The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park is pet friendly so our buddies got to come with us today. First stop was the "fountain of youth" where each one of us had a drink of the mystical water. Don't think the water worked though as Zaph and Ed were both still gray at the end of the day. When Ponce de Leon landed here he was intrigued by the water that flowed from the ground and by the natives that were taller than the Spaniards and lived longer than the Spaniards. Turns out the water was from a natural aquifer and though it no longer pours from the ground, the underground lake is still accessed for water.

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Zaph checking out the "Fountain of Youth". The water no longer flows out of the ground but is pumped.

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The Navigator's Planetarium is one of the buildings in the park. Here we learn about navigating using starts.

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The Discovery Globe is a 30 foot glass globe. During this show Columbus's voyages and Ponce de Leon's voyage are shown on the globe.

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Firearms demonstrations were given. Here a fellow is showing us how to fire a crossbow. An interesting fact is this fellow is originally from Hamilton Ontario --- not far from where we use to live.

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This retired history teacher showed us how to fire a musket. Ed caught the flash of the gun powder as it was lit.

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The biggest bang was the firing of the canon. The spots above the smoke are debris fired from the canon. Zaph wasn't impressed with the bang from the musket but he wanted to leave town when the canon went off.

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The park is an archaeological site. Building sites from a Timucuan Village along with a burial site have been found. A replica of the village has been built. There were a number of school groups in the park and we were told that as part of the 4th grade curriculum all Florida 4th graders must visit St. Augustine.


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The park is home to a number of peacocks.

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Driving back to the condo we found this Wood Stork having a conversation with an Egret.