Between Vilano Beach and St. Augustine, Hwy-A1A cuts inland from the shore, crossing a bridge over the North River, then following San Marco Avenue south past the Fountain of Youth and into the center of St. Augustine. That’s right, the Fountain of Youth. Though its efficacy has never been proven in court, there is an actual site where Spanish explorer Ponce de León, searching for a fabled spring that would keep him forever young, came ashore in 1513. Now a pleasant 20-acre park, facing Matanzas Bay about a mile north of central St. Augustine, the Fountain of Youth (daily 9 am–5 pm; $6; 800/356-2222) preserves a naturally sulphurous spring (which you can drink from using Dixie cups—though there are no guarantees of immortality!), a burial ground, and remnants of a native Timucuan village and an early Spanish settlement.
