I saw a link to a USA Today story entitled, “The First Real Thanksgiving.” I clicked on it, eagerly anticipating that a national publication would give credence to Virginia’s claim to having celebrated the first thanksgiving in North America. Finally, I thought, those pesky pilgrims would get their comeuppance.
Indeed, they did. But the article said nothing about Virginia’s Thanksgiving — it was all about some nonsense down in St. Augustine. Floridian Robyn Gioia contends that Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed there on Sept. 8, 1565, and celebrated a feast of thanksgiving with the Timucua Indians. They dined on bean soup.
Bean soup? Some actually gave thanks for bean soup? I don’t think so!
