Mermaids, manatees, New Orleans: All SE favorites
Have you seen a mermaid lately? We found three of them on a recent trip to Florida and the southeastern United States -- the underwater show at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park was one favorite activity during the journey.
A World War II Navy frogman named Newt Perry got the idea to establish an underwater show near Florida's Gulf Coast. In 1947 he invented a system to breathe underwater and the popular Weeki Wachee mermaids were formed. These days, the swimmers are ages 18-25 years old, and viewers see them in the original tank auditorium Perry designed. We reached the entrance gate about 40 minutes before the first show at 11 a.m. This allowed us to sit up front, in the center. We were impressed by the show, which featured three young women in mermaid costumes, dancing underwater and holding positions steady despite a 5-miles-per-hour current from Weeki Wachee Springs. The name is from the Seminole language. Other favorite stops off the beaten path:
* Spotting several manatees, also in Florida's Hernando County area. A group of us spotted the "sea cows" out in force, along the clear-running river.
* Beaches: The most pristine one was out on the Gulf of Mexico, west of New Port Richey, Fla. A group of us rented a pontoon boat to reach that beach, and it was just a treat to get out of the boat and walk along the white sand. In addition, there is a lovely beach at Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs, Fla.
* North Shore of Lake Pontchatrain, La. We stayed for a few days in Slidell, La., a suburb of New Orleans. We explored this area, including in the Mandeville, La., where we hiked a nature trail in Fontainbleu State Park. This allowed us to see an actual Louisiana bayou up close, a bunch of birds and fauna native to the area, and finally, the north banks of Lake Pontchatrain, a lake that covers 630 square miles in the southeast part of the state. We also drove several times over the lake on 3 different bridges to get a feeling for the area.
* New Orleans, La. This was a return trip to one of my favorite cities in America. It was Easter, and we got to town after 7 a.m. Mass. This allowed us to see not one, but two Easter Parades; one went down Bourben Street and included several floats. Folks dressed in Easter clothes threw out beads, and tokens of the holiday. The second parade bisected Bourben Street, and went along St. Ann's. This was a Gay Pride Easter Parade, an upbeat and fun event to watch.
* Bourben Street, and the Funky Pirate bar. We scored a window seat at this establishment known for good live blues music. It was great for people-watching, which included a couple who pushed a stroller of parrots. I'm not kidding; they had like 8 parrots, both on the stroller and on their shoulders. Only in New Orleans ...
A special shout-out to the AAA in Bettendorf, Iowa; we got a Trip-Tik where included directions to the wonderful Florida-Georgia Parkway. This is a few miles east of the Gulf Coast, a double highway with relatively little traffic in northern Florida.
A World War II Navy frogman named Newt Perry got the idea to establish an underwater show near Florida's Gulf Coast. In 1947 he invented a system to breathe underwater and the popular Weeki Wachee mermaids were formed. These days, the swimmers are ages 18-25 years old, and viewers see them in the original tank auditorium Perry designed. We reached the entrance gate about 40 minutes before the first show at 11 a.m. This allowed us to sit up front, in the center. We were impressed by the show, which featured three young women in mermaid costumes, dancing underwater and holding positions steady despite a 5-miles-per-hour current from Weeki Wachee Springs. The name is from the Seminole language. Other favorite stops off the beaten path:
* Spotting several manatees, also in Florida's Hernando County area. A group of us spotted the "sea cows" out in force, along the clear-running river.
* Beaches: The most pristine one was out on the Gulf of Mexico, west of New Port Richey, Fla. A group of us rented a pontoon boat to reach that beach, and it was just a treat to get out of the boat and walk along the white sand. In addition, there is a lovely beach at Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs, Fla.
* North Shore of Lake Pontchatrain, La. We stayed for a few days in Slidell, La., a suburb of New Orleans. We explored this area, including in the Mandeville, La., where we hiked a nature trail in Fontainbleu State Park. This allowed us to see an actual Louisiana bayou up close, a bunch of birds and fauna native to the area, and finally, the north banks of Lake Pontchatrain, a lake that covers 630 square miles in the southeast part of the state. We also drove several times over the lake on 3 different bridges to get a feeling for the area.
* New Orleans, La. This was a return trip to one of my favorite cities in America. It was Easter, and we got to town after 7 a.m. Mass. This allowed us to see not one, but two Easter Parades; one went down Bourben Street and included several floats. Folks dressed in Easter clothes threw out beads, and tokens of the holiday. The second parade bisected Bourben Street, and went along St. Ann's. This was a Gay Pride Easter Parade, an upbeat and fun event to watch.
* Bourben Street, and the Funky Pirate bar. We scored a window seat at this establishment known for good live blues music. It was great for people-watching, which included a couple who pushed a stroller of parrots. I'm not kidding; they had like 8 parrots, both on the stroller and on their shoulders. Only in New Orleans ...
A special shout-out to the AAA in Bettendorf, Iowa; we got a Trip-Tik where included directions to the wonderful Florida-Georgia Parkway. This is a few miles east of the Gulf Coast, a double highway with relatively little traffic in northern Florida.
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