You all know about Ponce De Leon, right? He was a Spanish explorer in the early 1500s, not too long after Christopher Columbus “discovered” the New World. Not only did he give Florida its name but he also did a pretty good job of mapping out its coastline. He served 3 stretches as Governor of Puerto Rico. Unlike most Illinois governors, these stretches were not followed by one in the hoosegow.

Legend has it that while exploring Florida, Senor De Leon was hunting for the Fountain of Youth. Wikipedia dismisses this search as a myth.

Wikipedia is wrong! In fact, Ponce was 100% correct. The Fountain of Youth DOES exist and is indeed located somewhere in the State of Florida.

My proof? As previously reported Barb and I recently spent 10 days in the state of DeSantis, Delray, and Disney. This was the trip that American Airlines so graciously treated us to, whether they realized it or not. And this is how it went.

We were at O’Hare Airport on a Wednesday early in January, dawdling at gate H6 for our slightly delayed flight. And we were surrounded by…seniors. I know that age-wise Barb and I technically fall into that group, but this was the real white hair, early-bird-dinner crowd. No one under age 75. Priority boarding was Group 1 Wheelchairs, Group 2 Walkers, and Group 3 Canes. The roll-up music to the jetway was courtesy of Lawrence Welk. You get the picture…

We flew with that crowd down to Sarasota International Airport. Barb and I spent our time in the Florida sunshine, eating and visiting and playing. The 10 days of our visit quickly flew by and soon we were back at the Sarasota airport.

Some technical issues with the flight ahead of ours resulted in our flight being delayed and our spending an extra hour or so at our departure gate. We looked at our fellow delayed passengers expecting to see all the white-haired passengers we had traveled down with. Much to our amazement a Florida transformation had occurred. The oldsters we had flown with from Chicago had been magically converted into young families with strollers, backpacks, and screaming babies for the flight back home.

I don’t know how they did it. I don’t know what magical waters they drank from. But I have no doubt that a plane load of our most senior and revered citizens spent 10 days in Florida and were now flying home transformed into kids in their 20s and 30s. They must have found the Fountain of Youth.

Ponce De Leon was right all along!