Made in St. Augustine® Joins Forces with Narrow Magazine

/ Made in St. Augustine/
Made in St. Augustine® Joins Forces with Narrow Magazine

With more than 100 music venues and 1,000 musicians within 12.74 square miles, St. Augustine’s music scene is nothing to sneeze at. With the environment primed, St. Augustine now just needs that one breakout artist to secure the nation’s oldest city’s place on the music map.

Narrow Magazine aims to help make that happen. Proponents of local musicians, Narrow spreads the word about artists through St. Augustine’s free monthly music magazine. The publication is all about finding and helping local musicians become the next Jason Isbell, Dirty Heads or Twenty One Pilots. Narrow is well on its way to make the nation’s oldest city the country’s next great original music scene.

Read More

Cami&Cat Provides Solution to your Gift-Giving Woes

/
Cami&Cat Provides Solution to your Gift-Giving Woes

We can all relate to the challenge of coming up with the perfect gift – especially for the recipient who already has it all.

This was the dilemma Camila Stone faced a few Christmases ago when she was brainstorming meaningful gifts for her family and friends. So, she decided to buy a wood burner and try engraving some store-bought wood boxes. She quickly determined she could probably do a better job building the boxes herself and took her DIY gift project to the next level. Stone bought a small saw and handmade engraved wood boxes for her entire family for Christmas.

Read More

Made in St. Augustine® is FLA-REAL

/ Made In St. Augustine/
Made in St. Augustine® is FLA-REAL

It all started when a traveling man asked Jeannie Smith-Rosenberg where she was from and she answered “Florida.” He replied, “For real?” and she jokingly responded “Fla real.” 

And a brand was born.

That conversation instigated Smith-Rosenberg to create a brand that represents all that she and others love about the state of Florida. It’s a “real” love for everything Florida.

Read More

Mike Usina Casts Minorcan Magic at Made in St. Augustine®

/ Made in St. Augustine/
Mike Usina Casts Minorcan Magic at Made in St. Augustine®

A spool of twine, a needle, a mesh board, nimble fingers and time. These are the tools Mike Usina needs to create Minorcan Magic. 

Usina isn’t a magician in the traditional sense. But once you watch him tie knot after knot to transform bonded nylon into a 7-foot cast net - you will agree he is a magician in his own right.

Usina began hand making cast shrimp and mullet nets more than 65 years ago. While the English cast net made from bonded nylon is his favorite, he has made all types of fishing nets using an array of materials including linen, cotton, Nycott, braided spectra fiber and braided Dacron. 
 

Read More

Changing the World, One Pop at a Time

/ Made in St. Augustine Festival/
Changing the World, One Pop at a Time

In the early months of 2010 Stephen DiMare was working in Montana for a winter at the Lodge at Big Sky and flew home to St. Augustine for a friend's wedding. On the flight he pitched his idea for a coffee shop to the (random) nice woman sitting next to him. She told him that what he needed in his coffee shop were ice pops, gourmet ice pops in the Mexican style. Stephen listened as she explained that paletas (Spanish for ice pops) could contain anything from cucumbers to fresh pineapple to jalapeños.

Read More

Mix it Up!

/ Made in St. Augustine Festival/
Mix it Up!

It’s what Cesar Diaz, founding director of Cocktail Capital, does best.

What does he mix? Latin and South American cuisine to produce delectable tapas and full menus. Artisan and rare spirits to craft masterful cocktails. An eye for spaces and an understanding of people to create exceptional environments. The result? Odd Birds, Damianas, Milagro on 12th and Arepa Life.

Read More

Morgan Kelly Uses Puppets to Unlock the Imagination

/ Made in St. Augustine Festival/
Morgan Kelly Uses Puppets to Unlock the Imagination

Puppets come to life when Morgan Kelly combines the visual with performing arts.

Kelly discovered puppetry while she was studying theatre in undergrad. She said she remembers a moment about 15 years ago when she thought puppetry would keep her endlessly curious. And it has.

However, Kelly’s interest in puppetry dates back to her childhood when she would bring objects to life using her imagination. Maybe she just didn’t call it puppetry at the time. 

Kelly began formalizing her passion when she studied Theatre at Marlboro College in Vermont. She then solidified her specialty with a graduate degree from New York University in Educational Theatre. Her graduate work taught her ways to share her skills with kids in schools and different educational settings. Kelly loves watching the kids connect with puppets as she says they seem to understand them the best! 

Read More

Made in St. Augustine® Handcrafted Festival Celebrates All Things Local

/ Made in St Augustine/
Made in St. Augustine® Handcrafted Festival Celebrates All Things Local

St. Augustine has an incredible amount to offer in every category: history, culture, cuisine, art, music, craftsmanship and beverages. But if your life is anything like mine, it’s impossible to discover (much less explore) all of St. Augustine’s treasures.

There are great opportunities for locals to play tourist in this town. But when was the last time you took a stroll through the Fountain of Youth? Watched the cannon fire at Fort Castillo? Headed down to Marineland and the Whitney Lab? I know what you’re thinking. I’ve done that – once is enough. So, I guess that means you know all about the Chalupa? You’ve learned how to make tabby? And you’ve probably met Mean Joe Green? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

St. Augustine has an abundance of amazing restaurants. Unfortunately, therein lies the problem: the abundance. I keep a (long) list of restaurants I want to visit. Some are reserved for date night and others are great for the whole family. My problem is when I like a place I have a tendency to go there over and over again so I can try all the dishes. And then what happens to my list? It continues to grow. I’m permanently playing catch-up in hopes to finally mark them all off my list.

Read More