Weeki Wachi and Citrus Tower

My wife and I stopped to see the "mermaids" at the old Florida attraction called Weeki Wachi, on the west side of the peninsula.  This is a place where suitably attired girls cavort around in a huge tank containing fresh spring water flowing out of the ground, and surrounded by a crowd of up to 500 folks, using a breathing tube to periodically take in some oxygen.   The whole place was just recently purchased by the State to save it from closing, and was undergoing renovation.  But it was suitably "kitschy" and a big throwback to the way things used to be.  Before the Mouse and interstate highway.

It was a short, but interesting, show.

Not far from Weeki Wachi was this unique auto repair shop.  When ws the last time your car got its oil changed underneath a dinosaur?

And that day, I was not "miss-identified" at all, up to that point.  I must have caused a bit of confusion, because several times everyone around us was being gender identified as "Sir" or "Ma'am."  But I wasn't.  That's fine wtth me, though...much better than the "S" word.

Next was a stop at Citrus Tower in Clermont, in central FL.  One of Florida’s first “attractions,” the Citrus Tower was built in 1956 on one of the highest hills in Florida’s ridge section. The original plans specified a tower 75 feet high, but when completed, the Citrus Tower rose to a lofty height of 226 feet (equivalent to 22 stories). The tip of the highest antenna pierces the sky at 500 feet above sea level.

We didn't have time to go to the top...but my wife and I were directed to the ladies' room in response to our request.  Fortunately we were the only visitors, and I was able to use the men's room, as my wife didn't feel unsafe using the ladies' room alone.