Original St Augustine Chocolate Tour returns

General Manager Dave Chatterton has invited Historic City News readers to indulge their chocolate passion beginning Saturday, January 11, 2014, and every Saturday through February 22nd, on St Augustine’s Original Chocolate Tour presented by Old Town Trolley Tours of St Augustine.

This is the fifth year for St Augustine’s acclaimed Original Chocolate Tour, and to celebrate the occasion, Old Town Trolley Tours is announcing a brand new stop along the way – the Spice and Tea Exchange at Old Town Plaza.

“Whether you call it by its scientific name, theobroma cacao, meaning food of the gods, its Aztec name, xocolatl, or you just call it delicious, there’s no doubt that, for lots of us, chocolate makes the world go round,” Chatterton explained to local Historic City News reporters. “I want to caution all our guests to have a light lunch before the tour – otherwise, chocolate inebriation may set in.”

So go ahead, give in and climb aboard the Original Chocolate Tour trolley and sample the very best chocolate confections and creations that St Augustine has to offer. Along the way, you’ll learn everything there is to know about this “food of the gods” — from the Mayans to the Mars Bar.

At the Spice and Tea Exchange, guests can drink in the shop’s turn-of-the-century atmosphere while sampling some unusual brews of chocolate drinks and goodies.

When the tour visits the Aviles Restaurant at the Hilton Bayfront, the chef will present a mouth-watering variety of chocolate concoctions.

Then, at the picturesque Raintree Restaurant, the intricacies of chocolate making and tasting will be explained by St Augustine’s original chocolate family, the Whetstones.

Just when you think you have tasted it all, the Raintree serves up its deliciously decadent Warm Chocolate Dome Cake. Even when your journey has ended, your chocolate indulgence has not. Each guest leaves with a smile and a fine sampling of chocolate from Whetstone Chocolates and Peterbrooke Chocolates.

The tour departs every Saturday, beginning January 11 and continuing through February 22, at 1:30 from Old Town Trolley’s Welcome Center at 27 San Marco Ave., where free parking is available. Reservations are required. Call (904) 829-3800 for details and to make reservations.