Saturday, October 21, 2006

WEEKI WACHEE Hi, Mecca Heinee Ho!


Weeki Wachee Springs is a neat Florida attraction that started in the late 1940s and is barely hanging on to this very day. By the time I first visited it in the 1970s, it was already a dinosaur from another age...one that is on the verge of extinction. I sure hope it survives...

Located on the sight of a natural fresh water spring, many things were presented within the attraction gates....the explosively colorful tropical gardens, the wild birds, the glass-bottom boat tours, the undersea creatures and......

THE LIVE CITY OF MERMAIDS SHOW!!!!!!

Call me crazy, but there's something pretty neat about voyeuristically watching beautiful, acrobatic women on the verge of drowning through a 4-inch thick wall of glass!

The show included all types of staged performances underwater accompanied by the strains of Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman. Trips to Disney World in Orlando sometimes included side trips to Weeki Wachee...


Apparently, everyone and their bloodthirsty mother is out to close down the joint and make 'alternative' commercial use of the property.

Here's the website for the attraction today although they could benefit from some better art direction:
PUSH ME!

Look for the "Save Our Tails" section of the sight to follow the saga of preservation attempts over the past couple of years.

I don't know about you, but it's nice to know places like Weeki Wachee still share the planet with us!

4 Comments:

Blogger Major Pepperidge said...

Wow, I have a few slides from Weeki Wachee, but none as nice as these. For one thing, the underwater shots are always monochromatic blue.

I agree, it is nice to know that places like this are still around. Anything different (and a bit kooky) tends to go away.

9:27 AM  
Blogger mistryl said...

I hadn't even heard of it until just now. I'll have to check it out, though probably not until spring.

11:22 AM  
Blogger Dominic said...

Certainly mermaids and manatees need a place to live!

1:20 PM  
Blogger Matterhorn1959 said...

All the good tourist attractions in Florida are slowly disappearing. I believe there is a book about all the attractions in Florida before Disney. I don't remember the title though.

5:04 AM  

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