Grassy Parking Near Dos Coffee

Located just due north of two of my favorite spots in all of Ancient City – the best bakery within 50 miles, Crème de la Cocoa and the best independent café you’ll find in NE FL, Dos, which pours Relámpago café BTW – there’s a little hidden gem of a wide-open parking space that only locals know about and use. To be accurate, this spot is one-part small gravel turn-about and two-parts open grassy field, but if you don’t mind the informality of the place all the while being nearly completely surrounded by solid brush and trees (save the entrance), you need only access this little private parking pad by overcoming a very slight incline.

After you've entered this flat grassy enclosure, which we locals have used for years and years, especially during the dreaded 'Night of Lights', you can park anywhere you’d like – either closer to the street (but you’ll hear passing by traffic), nearer the residential area to the east on the southern periphery or backed up against the treeline and out of sight on the northeastern perimeter. While you can use the restrooms over at Dos, this parking area does have its own duo port-a-potty. We’ve been parking here for a long time and never had any issues as well as enjoyed nearly perfect peace & quiet.  Plus, you will want to take note that during 'Night of Lights' that typically runs November 15 until January 11 each year, there's even a free St. Augustine Trolly service that will take you from this location all the way into Old Towne.

While scoring criteria may vary from one person to the next, here are the 5 most important criteria that informed my rating of this overnight location: convenience(EZ on- and off-access), safety& security, quality(of facilities), peace& quiet and amenities(either on-site or nearby). Here’s how I ranked this particular overnight spot:

Convenience: 3 

Safety & Security: 4 

Quality: 2 

Peace & Quiet: 5 

Amenities: 3 

Overall, I scored this location a 4. 

Happy Overnighting!