NASA, Alligator Farm & the Fountain of Youth

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Leaving Orlando, we went East to Cape Canaveral to check out the Kennedy Space Center, maybe just for an hour or so because we don't like leaving the animals in trailer for long without A/C. When we got there, we were verbally assaulted by the parking attendant for parking in the empty bus lot (where we actually fit) instead of in teh car lot...and then walked up to the gate. Admission was $50 per person...so we snapped a couple of pictures and went on our way. So, that was our space experience.

Next, in St. Augustine, we stopped at the oldest alligator "roadside attraction" in Florida. The Alligator Farm was established in 1893 and is now accredited by the zoological association...but its size and its contents allow you to imagine what it might have looked like way back then...a swampy hole with some alligators in it. Now, it's the only place in the world where all 23 species of the type of reptile that is crocodile and alligator can be found. And, for the record crocodiles have 2 visible fangs protruding up from their lower jaw, where alligators have no visible lower teeth unless they open their mouths. Also, crocodiles have thinner snouts, but unless you had a croc and a gator side by side, i think you'd just be wondering to yourself "is that thin? or not? is it a croc or a gator?" Another neat thing about the farm was all of the birds that were chooseing to roost there. They were large and beautiful, making the area a natural aviary (their wings weren't clipped or anything). The signs posted read that they loved the site because all of the natural predators such as possums didn't reside there because of the many alligators. Cool, huh?

Lastly, leaving the awesomely historical town of St. Augustine, we stopped by the Fountain of Youth...which has just closed. So we took pictures of the gate, drove by the awesome old castle built by the French, and headed north. Fountain of Youth? Yep. Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon landed here back in 1513 in search of the fabled spring, found the spring that still flows at the same spot today in Florida, and declared that it was the fountain of youth. About 50 years later the town was established the builting of the great fort or "castle", and the efficacy of the Alligator Farm water has never been proved or disproven in court. You can pay about $6 to drink from the sulperous spring with a dixie cup, if you really want to. Who knows, it just may make you live forever 😉.

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Comments

[Ellen]

St. Augustine
I'm always pleased to learn that others have found and appreciated this wonderful place.