Monday, April 5, 2010

A few days late for this important anniversary

He'd be so disappointed that my state turned out to be a refuge for lunatics, barely-breathing old goons and drugged-up spring breakers.
Near present-day St. Augustine, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon comes ashore on the Florida coast, and claims the territory for the Spanish crown.

Although other European navigators may have sighted the Florida peninsula before, Ponce de Leon is credited with the first recorded landing and the first detailed exploration of the Florida coast. The Spanish explorer was searching for the "Fountain of Youth," a fabled water source that was said to bring eternal youth. Ponce de Leon named the peninsula he believed to be an island "La Florida" because his discovery came during the time of the Easter feast, or Pascua Florida.

3 comments:

Kath said...

Wonder why he thought that area would have the fountain of youth? Probably bec. it truly is so beautiful.
Can't help the crazies that live there, they think it's beautiful, too.

Bag Blog said...

You have to wonder about someone named Ponce. It was all his fault that the old geezers moved to Florida with all that talk about a fountain of youth. At least Coronado was after a city of gold. I bet NM and TX were real let downs.

Wek said...

Yeah, he really screwed up. Def no Fountain of Youth here. Lots of old goons.