Feb 25th Vilano Beach St Augustine FL

[JohnnieWalker]

On the way over here we stopped at Kellyco, met the manager and then Raul and bought a 6x8" butterfly coil from him and a lower shaft for my Safari. Also picked up a simple plastic sand scoop for the soft sand. Visiting their store was a real treat for me. There are a lot of artifacts mixed with products. It's kinda like a museum store. Everyone there was very friendly and extremely helpful. Got to handle a few detectors. I might upgrade my Titan to the Teknetics 8000. It seems like a very nice detector, light but solid and very responsive.

Then off to St Augustine. Checked in at the Hampton Inn Vilano Beach. I have stayed at many Hampton Inn's before but this place is unreal. It is probably the most comfortable hotel I have ever stayed at, right on the beach and I highly recommend you stay here if planning a trip to St Augustine. It is one of the few hotels I would ever give as a 4+ stars.

Sue and I then hit Vilano beach at 8:30AM today and it was windy and very cold. The wind was really whipping in from the north. No major cuts at the main beach but as we walked south and around the point following the coastline to the St Augustine Inlet there were some 2' cuts there and that is where we started getting some real targets.

Sue didn't have any luck with the Titan in the soft stuff and I was only getting a few hits here and there pulling up some strange looking foil or tin. We did a little of that, can you pick this up with your detector? game but it was clear how the Minelab smoked the Titan. But neither of us with anything substantial. Then once I got into the cuts on the St Augustine inlet with the Minelab I started pulling in a coin every 10 feet or so. Unfortunately these coins were just clad, pennies, nickels, dimes some being quite deep. I also gridded around these finds but nothing more.
No Jewelry. :-(

We then decided to go in town to see historic St Augustine and have lunch at the Columbia restaurant. We really liked St Augustine, lots of shops mixed with history and some great architecture made it a fun day.

Since tomorrow calls for more of the same, cold and windy we are not going to detect anymore of St Augustine tomorrow but instead leave early, drive north and hit either Hilton Head or Myrtle Beach which will be our last stop before getting back home.



I might add that I am getting a few aches after all this walking we did today

 

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[vic910]

I love going to St. Augustine, but I've never tried detecting there. I'm surprised you didn't find more. Any day detecting is better than none at all!!

vicki

 

[JP]

JW, glad to see you both had a great time there.

We've been several times to St. Augustine. I never did any hunting while we stayed because we always just stayed in the town.

Last year my brother brought a group of boy scouts over there. They headed over to the beach, one of the boys found a big gold and saphire ring. He didn't have a detector, just luck.

If you don't mind me asking, how was the price of the hotel? You don't have to give an exact price, just a ball park under a certain amount type figure. We want to head over this summer again but I don't want to stay in the one we ususally stay at close to the fort.

Kellycos is an interesting place to stop.

Good luck on your next hunts.

 

[Diver_Down]

I love going to St. Augustine, but I've never tried detecting there. I'm surprised you didn't find more. Any day detecting is better than none at all!!

vicki

It's been very cold here, this winter. Cold enough that our winter residents have gone further south. Vilano is heavily hunted. From the jetty moving around towards the inlet, the sand movement can very dramatic from day to day. Right now, they have been very heavily sanded in but as Johnnie Walker noted there were some cuts. No jewelry will be found through that area, but it is always good for clad as the local shore fishermen pull their vehicles up near the water's edge. Change falls from the vehicle and also from their pockets as they reach in and out.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

I had called the hotel directly and spoke with someone at their front desk. Got the room for $107.

The other hotels in the area here look rather shoddy. This place is very very nice. The nicest Hampton Inn I have ever been in and my wife said it is the most comfortable hotel we've ever stayed at and we have stayed at some very nice places.

Is a shame it was so windy and cold.

Stay tuned however, we leaving for Hilton Head SC in about an hour. There we will be at the Hilton Oceanfront. A large hotel, people with large jewelry, me with a large coil on a small beach.... Perrrrfect! :-)
Ciao4now
John

 

[Diver_Down]

I had called the hotel directly and spoke with someone at their front desk. Got the room for $107.

The other hotels in the area here look rather shoddy. This place is very very nice. The nicest Hampton Inn I have ever been in and my wife said it is the most comfortable hotel we've ever stayed at and we have stayed at some very nice places.

Good deal. Also, it should be noted that Vilano is not St. Augustine. The same as St. Augustine Beach is not St. Augustine. The Hampton is the only option when staying in Vilano. Also, there is a large town center redevelopment that will be occurring in Vilano in the next year. Unfortunately, the Magic Beach Motel will remain. Next time, try staying in St. Augustine Beach. Downtown St. Augustine is only 5 minutes away.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Thanks for the info Diver. I wasn't sure if Vilano was just a section of St Augustine or a totally different town. You have cleared that up for me. I picked Vilano because it is as close to the St Augustine Inlet as you can get since the opposite side you cannot detect on.

We would like to visit the area again. Might give St Augustine Beach a try. But the inlet side at Vilano has some good potential.

 

[Diver_Down]

Thanks for the info Diver. I wasn't sure if Vilano was just a section of St Augustine or a totally different town. You have cleared that up for me. I picked Vilano because it is as close to the St Augustine Inlet as you can get since the opposite side you cannot detect on.

We would like to visit the area again. Might give St Augustine Beach a try. But the inlet side at Vilano has some good potential.

Actually, the navigable inlet (historical) is mid-way down on Anastasia State Park. The current inlet is the result of man. Vilano does indeed have potential, except you need to focus north of the jetty. That is the swimming area. Vilano has yielded more gold than any other parts of St. Augustine. The currents can be deadly there so you need to be careful. At the moment, there has been a tremendous amount of sand that has been deposited from ocean currents. Normally, the beach going north from the jetty, is very steep and not gradual. Consequently, the waves break practically on shore. It makes for great skim boarding, but catches swimmers unaware.