Today, I took the short 2 1/2 hour drive to St. Augustine, FL. The oldest city in the U.S. I guess I didn't realize this fact. This is the orgin of the fountain of youth story and Ponce de Leon. From what I can tell when he arrived, the average Spainard lived for about 35 years, and was less than 5' tall. When he arrived he found 80 plus year old native Americans that were all over 6'6" tall and that included both sexes. He thought the water had to be the answer, due to it's great sulfur smell. So he tried it. Legend tells us that he lived longer than most, but obviously that was just blind luck and not the water.
The navigational tool below was really cool and was how they were able to tell direction by placement from the horizon.
The large oak tree is over 600 years old and is called the Old Senator.
The cross in the lower left, as legend states, was placed by Ponce de Leon, and has 15 stones from N. to S. and has 13 stones from W. to E., designating the year of arrival of 1513.
The last pic is the man himself and is a bronze statue in a park.
The city was well worth your time and I would recommend going back, but plan on a few days and not a few hours.
1 comment:
Looks like you are having fun seeing new sites and learning a little history. We missed you yesterday. Ethan enjoyed "play cars" and watching Tyler and I "play ball game" on the Wii. Hope to see you soon!
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