Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine

In recapping my trip up A1A, I almost forgot to talk about the Fountain of Youth! And, well…it’s kinda forgettable.

On my drive through St. Augustine, Florida, I made a stop at Ponce De Leon’s Fountain of Youth Archeological Park, as it is formally known. It doesn’t take long to tour, maybe 2 hours. And it is extremely old-school Florida. It doesn’t seem to have changed much since the ’60s, which is part of its charm and cause for some eye-rolling. Though there has been archeological activity here as recently as 2011, thus the “Archeological Park” part of its name.

Entrance and BBQ

When you drive into the Spanish-arched entrance, there is FREE parking (rare in downtown St. Augustine!) They even encourage you to tour the park then leave your car there until they close. The hop-on-hop-off trolley even makes a stop here.

In the parking lot, there is a really decent, locally-sourced Smoked. Southern BBQ place if you want to eat before or after your tour. Feasibly, it seems you could just go here to eat if you wanted to – you don’t need a ticket.

A little farther on from the BBQ is the ticket booth. Adult tickets are $18 at the booth, over 60 is $17, 6-12 is $10, 5 and under FREE, which is more generous than most places. You can save $1 by buying online, and all tickets cost half as much if you’re a local.

The Spring House – AKA, the actual Fountain of Youth

The entrance booth leads you pretty much directly into the Spring House where the supposedly actual Fountain of Youth is housed. So, they don’t bury the lede here, you get the main attraction right off the bat. (And I assume you could leave right after this – $18 isn’t bad for a day’s worth of parking in St. Augustine. And possible immortality to boot.)

The Spring House is a 60-year old coquina building with a diorama of Ponce De Leon and the native Timucua tribe, possibly in the act of discovering the spring, it’s hard to tell. The spring water is pumped up from the Floridan aquifer into little convenient jets with which you can fill your disposable cup.

And how does it taste? Pretty dang terrible. There are lots of minerals in there and it has that sulphurous Florida taste and smell. It’s not pleasant. But you’ve just paid $18 to see the Fountain of Youth! Of course you’re going to drink it!

Discovery Globe

Beyond the Spring House, there are a few other “attraction” buildings. Then there are more recreated settlement buildings as you head toward the river. This is how I toured the park, in a roughly counter-clockwise direction, so that’s how I’ll cover it here.

These attraction buildings have shows periodically throughout the day. listed on the map they give you when you buy your ticket. I didn’t have a problem visiting them more or less in turn. That is, I didn’t have to wait long for any show to start, or need to come back later.

The first building past the Spring House is Discovery Globe, arguably the next-best thing to be seein the park, after the actual Fountain of Youth. I’m not even sure I know how to explain it. It’s a very small theater with a black-light presentation using a very large, slowly spinning globe. It roughly describes the path Spanish and Portuguese explorers took to the new world and their accomplishments.

And I have to say, I found it fascinating, in a wow-this-is-very-unique-and-weird kind of way. You definitely won’t see anything else like it! It starts pretty slow but by the end, you’re like, this is pretty cool! And unexpected in a supposed archeological park.

Navigator’s Planetarium

Both shows at the Discovery Globe and the Navigator’s Planetarium are automated shows, with a canned narration and action. I assume an employee gets everyone seated then flips the switch, or maybe it’s all on a timer.

The Navigator’s Planetarium is likewise a very small theater, this time in the round and focused on the ceiling. Here, they explain the tools used to navigate the Atlantic Ocean via the stars and show what the sky looked like back in 1513 when Ponce De Leon made landfall.

Timucuan Village

I’m going to lump the next several “exhibits” together into one Timucuan Village. Going counter-clockwise, you’ll first come to a burial tent, then a thatched-roof village.

Also in this middle area is a Franciscan mission church, a dugout canoe and an owl totem. Plus, by now you’re bound to run into one of the 30 peacocks that live in the park, including at least one albino one.

Blacksmith and Cannon Firing

Closer to the river, the settlement seems to shift from native to European as you encounter a blacksmith and a larger boat in a maritime exhibit. Next to the river, there is a musket and cannon-firing demonstration, led by costumed park employees (once they put down their cell phones.)

The talk itself isn’t terribly exciting, especially from bored docents, but firing a real cannon is always a good time. I think maybe they do it without a cannonball in it, just with a pack of powder, but it’s still a prodigious boom. Enough to wake you up on a lazy afternoon! There are a few benches here for seating.

Also behind this area is another weapons demonstration. I confess I didn’t see that or the blacksmith when I was there. I must have walked by between sets. In this area is a large field where the original Spanish settlement was, and there may be some archeological action there too, but I didn’t see much going on. I’m also under the impression that more costumed reenactors, both of the native and the Spanish variety, may walk around during busier times. But a Friday afternoon in early October doesn’t really demand the extra entertainment, I guess.

Watchtower and Boardwalk

Next to where they fire the cannons, there is a Spanish Watchtower you can climb for a good view of the park and the marshy waters of the river. Then there is a boardwalk to get you out into the river for a better view. It’s a nice area, more about nature than history.

Then you exit the park via a straight walkway with a Ponce De Leon statue and another landing site memorial. Exit through the gift shop (and past the peacocks) and you’re back to your car, trolley stop, or BBQ lunch.

I mean, it’s fun, but I can’t say I would make this a high priority on your St. Augustine trip. You can buy it as part of a package trip with the trolley for further savings but I’m not even sure I’d recommend that. It is pretty laid back and cheap, by most attraction standards. And it made a nice pit stop on a longer road trip for me. And I might now be immortal, we’ll see how that pans out.