St. Augustine, Florida: Fountain of Youth

A touristy place to visit and get a bottle of magical water from the Fountain of Youth. Every hour or so they set off cannons, and the peacocks are trained to flash their feathers for tourists.

50% pure kitsch, 50% hardcore history, the Fountain of Youth is one of Florida's finest remaining vintage attractions. Where else can you drink from the Fountain of Youth, watch white peacocks and see a giant 2-story black light globe?

Amid all the quirky animatronics is some serious history: A Timucuan village existed here 1000 years before the Europeans arrived and wiped them out with disease.

Back when I visited this place in 2003, they gave out a small cup of Fountain Water to every visitor who sat through the "lecture" in the spring house. Not sure if they're still doing that, but let me warn you...the water tastes TERRIBLE! Typical Florida ground water, full of sulfur and all kinds of nastiness.

If you're already at the Fountain of Youth, check out their goofy little planetarium. It's very small and the stars are out of focus, but it kinda fits the place. Also they've got some very friendly peacocks that like peanuts. A few of the peacocks were solid white, very cool.