is the most haunted city in the United States, most ghost experts say. That's reasonable because it's been here for 440 years. It's had lots of time to just stock up on ghosts. Of course, there have been many battles and plagues and floods and all those sorts of things that make a long and interesting history of the town. But there are about 8 different tours every night of the year and they range from walking to a historic district up to a ride on a haunted trolley through the streets and making stops at different places including the old jail. That is a frightening experience for everyone but it's all done in a lot of fun and people always enjoy the ghost tours. St. Augustine has prided itself on being a family destination, so they try to keep the prices reasonable for families. They range; the lighthouse experience where you climb to the top is around $5. The ghost tours are usually $10 per person and then a horse carriage ride through the streets at night or the nighttime sailing trip is like in the $30-$40 range.
