Family Trip: Part IV

After the day in Cozumel, we set sail on Thursday for Miami. We spent a good bit of the day at an on board art auction. We didn't buy anything because it was all too expensive for our budget. There were etchings from Picasso, Rembrandt, and Dali, as well as a lot of other art. Jennie did win a painting that's probably worth a couple hundred dollars, so the time wasn't totally wasted. We spent the late afternoon lying in the sun.

We did some final shopping, hung out some more, and then had our last dinner on board. The next morning we left the ship and drove north to America's oldest city, St. Augustine. I had heard that you could drive on the beach at Daytona, so we detoured a bit to see if we could. As it turns out you can drive on the beach!
When we arrived in St. Augustine, we went out to dinner and then just chilled for the rest of the day. On Saturday we went into the city. We went to the Spanish fort and spent the day touring old St. Augustine.
After an exhausting day, we went back to the motel to rest up for the next day. We woke up and went visit the fabled Fountain of Youth. Ponce de Leon really did find something that, he thought at least, was a fountain of eternal youth. We also saw the location of the first Spanish Mission in North America.Ponce de Leon's cross that he put down signifying Spain's claim to Florida.



The Fountain of Youth. Originally it was a spring. The bricks and such were added much later.

Cross at the site of the first Spanish mission in North America.

We left St. Augustine Sunday afternoon and made the long drive back to Rock Hill. Our little adventure came to an end.