The Fountain of Youth

Rick is a graphic designer hailing from a bit north of me in the Sunshine State – Orlando, Florida.  He continues to blog about  exactly what his blog header says – “Musings from the State I’m in…”

Most recently he wrote about some great Ephemera he found at a local Antique Fair… the “Renningers World Famous Antiques & Collectors Extravaganzas, Antiques Markets & Farmers Markets” – wow what a title.

He attended Renningers Mt.Dora Fair and found some interesting Florida related brochures.  This is the one that caught my eye and inspired this blog reference.  It refers to the Ancient Indian Village and Rural Burial Grounds in St. Augustine, Florida.

St. Augustine is a Florida city that dates way back to 1565. It has the distinction of being the oldest continuously occupied European established city, and the oldest port, in the continental United States. The earliest Indian reference I can find to St. Augustine dates back to the Alachua band of the Seminole Indian tribe. The Seminoles are a Native American tribe originally from Florida, who now reside primarily here and in Oklahoma. They have sovereignty over their tribal lands and an economy based on tobacco sales, tourism, gambling and entertainment.

The reference to the “Fountain of Youth” leads back to a popular legend, unlikely to be true, that Juan Ponce de León discovered Florida while searching for the Fountain.

Ricks newly acquired brochure has a great map which includes some familiar Florida favorites like Cypress Gardens, the Bok Tower and the Japanese Gardens in Clearwater.

If you live in Florida as I do … or have an interest in Ephemera from the Sunshine State… as I also do, Rick’s “Visual Ephemera” is a must visit. Thru Ricks Blog I have also found these interesting Florida related blogs:

• Florida Everyone Forgot
• Genuine Florida
• My Florida History
• St. Johns River Magazine
• The Daily City | Orlando, Florida