Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Weird & Wonderful

My ever-shrinking local newspaper carried two totally weird only-in-Florida stories today and one wonderful one. 

First the weird. Residents of a mobile home park in Fruitland fed an escaped circus monkey Coke, potato chips  and Twinkies long enough to alert his owner/captor to get to the park to retreive the wayward performer. The monkey, named Reggie, had been on the lam since March 13 when he had escaped during a performance at a Florida flea market. 

The second shark bite victim of 2009 in my little part of Florida alone was reported yesterday. Just a flesh wound. Surfers taste like chicken. Did I mention that I live in the shark-bite capital of the world? Really. 
Now for the wonderful. One of my favorite original Florida theme parks, Marineland, made news. The place known as the "World's First Oceanarium" officially opened its Dolphin Conservation Field Station yesterday. The Field Stat
ion is a partnership between Marineland and the Georgia Aquarium. A great example of the old and new working together. I got a chance to visit the Georgia Aquarium last year and I highly recommend it. But my first love will always be Marineland, located between St. Augustine and 
Daytona Beach on AIA. 

I remember the excitement of seeing the diver feed the dolphins and other sea life as I watched from one of the "porthole" windows conveniently placed at "kid level" along the sides of the Oceanarium. Saw my first eel at Marineland. View the history of the "World's First Oceanarium" here

News like this in my daily paper on a regular basis is just one more reason why I love living in Florida. 


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