Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

From Freepedia

Ponte Vedra Beach is a seaside village 20 miles south east of downtown Jacksonville, Florida, near St. Augustine, Florida in St. Johns County, Florida. It is an upmarket tourist resort best known for its association with golf. It is the home of the PGA TOUR, and THE PLAYERS Championship is played at "The Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass". Tennis and surfing are other popular activities. The inhabitants of the village are generally characterized by the "three C's" associated with upscale living in northern Florida - conservative, caucasion, and Christian.

Ponte Vedra Beach was 50th on the list of 100 finalists for CNN and Money magazine's 2005 list of the best places to live, which came out July 11. It was the first place in Florida to be named this year and one of only four areas in the state to make the cut.

Ponte Vedra Beach may have been first sighted by Juan Ponce de Leon on his search for the Fountain of Youth in 1513.

Though a fact unknown by most who live there, the village was the site of a German submarine landing during the failed Operation Pastorius. On the night of June 16, 1942, four German soldiers from a German submarine came ashore carrying explosives and American money. Five days earlier, another submarine came ashore in Amagansett, New York on Long Island The German spies were captured before they can do any damange. All were tried and six were executed.

Ponte Vedra Beach is also the site of the Guana River State Park, a large nature preserve that includes miles of protected beaches, wetlands, and near-pristine woods.

Says one Ponte Vedra youth, "It's a good, safe place to grow up, but I wouldn't want to raise my kids here, especially if they happened to be black, gay, into staying up late, or without money for gas."

Area Code: 904 Zip Code: 32082