Oldest Store Museum

I’m not reviewing the tour, as I wasn’t able to purchase tickets. Waited several minutes to be acknowledge by the older woman at the counter. When she finally asked if we had any questions, she cut me off mid sentence to ask another patron (elderly) if they enjoyed the tour. Mid sentence. I waited, but she continued her new conversation with this other woman and had no intention to talk to my husband and myself. Don’t expect any pleasantries if you aren’t eligible for a senior discount.

There’s so much to see in there. Stuff you’ll probably never see anywhere else. The people were super nice and they gave us free candy. The stuff there is so old which is neat to see how life was back then.

A small but efficient time travel tour of the city. Take a leisurely stroll through the museum while you wait for your trolley to arrive. It looks like it hasn’t been updated in years. But the admission was free and we like that!

From outside appearance, looks small and probably doesn’t seem like the museum would be much fun.
However, the lady did a good job with her «accent» and talking that my kids did get excited and decided they wanted to give the museum a try. Once we got in, we all found it enjoyable, good laughs and love the fact the people stayed in character and got the children involve with the story.
From adult perspective, I had more fun because my children were laughing and enjoying this. They really got into the idea of «buying» all the different merchandise for a cheap price *after all this is 1908″ and having it arrive within two weeks.
All in all, I’d recommend this place as a fun place long as kids enjoy history and such. I wouldn’t recommend it for kids or adults that get bored easily.
Kudos on staying in character and making my kids love the museum.

I can not remember what was said during this tour. It wasn’t boring but it was not crazy fun either. The tour guides (3 of them) were nice and knowledgeable and I give them four stars for those factors. I was more fascinated by the antiques and apothecary jars. I liked that the tour guides wore costumes and got into their acting parts. Sometimes they sounded corny with a funny voice but they got into their parts. I liked that they gave you a piece of candy in the store.
Would I go on this tour again. Not really. I am just super picky.

I actually enjoyed this place. It seemed kind of corny and awkward at times, but I like how they turned an unassuming part of American General Store history into a tour.
They could have just set this place up like a museum. You would walk around and have to figure out what everything is, or read descriptions of items on a place-​card.
Instead, you have a couple of people, acting the part of the shop owner and his assistant. They give you a history of the shop, as if they are trying to sell you the items themselves.
Everything they pretended to sell seemed authentic, from the corn grinder, to the Penny Farthings. They not once went out of character, even when we asked them questions that might have needed a «modern» answer.
You’ll probably take about 30 minutes here, but you could stay longer, if you really wanted to examine every item available.
Is it worth the ~$ 9 admission. Yeah… I think so.

You know that skit from Saturday Night Live, where SNL cast members Jason Sudekis, Bill Hader, and Taran Killam portray creepy animatronic barbershop quartet The Maryville Brothers?
Uncomfortably hilarious and entertaining at moments, right?
Well, I had some similar feelings wash over me during the guided tour of the Oldest Store Museum.
My friend and I were in town for Mumford’s Gentlemen of the Road and decide to enjoy our final day in St. Augustine with a leisurely brunch and by playing tourists. We decided that a little tour of the Old Jail Museum (
) sounded a tad interesting with just enough kitsch to make it lively. So, once we pulled into the parking lot, we were transformed to a small town-​y tourist trap that both peaked our curiosity and senses of humor. A cluster of small attractions managed and produced by the company Old Trolley Tours are nestled here that also include paranormal and trolley tours along with a «General Store» inspired souvenir shop. We walked up to a small kiosk where all of the attractions were outlined and packaged together for promotional price deals. We had every intention to just check out the jail for $ 8, but the friendly older gent talked us into upgrading $ 4 to add on a tour of the Oldest Store Museum too. Ah, hell… why not?
Tours seemed to start every 20 minutes or so for each attraction and we were lucky enough to join the start of the Oldest Store Museum Tour that just began. And, away we go!
We were greeted by our «in character» tour guide (younger female who fumbled here and there with her lines and deadpan jokes) and led right inside to proprietor Mr. C.F. Hamblen’s retail operation from the early 1900’s. You literally step back in time while the live cast and animatronic counterparts play the role of a clerks, butcher, and shady salesman as they demonstrate some of the «cutting edge» inventions from turn-​of-​the-​century living. It was interesting to see the technology that was available to our ancestors and the layout of the space was filled with curious artifacts that often deserved a second or third look. (check out my photo uploads) I happen to fancy the subject of history and found this aspect of the tour fascinating.
However, I would have preferred going through the space at my own pace so that I didn’t feel rushed and could focus on my personal interests without being interrupted by a bad actor. Some of the information that they provided was interesting but I think that could be relayed with a pre-​recorded audio-​guided tour and some headphones. Our small group of 8 tourists didn’t seem very engaged with the tour guides and I actually felt bad for them because it was just so cheesy. Although, I will say, if you have kiddos as part of your pack, they may enjoy the interaction and complimentary candy during the tour so this could be an affordable option to bond with your children who aren’t jaded yet.
Was it worthy of the $ 4 upgrade? Sure. Would I happily pay the advertised «full-​price» of $ 8-​$ 10 knowing what I do now? Eh…
On the flip-​side, I’m not just prejudiced towards actors who are part of attractions, our experience with the tour at The Old Jail was great. The tour guide got his point across with his solid acting role yet still didn’t come across as cheesy.
I just find it amusing that in this situation, the animatronics weren’t the creepy ones…

Very fun. The tour guides were very funny girls who were great at staying in character. Lots of great opportunities for pictures. Great old general store.