Welcome to the Farewell to Finder’s Fest geo-art, brought to you by the Forest Minions! This series celebrates weird and unusual things throughout the Sunshine State. Please do not go to the posted locations. Rather, solve the challenging quiz found at the bottom of each page, for the final location. For the letterbox caches, please leave the stamp in the cache. They are not trade items. For the discerning traveler, we’ve included the GPS coordinates for these bizarre locations, when we were able to establish them.
Fountain of Youth – Location 29.9069, -81.3136
Spanish historian Lopez de Gomara wrote in his journal that Indians living in the islands of Hispaniola had told him about a fountain with healing waters north of Cuba and Haiti. The Indians usually referred to this mystical place as a river, waterfall, or spring, it was the Spanish that added the word “fountain.” Some of the facts about this miracle water source may have been misinterpreted in the translation between the native tongues and Spanish. Were the Indians simply referring to springs where exploring conquistadors could obtain fresh drinking water?
Ponce de Leon may have heard about the Fountain of Youth back in Spain. Pietro Martire d’Anghiera, an Italian geographer living in Spain, wrote in 1513 that “Among the islands of the north side of Hispaniola, about 325 leagues distant, as said by those who have searched for it, is a continual spring of flowing water of such marvelous virtue that the water thereof being drunk, perhaps with some diet, maketh old men young again.” Apparently he was skeptical of this place because he added “They have so spread this rumor for a truth through all the court, that not only all the people, but also many of them whom wisdom or fortune hath divided from the common sort, think it to be true.”
Here is the super duper, way challenging, really hard trivia question, which, if solved properly, will lead you to the final coordinates:
Question: How often does the average person blink their eyes, in one minute?
A: 1 = N29° 29.019' W81° 48.566'
B: 80 bazillion = N29° 29.019' W81° 48.576'
C: 20 = N29° 29.019' W81° 48.586'