(Source: News Service of Florida) – With apologies to the pilgrims, St. Augustine, Fla. residents may mark the true first Thanksgiving feast by Europeans in the New World. In September of 1565, a full 56 years before the Mayflower arrived, the Spanish inhabitants of St. Augustine, in La Florida, had a feast of thanksgiving with the local Timucuan Indians. For some reason, the St. Augustine Thanksgiving story failed to catch on, so most Americans will celebrate the turkey and pumpkin-eating feast of New England, instead of eating the stew called “cocina” made of pork, garbanzo beans, garlic and olive oil that was part of the St. Augustine feast. Feliz Thanksgiving.