Fountain of Youth

Continuing south from Amelia Island, we followed a route that essentially kept us either on or very near the Atlantic coast, skirting the Jacksonville metro area as best we could. Jacksonville is the largest city (in total area) in the US, and the only way to avoid the sprawl was to pretty much hug the coast, which is how you pass through on the Adventure Cycling route. We soon began to appreciate the value of the state and county parks in the area, because without them it would be one continuous real estate development after another for the next 300 miles. Like every other coastal area we encountered on our expedition, the land was either developed, under construction, or available to those with enough money to purchase their own “piece of paradise”. To be sure, there are pockets of undeveloped tracts to be found as well as a few small communities that appear to have been skipped over or frozen in some sort of 1960s time warp. But overall, construction activity and development seemed to be bustling and the price of real estate, especially along the water, seemed astronomical by our standards.

The ACA map tells you to “expect urban cycling conditions” in the coastal beach towns. What they mean is that in many of these communities you are bicycling through both old and new neighborhoods, down narrow alleys, through parks and beach shopping areas...observing a real oleo of homes, shops, high rise apartments, duplexes, beach rentals...it was truly fascinating. We became enthralled with the town of Atlantic Beach and decided to splurge and spend the night at the pastel painted Sea Horse Motel right on the ocean. The town was more funky than fancy, having an eclectic mixture of restaurants, a few popular watering holes and a good laid back feel. It was a wonderful interlude and a well earned respite to get us ready for our final push south.

The next morning we weaved our way through the towns of Neptune and Jacksonville Beach, and found ourselves pedaling along a beautiful bike path in the posh town of Pointe Vedra with its manicured landscapes, resorts, golf courses and multi million dollar homes. Leaving that behind, we rode through the Guana River State Park for the next 20 miles or so. It brought back great memories, reminding us of our time spent on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, with the surf pounding on our left (east) and the marshes and tidal plains to our right. It was a warm, windy day, and we stopped a number of times to soak up the ambience as well as take a few quiet walks on deserted beaches. We could have stayed there longer, but we knew that we had to get on and visit a bike shop. Olga had developed a severe “creak” in her headset. Matt had been noticing it for quite some time, and would periodically tighten up the bolts, but now he was getting concerned that something “serious” was going on that was affecting the steering and handling, and we needed professional, or maybe supernatural help. St. Augustine was the logical place.
According to tradition, the natives of Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Cuba told the early Spanish explorers that in Bimini, a land to the north, there was a river, spring or fountain where waters had such miraculous curative powers that any old person who bathed in them would regain his youth. Juan Ponce de Leon (1460-1521), who had been with Columbus on his second voyage in 1493 and who had later conquered and become governor of Puerto Rico, is supposed to have learned of the fable from the Indians. The fable was not new, and probably Ponce de Leon was vaguely cognizant of the fact that such waters had been mentioned by medieval writers, and that Alexander the Great had searched for such waters in eastern Asia. A similar legend was known to the Polynesians, whose tradition located the fountain of youth in Hawaii.

As described to the Spanish, Bimini not only contained a spring of perpetual youth but teemed with gold and all sorts of riches. In that age of discovery, when new wonders and novelties were disclosed every year, not only the Spanish explorers but also men of learning accepted such stories with childlike credulity. Ponce de Leon, like most of the other early Spanish explorers and conquerors, was looking primarily for gold, slaves and other "riches," and no one knows if he actually put much stock in the fable of the fountain of youth, if he had heard about it at all. On March 27, 1513 after searching vainly for Bimini among the Bahamas, Ponce de Leon sighted the North American mainland, which he took to be an island, and on April 2 he landed somewhere on the eastern coast. Nobody knows for certain where he first set foot on Florida soil. Some suppose that it was north of St. Augustine, while others think it was as far south as Cape Canaveral. Either because the discovery was made during the Easter season, or because he found flowers on the coast, or for both reasons, he named the country La Florida. In Spanish, Easter Sunday is la pascua florida, literally "the flowery passover." "And thinking that this land was an island they named it La Florida because they discovered it in the time of the flowery festival."

For over 2400 miles, Olga has been our stalwart companion with nary a complaint. We've subjected her to torrents of rain, mud, sand, grit, salt air, pot holes, curbs, gravel, broken glass and other maladies with nary a complaint on her part. She has performed admirably and has exceeded all our expectations. Her last visit to a bike shop was in Washington DC, and it was time to give her some well earned TLC. And as we would soon discover, it wasn't a moment too soon.