Ponce de León Discovers Florida

Homeschooling can be easy sometimes.   When I want the girls to do something quietly for a long period of time that does not require me working directly with them, I will tell them to write in their journals or write a story or write a report.

"How long does it have to be?" they like to ask.

That depends on how much 'peace time' I want for myself.  Today I asked Phoenix to write a three page long report. 

I had her look up "how to write a biographical report," and she wrote the following: 

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Ponce de León Discovers Florida by Phoenix

Ponce de León discovered Florida.  He was an important person.  He discovered a land of gold.  He named Puerto Rico.  He did all of those things.  He is so impressive.

Ponce de León was born in San Fervas De Campos, Spain in 1460.  He was born into a noble family and was related to Spanish kings.

In 1493 Ponce de León and his family sailed with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas.  He and his family settled on an island in the Caribbean called Hispaniola.  He became a military commander at this post and became deputy governor.

In 1506 Ponce de León found a nearby island called Borinqueu.  In Borinqueu Ponce de León found large amounts of gold.  He returned to Hispaniola and in 1508 he returned to Borinqueu with orders to explore and colonize the island.  He renamed the island Puerto Rico and was the island's governor for two years until he was replaced by Christopher Columbus's son. 

After leaving Puerto Rico he decided to sail north to the Bahamas in search of new land, treasures, and the fountain of youth.  He sailed through the Bahamas and Bimini, but didn't find anything.  In late March of 1513, he and his ships landed on the east coast of Florida and claimed it for Spain.  He named it Florida because there were so many flowers.

He decided to continue his search of Florida and sailed down its coast.  Along the way he encountered some rough currents.  He named the spot Cape Canaveral meaning cape of the rough currents. 

During a search inland for fresh water and wood near the Charlotte Harbor area the explorers saw a tribe of the Calusa Indians.  After finding out that the Calusa Indians were unfriendly, the explorers fled back to their ships and sailed back to Puerto Rico.

In 1521, Ponce de León returned to Florida with plans of making a farming colony.  He had over 200 settlers, horses, tools and seeds.  While going inland for fresh water, the Calusa Indians ambushed the settlers. 

The Indians had poisoned arrows, and one arrow entered Ponce de León's thigh. The settlers decided to abandom the settlement and sail back to Cuba.

Ponce de León died at the age of sixty-one because of the poisoned arrow and was buried under a rock that said, "Here lies the bones of the brave lion."


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WHERE WE ARE: Anchored just south of Memorial Bridge in Daytona Beach, Mile 830

WHERE WE STARTED: Docked at River's Edge Marina in St. Augustine, Mile 780

THERE TO HERE:  50 miles, 7 hours, Jamey at the helm.  Windy with NE winds peaking at 25-30 mph behind us.  We motorsailed most of the way and also had current on our side.  The weather was warmer than it has been over the past few days, but still very cold.

Not enough room for many toys or games on board, so the girls make do with what is here.  Yarn and blankets are super fun. 

So are towels.

Super models. 

Lots of big houses with nice lawns. 

What did it look like before houses and manicured lawns? 

The nice thing about having recently provisioned is fresh fruits and vegetables.  Jamey made a great salsa for afternoon snack.

Phoenix loves playing the ukulele and has been giving me lessons.  

Catching up with cello.  We did not practice while we were docked. 

Indy took this amazing picture of the sky.