Wish you could find a fountain of youth? Well, we did. Where is the fountain of youth? We are talking about the Fountain of Youth St. Augustine. OK, so actually Ponce de Leon supposedly did first discover it in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. St. Augustine is such a great city to visit. It is an easy 2 hour day trip from Orlando and has lots of tourist attractions such as the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. (Scroll to the bottom for my video.)

The Spring House where the fountain is located is on a 15 acre property called Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park, the original site of the Nation’s oldest city. Juan Ponce de Leon was the first to explore the area in 1513. It was settled by Pedro Menendez de Aviles in 1565, so this historic coastal town is actually the oldest successful European settlement in the United States. I lived near Boston while in graduate school, and I never even heard of St. Augustine until recently. But evidently Colonial America started right there in St. Augustine 55 years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, and 42 years before Jamestown! Who knew? So the Fountain of Youth Park St. Augustine, Florida is a must see. With a long, rich history of almost 500 years it is a very informative and entertaining tour. You can walk around at your own pace and look at things or stop and watch live demonstrations (see my video below) or listen to informative talks on some aspect of the history. I get bored easily, but I really liked this attraction.

You can actually take a sip of the water from the “Fountain of Youth” in the Spring House. That’s pretty cool! You can learn about the saga of Juan Ponce de Leon and his search for new lands and magical waters, or the tragedy of the Timucua civilization, or the interesting story of Pedro Menendez de Aviles and the settling of St. Augustine, as I mentioned earlier. In addition to the Spring House some of the exhibits include: Navigators Planetarium, Discovery Globe, Live Peacocks, a Blacksmith Exhibit, Timucuan Burials and Village, Nombre de Dios Mission, 1565 Menendez Settlement, Excavations, Spanish Lookout, Cannon Firing, Chalupa Boathouse, Founders Riverwalk, and Menendez Statue/Park.

They have free parking and a Smoked BBQ restaurant in the park. They also have picnic tables to use if you want to bring your own lunch. And they give discounts to Adult US Active Military with ID and AAA Cardholders. Next time you are near St. Augustine, Florida check it out!

We also did the Old Jail tour. There is so much more to do and see in this town.

St. Augustine also has a real castle that you can walk around and a lighthouse that you can go into. We only had part of a day, so we did not get to see the lighthouse but hope to next time.

Since we were in St. Augustine Thanksgiving week, we got to experience the Night of Lights Tour that evening. It is a super fun thing to do for people of all ages from November through February. See my post on it here.

Below is a short video of some of the highlights of the Fountain of Youth tour. Comment and tell me what you liked!