LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Mermaids: Weeki Wachee
built 201 days ago
Weeki Wachee, City of Mermaids ... explores the enduring appeal of the attraction. Once people get past Weeki Wachee's once crumbling, recently restored exterior, they continue to be just as genuinely awed by the mermaids as Elvis was.
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Since 1947, former Navy man Newton Perry's dream has come alive; Entertaining visitors with underwater synchronized swimming and, of course, mermaids. After recently falling on hard times, it appeared that the days of the Mermaids of Weeki Wachee Spring were numbered. Visitor attendance was down and Weeki Wachee's location north of Tampa was off the beaten track. When the owners were unable to find a buyer, the city accepted possession of the property, instituted a program to make long-neglected repairs and the attraction was reborn.
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In the postwar explosion of domestic tourism, Weeki Wachee spring offered the quintessential vacation fantasy, a city of colorful mermaids in a natural crystal spring right off the West Coast highway in a sparsely inhabited Florida. In those early days, the mermaids had to stand alongside the highway to flag travelers down, but once word of their charms got out, travelers headed south to playgrounds in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and Tampa found Weeki Wachee a tantalizing detour from the grueling two-lane road connecting vacationland with the work-a-day world to the north. Vickers and Dionne show how that local novelty became a stellar international attraction.
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Legend has it that mermaids live forever. That may not be true for the mermaids of Weeki Wachee, the quirky Florida attraction whose glory days have been eclipsed by newer, grander theme parks.
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Since 1947, the world famous Weeki Wachee Spring mermaids have been dazzling audiences with their incredible live underwater shows. The "city of mermaids" is a 200-acre family entertainment park featuring live performances 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily as well as other attractions.
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