Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth

After visiting the colonial quarter, we headed north to visit the shrine of Our Lady of La Leche, but we were disappointed to find that it was closed after Hurricane Matthew. However, the adjacent Mission Nombre di Dios was open. There, a very knowledgeable docent told us about the history of the mission and about the shrine of Our Lady of La Leche. Apparently, women go there to pray for fertility (hence la leche, which is Spanish for milk) and miracles have been known to happen. There is also a 208-foot cross on the premises.

Close to Our Lady of La Leche was Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth, an archeological park which had a replica of a native village, a watchtower, a planetarium which explained how the early navigators found their way by looking at the stars, and the fabled Fountain of Youth. This was another surprise of our trip - the billboards looked silly and touristy but we actually had a very educational experience learning about how early settlers lived and how they interacted with the native tribes. We both drank from the Fountain of Youth - the water was alkaline and tasted of sulphur - but, alas, you can only reap its benefits if you stayed there.

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