OMG! You were in my neck of the woods, so to speak! I got family in St. Augustine - one could have been your tour guide on the trolley LOL!
You may need to check with Flagler College about tours. They had tighten up the security sometime ago and don't allow visitors to just randomly and casually walk around (the V-Tech incident some time ago changed alot of colleges to eliminate some lax security). They may have escorted tours, but you would need to find out when they are and if you need to sign up ahead of time. I tried to look around there myself one time, and was quickly intercepted by their security!
Many of the large buildings downtown in St. Augustine had been along time ago in the early 20th century large, grand hotels back when railroads stopped in Jacksonville/St. Augustine. Once the lines extended to Miami, North Florida tourism dropped sharply and the large grand hotels went out of business. In St. Augustine, one eventually became the Lightner Museum and another Ripley's. I believe the same is true with Flagler College (previously a grand hotel), but I can't remember its history specifically. In Jacksonville, one of those grand hotels became May Department Stores, and after it went out of business it then was renovated into its current City Hall building.
And Mouseoholic, like you, I want my steak well-done. I have never apologized to the chef.
