Since the 1850s, the natural beauty of Silver Springs has attracted exploiters from around the country. Glass bottom boat tours of the springs began in the late 1870s and we took one in 2009, a bored captain with a delivery that was almost unintelligible, gave a commentary of the features on the bottom of this crystal clear lake of springwater including some statues placed their for some film.
But Carol had remembered animals roaming freely on islands and sadly this was not the case anymore.
Bored bears chewed on dustbins,
giraffes begged for food from the punters and
albino alligators hid from the sun
or snacked on rats.
The bird show was well presented and I suppose they would not perform if they were not content but I hate to see clipped wings and tiny cages.
CYPRUS GARDENS
Cypress Gardens opened on January 2, 1936 as a botanical garden
planted by Dick and Julie Pope. Over the years, it became one of the biggest attractions in Florida, known for its water ski shows, lush gardens, and Southern Belle models.
Many films and ads. used the gardens as a backdrop.
I am sure that this banyan was in one of the predator films.
Recently the park has been on hard times as Disney and Busch gardens stole away thir customers. We saw this as we seemed to be the only visitors at times and I am sure there were only 20 or so people in the park.
It became known as the "Water Ski Capital of the World" because many of the sport's landmark "firsts" and over 50 world records were broken there but sadly for us there are no shows when we visited.
What a contrast it was when we were part of a madding crowd at Epcot center, or as I call it “The world according to Walt”. First of all it was a good day out, WAAAAAAAAY overpriced but all the same a good day out. However we are in their low season just now and it was still pretty crowded in the park. As the car park was less than ¼ full what it must be like in hign season I can only imagine. Waits for the rides were measured in hours and at times the madding crowds were quite scary. I mean grown men wearing Micky ears, what is that all about.
There were some high spots though. Many children were sporting amazing facial artwork, courtesy of the free face painters, the American Experience started off
with a Fife and Drum band who were good but the singers in period costume who followed them were exceptional. The potted history of the USA, narrated by the figures from the past courtesy of some tired animatronics, was OK starting with the Mayflower, but did we need Walt and Tinkerbelle?
As a pleasant contrast to the trained exhibits, we found theses cranes wndering around at Buds Marina and RV park in the middle of nowhere.
The boat hunt is still ongoing with several that would "do I suppose" but we are still hoping to find "THE BOAT" somewhere.
2 comments:
Keep looking THE BOAT is out there somewhere. Disney queues are legendary, but with organisation you can survive a day there. I would like to do Epcot but I can live without the rest. We are of to Rome for a few days, hot and loads of walking but looking forward to it.
Just ran across your blog wile surfing links from escapees. You might find some information interesting on our home page, www.floridaboats.net It's just a collection of old boat brochures from over the years. Sorry, no Endeavour 40 (I was surprised when I checked, but files go missing over the years). Enjoy your search. I'm searching for the right fifth wheel.
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