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Bear Creek Park's old sombrero slide has been accessorized into a new, giant, sleeping, half-buried cowboy.
Roadsideamerica.com Report...
Bear Creek Park
- Address:
- 3550 South Raleigh St., Denver, CO
- Directions:
- Bear Creek Park. Access from W. Hamilton Place and Raleigh St. Drive south under US Hwy 285 into Bear Creak Park, at the west end of S. Raleigh St.
- RA Rates:
- Worth a Detour
Marineland Endangered by Sucking Megamonster
One of the nation's oldest marine parks may tank soon, thanks to the inexorable drain of central Florida's tourism megamonster. Marineland, located on the Atlantic coast north of Daytona Beach and south of St. Augustine, has been a required "just off" I-95 stop for vacationing families since 1937. Sixty years later, with drooping attendance and the pressure to compete with the likes of Disney and Sea World, Marineland has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Marineland started as an underwater movie studio, and even incorporated as the town of Marineland in 1940. Postcards and films from the 1950s and '60s show a happy-go-lucky attraction -- giant underwater tank shows with leaping porpoises snatching reward fish from the mouths of their trainers.
Performances in recent decades were still imbued with classic, canny Sunshine State showmanship: a poodle would ride a surfboard pulled by a porpoise; a poolside campfire, out of control and part of a plywood Smoky the Bear tableau, effortlessly extinguished by dolphins; three more hurtling simultaneously through tiny rings twenty feet in the air.
Marineland features the only electric eel theater show we've seen. "Static," the star performer, sits sullenly in his display tank until show time, when a rubber-gloved Marineland employee starts poking him with a metal rod. Static responds with a burst of high-voltage electricity, illuminating a voltage meter. "Wahhhhhhhhhhh!!" sounds the buzzer. "600 volts -- how about that, folks?" cheers the prodder. "That's enough current to paralyze a full-grown horse!"
Visitors also have a special fondness for the Moby Dick Cocktail Lounge, or the Aquarius Theater, where the "world exclusive" showing of Sea Dream "in superdimensional 3-D space vision" was held every hour, on the hour for many years.
But these kind of thrills are lost in the Orlando area feeding frenzy. Marineland needs enough visitors to keep up payments on $9.7 million dollars in municipal bonds. And while some attractions, like the Gulf Coast's Weeki Wachee, still cling to market niches, theme parks roll over Marineland with their moody super-cetaceans and 6-million volt extravaganzas.
[04/12/1998]- Address:
- 9600 Oceanshore Blvd., Marineland, FL
- Directions:
- On Hwy A1A/Oceanshore Blvd, 20 minutes east and south from I-95 exit 305.
- Hours:
- Daily 8:30 am - 4:30 pm. (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
- Phone:
- 904-471-1111
- Admission:
- Admission
Sam Granger has filled his yard in the woods with colorful folk art, including the World's Largest Grit. Free hugs available to everyone.
Roadsideamerica.com Report...
- Address:
- 1390 Tom Born Rd, Clarkesville, GA
- Directions:
- Northeast of Clarkesville. From US-23 turn north onto Tom Born Rd, then immediately turn right into the gas station. Either park there, or take the small ramp over the curb to the right of the diesel pumps onto a little dirt road that leads into the woods. SamG Land is back there.
- Hours:
- Email samgfolkart@gmail.com in advance if you want to be sure to meet Sam. Local health policies may affect hours and access.
- Admission:
- Donation box on site, or buy an artwork from SamG.
- RA Rates:
- Major Fun
Amazing walking trails through ancient rock formations. There is a healthy dose of vintage cheese in the Fairytale Caverns and Mother Goose Village, which feature day-glo tableaux of storybook characters illuminated by black light. These underground caverns are also an excellent place to hide when it's 108 degrees outside, as it happened to be during our visit.
Rock City also has a pretty interesting Birds of Prey show, which lets you get up close and personal with some pretty impressive winged hunters. Big bonus for a bird nerd like me: we got to pet an owl! A tiny owl!
There are also some spectacular views of the river valley, and a 100-foot-high waterfall. Rock City is also the only attraction I've ever seen that rivals the number of billboards of South of the Border in South Carolina. It is located in Georgia, but just a short drive from Chattanooga, Tennessee.
[Sarah Nelson, 04/25/2013]Rock City:RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report
- Address:
- 1400 Patten Rd, Lookout Mountain, GA
- Directions:
- I-24 exits 178 (from the east) or 174 (from the west). Follow the signs for "Lookout Mountain" and "Rock City" and you'll eventually end up on Hwy 17/Tennessee Ave. Stay on Hwy 17 and, once you pass the entrance to The Incline, bear right onto Hwy 58/Ochs Hwy. This takes you up the mountain. At the top, turn left onto Mockingbird Lane/Pattern Rd to Rock City.
- Hours:
- Daily 8:30 am - 8 pm, closes earlier in the off-season. (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
- Phone:
- 706-820-2531
- Admission:
- Adults $20.
- RA Rates:
- The Best
- Percival, Iowa - World's Largest Pot of Coffee
This coffee pot water tower stands near the Sapp Bros. Red Apple Restaurant/truck stop on the Iowa/Nebraska border in Percival Iowa, a few miles south of Omaha. Popular with truckers as well as travelers, the bathrooms were surprisingly and pleasantly clean.
[Jim Roberts, 11/08/2004]Sapp Bros Giant Coffee Pot:- Address:
- 2496 210th Ave., Percival, IA
- Directions:
- Sapp Bros Travel Center. I-29 exit 10, visible on the west side to the north of Hwy 2.
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The waterfall was engineered by Rock City (and maybe some of the rock formations, too) but that only makes us crave the place more.