The Warm Mineral Springs (Fountain Of Youth)
The only warm mineral spring in Florida is found on an obscure back road (our favorite kind) near North Port, Florida. This place is of major historical and archeological note and I’m surprised we’d never heard of it! You may not step out of the water with a younger face, but perhaps you’ll feel you have more verve and zing.
A few intriguing facts about the springs:
The water flowing from this spring is low in oxygen and is believed to have been trapped underground for over thirty thousand years.
In 1973 a 10,000 year old skull still containing brain matter (can you imagine?) was discovered, which changed the theory about the time of Homosapian movement to 4,000 years earlier than originally thought.
Some believe Ponce de Leon hoped this was The Fountain of Youth. (Some also believe that Ponce was never actually searching for The Fountain of Youth.) (I still am, though…)
Eight million gallons of water a day flows through and replenishes itself every 2 hours.
Soaking in warm mineral spring water is thought to have healing and preventative qualities, and natural medicine practitioners in Japan and Europe have been recommending balneotherapy – treatment of disease by bathing – for centuries. Some purported benefits are:
Increased blood flow, circulation.
Increased metabolism.
Absorption of essential minerals.
Treatment of chronic digestive diseases and constipation.
Treatment of gout, diabetes, and liver complaints.
Admission is $20 per adult, $15 for children ages 6 – 17 and $10 for children ages 3 – 5.
