We visited the Fountain of Youth on Day 4. The park has been positively identifed by artifacts as the location of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés' 1565 settlement of St. Augustine, the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in North America. The Fountain of Youth itself has slightly dubious history. Many other locations on Florida claim to be “fountains of youth,” including one in Punta Gorda that is slightly radioactive!
Hanging out with Ponce de León
A representation of the Fountain of Youth. There was a bubbling fountain in the middle of the figures. I asked about it and found out that this decoration actually ran from a pump from Home Depot and wasn’t connected to the well shown below.
Inside the spring house, on the floor beneath the figures
Colby and Denali in front of the Fountain of Youth. Now, it is not so artesian anymore, but more of the pumped Well of Youth. Apparently the water table dropped a long time ago and they had to drill a 200 ft deep well. Don’t drop your phone in there!
They let you try a sample, which the kids tried. Denali said it tasted like pond water. Wayne and I wisely skipped the sample. You can buy it pre-bottled in the gift shop. Blech!
The Fountain of Youth well
Besides featuring famous pond-tasting water, the Fountain of Youth historical park actually had other redeeming qualities, incluing a very nice planetarium show that explained how to navigate by the stars. There were historical demonstrations of cannon and rifle. Beautiful peacocks wandered the grounds. There were explanations of archeological digs.
At the grounds of the Fountain of Youth Park
Showing off!
Looking for peanuts
Colby with an albino peacock
Marker for Ponce de León's landing
Say goodbye to Ponce de León
We continued to walk around that part of town and discovered more St. Augustine tourist attractions. Following the “oldest” theme from Day 3, there were more “old” things for tourists to see. But we skipped spending money on the Old Jail tour and taking the Oldest Store Museum experience. They looked like overpriced tourist traps. However, there was a neat shop selling tea and spices - very fragrant. We bought the kids some pretzels from Gator Bob’s Trading post and stopped by the sculptures outside the Old Jail to pose...
Denali, Colby, and the Chain Gang
Oh, what a headache!
In the portable jail
Wandering along the sea wall, we saw plenty of boats, including this pirate ship.
Yes, we actually heard them singing pirate ditties.
We rounded out our day with a scenic drive along the coast and seafood dinner at Aunt Kate’s. And more keylime pie.
Colby
Denali
Wayne