Fountain of Youth

Drink from the Fountain of Youth and stroll among the 15 acres of our nation’s first historical landmark in St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States. Let the kids actually see what their teachers have been telling them from the history books.

We enjoyed the grounds where peacocks roam as you stroll through the park.After drinking from the spring that legend says will maintain your youth I am afraid that I am living proof that it is just that, a legend. We did find the little bottles of the spring water in the gift shop great gifts for our friends.

Things to do on your self guided tour include my favorite, The Planetarium. The presentation shows visitors the storms Ponce De Leon navigated through and sets the skies in a replica of how the stars would have looked to him.

The Spring House, the Salt Cellar, Timucua Indian Exhibit, and the Indian Burial Ground are other things to see while you're there. It is a great value at $7 per person. Plus if you are touring St. Augustine in one of the trains or trolleys, most of them make the Fountain of Youth a stop on their tour.

Picnickers are welcome at the visitor friendly attraction.

St. Augustine Alligator Farm

When you visit Florida, take your children to visit an alligator farm.

My first alligator farm visit occurred at St. Augustine Alligator Farm. It should be called an alligator and bird farm because the birds fly freely about the attraction. Staff swears that they do not feed the flying friends. I took photo after photo of trees that looked almost like they were covered with snow because they were full of a species of egrets as I walked through the farms rookery. I was mesmerized by them almost as much as by the gators.

The albino alligator exhibit houses white gators from the Bayous of Louisiana. It's definitely my favorite, but I'm not sure why. Maybe because of the oddity of it, maybe because I thought they must be the happiest alligators because in their natural environment they surely would have been killed by predators because they had no natural defense of camouflage.

The farm is also home to crocodile Maximo weighing 1,250 pounds and measuring over 15 feet. I had seen one in nature several years before in Ding Darling Refuge on Sanibel Island, but it was driving on the nature drive and really didn’t get a good few since he was lazing in the mangroves. But with Maximo visitors can get a close up view of him in his viewing tank.

I skipped the snake show by my own choice so I can not really give a feedback on that portion. My only dislike which was not a big dislike is that it was a bit odiferous in portions of the farm. Yes, that is to be expected when you have stagnant water and lots of birds. Just warning you if you have a sensitive smeller!!!

Castillo De San Marcos National Monument

When you're in St. Augustine, do not to miss the Castillo De San Marcos National Monument. According to the U.S. Department of Interior this is a Spanish Fort, established in 1672 at a cost of $30 million by the Spanish King. It stood firm against English attacks and helped Spain hold Florida for many years. During the American Revolution, it was a British stronghold. Later it became a battery in the U.S. coastal defense system.

When standing atop that beautiful relic looking out into the clear blue ocean or over at picturesque St. Augustine, it is hard to imagine that over 300 years ago this fort stood against cannon attack from land and sea. After touring the fort, I understand why the townspeople ran to the fort for protection.

You can meander through the fort on your own, but we took the Ranger Walk. Many of these rangers are great story tellers and make the historical information much easier to remember and absorb. It was also a casual environment, so if we wanted to investigate an area a bit longer it was easy to leave the group. Throughout the fort there are also re-enactors who demonstrate life in the period. There is also a firearms display. These are definite favorites for the kids allowing them to see how things actually happened rather than having to just read about it in a book.

Outside the Fort there is a green area that is a great place for a picnic, or if you aren’t in to picnicking bring whatever take out you prefer.

My Favorite East Florida Beach

Canaveral National Seashore is my favorite beach on Florida’s East Coast (at least at this point it is because I haven’t visited them all yet). The funny thing is that it took us over a year to ever visit this beach and my sister and her family found it accidentally and took us there on one of their vacations.

Packing a picnic and a cooler for the day is the best way to enjoy Florida’s coasts. As I have said repeatedly, we enjoy a beach that is not close to a major road where they sell Florida T-Shirts and McDonald’s Happy Meals ala Clearwater Beach. I have read in Florida Off The Beaten Path that this is one of the last remaining undeveloped beaches on the East Coast of Florida. My only negative for this beach would be the bathrooms, but who would want to mess up the beautiful seascape with huge bathrooms.

Canaveral National Seashore is a part of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and borders the Kennedy Space Center. In fact, there have been weekends that you drive to the beach and look to the right and see a space shuttle on the launch pad. If you need a break from the beach you can always stop by the visitors center or take an air conditioned ride in your car around Black Point Wildlife Drive. There are four hiking trails ranging from 1/4-mile to 5 miles in length for the hikers. The wildlife refuge also contains a Manatee observation deck, observation tower, and a great place for nature photography.

The beach is free, but when it is close to a shuttle launch it will be closed for security reasons so if you are not familiar with the launch schedule then call (321) 267-1110 for beach information.

Rent an RV for the Perfect Florida Vacation

This is not about one particular vacation spot, but it is something that might change the way you vacation.

Yesterday we went to the Tampa RV Show. It wasn’t our first RV show or tour, and I’m sure it won’t be our last. We have been to other shows and to some RV dealerships. It’s fun to look at the various sizes, shapes, and styles of RV’s up close and in person. I recommend the RV shows in your local area as the best way to see the largest variety.

If you have three or four children, with a suitcase for each, and have to live in a hotel room for a week at Walt Disney World, an RV might be a favorable alternative for your family. A hotel does provide maid service, but what else does that hotel have that staying in an RV campground doesn’t have also?

The benefits of an RV vacation are:

1. you don’t have to unpack; 2. you don’t have to spend oodles on the snack machine; 3. you can pull out some lawn chairs and sit under the awning to rest under your own personal lanai (they even have special screens you can get for you canopies to help you avoid bugs); 4. you don’t have to worry about noise from the room next door.

This weekend proved to us that there is an RV just the size, shape, and price range for every size family and budget. We actually liked a very small one called the Fun Finder X. It had cabinets nicer than two of the houses we have owned, a bathroom with a shower, a dinette, and an overhead bunk. It’s perfect for the two of us and very affordable.

We also toured a model that actually had a step up kitchen with a bar and seating for 4 people, which would appeal to larger families. The kitchen area had slide outs larger than my first apartment’s kitchen; it also had a sleeper sofa and a queen size bed in a step-up bedroom. There were even some travel trailers that had bunks for up to four children on one end of the camper with a door and TV of their own while the adults could relax on the other end in their private queen size bedroom.

Some folks actually live in their RV’s and at one point we toured the bus area. From the Charlotte to the Presidio these were high end “palaces on wheels”. As my husband said many time, we would have to sell our house to get one of those. But if we ever win the lottery we might just be heading to an RV dealership. They were luxurious with cherry cabinets, tile and hardwood flooring, luxorious leather furniture, and plasma screen TVs. These are the ones that are often seen on movie sets and at NASCAR races.

There are also places that will rent you an RV for trips like CruiseAmerica. We have contemplated that a few times. This would give us a chance to see if we really like the open road experience. Although after traveling with my in laws a few times, I don’t think we have to worry about that. But you might want to give it a try.

I know this detoured off my usual fun things to do in Florida concept, but I thought this was an idea about a new way to experience Florida.

Check out some of Florida’s Campgrounds and GREAT State parks see the non-commercial side of this great Sunshine State.