Date:
January 22, 2025 @ 5:00 pm –
January 25, 2025 @ 11:00 am
Start Location:
St. Augustine, FL
End Location:
St. Augustine, FL
Duration:
4 days / 3 nights
Price:
$1,215 per person, quadruple occupancy, limited availability$1,277 per person, triple occupancy, limited availability$1,457 per person, double occupancy$1,917 per person, single occupancy
Enjoy Filling Your Sketchbook with Gorgeous Historic Sites and Scenery. Saint Augustine is full of amazing and beautiful sights, from the Castillo San Marco on the bay front to Flagler College and the Lightener Museum. The sights and stories of America’s oldest continuously occupied European settlement are sure to charm and inspire you. With so many opportunities to sketch, you won’t know where to turn first! Fortunately, your instructor, Carl, and tour director, Ruth, know and have sketched their way around the town multiple times in advance of your visit, so you are in great hands. With Carl teaching and demonstrating various techniques over the course of the workshop, you are sure to come away enriched with a sketchbook chock full of great memories and a virtual palette of creative techniques.
Experience St. Augustine Like a Local:
Travel back in time in our nation’s oldest city during our private open air trolley tour of Historic Downtown. Stroll the cobbled streets and find the perfect souvenir in the unique shops and galleries along St. George Street. Sample some Spanish pastries or gourmet popsicles. Discover St. Augustine’s unique ambiance by taking in some live music and drinks in some of the local pubs and capturing the gorgeous view at dusk or dawn of the imposing Castillo San Marcos along the waterfront.
Savor Delicious Local Fare:
St. Augustine has some delicious restaurants, serving everything from seafood to International cuisine. During our 3 night workshop, we’ll enjoy 2 group dinners plus have a night out to follow your own senses in exploring the local gastronomic scene. Recommendations will be provided with your workshop info. Other meal inclusions listed below, but trust us, you won’t go hungry!
Relax In our Fabulous Accommodations in Downtown Historic St. Augustine:
This year we are staying in style at the awesome Renaissance hotel in downtown St. Augustine! We’ve included parking in your tour price so you can stay safely on foot or trolley and enjoy your beers and the weekend! And parking is included for our guests.
Be Our Guest:
Relax it’s your vacation! No driving! No figuring out what to do or how to get from one place to the next! This trip will be held during the week, Wednesday through Friday, so if you wish to spend a few extra days pre or post workshop, please contact us – we have a limited number of additional room nights available special pricing . Just call us or send us an email asking about this special offer. We can also help with travel insurance quotes, or any other assistance you may need. Get ready for an amazing few days of sketching, learning and sightseeing!
Meet Your St Augustine Sketching Instructor Carl Stoveland:
Learn from the best – Carl grew up in NY near the Catskill Mountains and found his passion for photography while hiking along the many trails and streams near his home. His Dad spent his entire career working in photo labs and his mom is an oil painter and watercolorist. So the apple did not fall far from the tree in this case. Carl’s current passions include teaching watercolor and Urban Sketching. Leading a weekly Urban Sketchers meetup, plein air painting and landscape photography with both digital and vintage film cameras. Carl owned Gallery Meraki in Garnerville NY from 2014 to 2016. Previous to that he was an artist member at Flywheel Gallery in Piermont NY and the Cape Cod Art Association. Currently Carl is a member of the Wellington Art League and the Artists of Palm Beach County.
Topics to Be Covered during Your Sketch Safari:
Not ready to book just yet? Email us or call 1-888-U-Go-Beer with any questions you have!
Welcome to beautiful Saint Augustine Florida! After checking in and settling in to your room at the gorgeous Renaissance Hotel in downtown, meet Carl- your instructor and Ruth & Mike- your tour directors as well as your fellow sketchers in the hotel bar where we can get acquainted over a welcome drink.
Before we head out for this evening’s dinner, we will gather in one of the hotel salons for an orientation and presentation by Carl.
Then we are off to dinner at one of St. Augustine’s delicious local restaurants. Sketchbooks are always welcome 😉
After dinner options include the chance to enjoy Saint Augustine’s nightlife on your own or follow Ruth & Mike, your tour directors, in search of an after dinner drink and/or some live music and extra sketching opportunities!
Dinner
Today is going to be a full day of sights and sketching, so make sure you fuel up with a hearty breakfast and pack your sketch kit, sunhat, sunscreen, water bottle, umbrella and/or whatever else the weather and your inspiration is calling for before we get rolling!
After breakfast, we’ll head out to get a lay of the land on a private open air trolley tour of our nation’s oldest city. Our trolley driver will get us rolling around town to see some of the sights and tell us a bit about the history of the “ancient city”. After our trolley tour we will head to our first designated sketching location, where Carl will be giving us a demo and lesson on one of the many USK topics we will be covering, before we spread out to work on our own sketches. This sketch session will finish with lunch and a throwdown. It is always so fun to see all of the sketchbooks together and the different takes and perspectives we have all taken of our surroundings!
This afternoon, we will take advantage of our hop-on hop-off trolley tickets to head back to whatever location piqued your creative juices the most and spend some time capturing these sights in your sketchbook. We will meet back at the hotel where we can share our work during a happy hour throwdown.
Tonight we have left free for you on purpose, because it just happens to be the last Thursday of the month, which means that from 5-9, you can enjoy an Uptown St. Augustine Block Party! Just up the block from our hotel, North San Marco Avenue comes alive with a vibrant atmosphere of shopping, dining, imbibing, live music, and galleries that are staying open late for everyone to enjoy. Of course, there are many more choices for dining and enjoying town all throughout the historic district. If you feel like hopping in your car and heading further afield, you can check your app for suggestions or just ask Ruth or Mike for the local lowdown.
Breakfast, Lunch
Today, we will start with a demo and lesson from Carl followed by a sketch crawl at some local sights near our hotel. We’ll end the morning session with a throwdown before we head to lunch.
Lunch will be followed by an afternoon demo and sketch session. Once we have finished our second session and throwdown, you will have some free time to explore on your own before we meet for our final dinner this evening.
After dinner options include the chance to enjoy Saint Augustine’s nightlife on your own or follow Mike and Ruth to a local
watering hole for some more local flavor.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Enjoy breakfast at your leisure. If you are up early, you might enjoy a stroll over to check out (or paint a sunrise view of) the nearby Castillo San Marcos where cannon firings will take place throughout the day, or walk down George Street to do some shopping ( Please remember, no sketching allowed on St. George Street or the Plaza de la Constitution!). We’ll meet in the lobby later this morning for the short stroll over to The Spice and Tea Exchange where our friend, Colleen, will be waiting to share some delicious Bloody Marys this morning’s Sip and Sketch! ( N/A versions will be available for those driving home today). We’ll have an opportunity to sketch the shop with its colorful flags adorning the street view from a private vantage point and check out her amazing array of tasty spices and mixes. This is a great place to do some souvenir shopping and a special discount will be available for our sketchers.
Afterwards, it is time to say farewell until next time! Hopefully your sketchbook will be filled with wonderful memories!
Breakfast, Bloody Marys
Please Read our Terms & Conditions, and complete your Signature & Release Form before you travel. You will need to sign and then either mail or fax this page back to us at least 30 days prior to tour departure-thanks.
Our tour itineraries are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances such as inclement weather, transportation problems, or an unexpected business closure. We’re continually looking for ways to improve our tours and we sometimes come across a special new pub, brewery or restaurant since the itinerary was published that we’d like to share with you. Since our tours are planned far in advance, we may occasionally adjust the itinerary as necessary to provide you with the best trip possible! Since a minimum number of passengers are required in order to run each trip, we suggest you refrain from non-refundable air purchases until 2 months prior to your departure date or confirmation of sailing.
