Mar 03 2005

Mermaids

Published by at 7:13 am under Uncategorized

Have you been wondering where all the glama is in this neck of the woods (or palms)? I’ll tell you where it is: the delightfully named Weeki Wachee Springs, home of the legendary mermaids.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have wanted to see the mermaids.* I think when I was little, I actually believed that they were real mermaids. But then again, I’d believe almost anything. My grandfather had me convinced that he put up the moon every night, and it was on a spring, which is why you could see it on both sides of the road. I still have a surprisingly high gullibility factor for a girl of my vintage.

I never thought I would see the mermaids, because they were in distant Florida and I never thought I’d go there. Now was my chance!

It was completely fabulous.

The mermaids have been performing in their natural spring since 1947. The audience watches them through a huge glass window in the Mermaid Theater. They are gorgeous and glamorous in their glittery tails, their long hair flowing in the water. They do wonderful production numbers under water (I loved it when all of them swam together in a ring), and can even drink underwater (now, there’s a skill I could use!). The finale was a tribute to the US of A, complete with patriotic swimsuits and an underwater flag. If Kerry had had the mermaids with him on the campaign trail, he’d definitely be President right now.

I’m now accepting donations to Send a Needy Suzy to Mermaid Camp.

*I spoke to one of the mermaids, and she told me she had wanted to be a mermaid since she was four years old. So it was her dream come true, too.

7 responses so far

7 Responses to “Mermaids”

  1. # Amberon 03 Mar 2005 at 10:51 am

    That is so cool. How do they breath?

  2. # Kellyon 03 Mar 2005 at 12:13 pm

    GILLS, Amber … gills! 🙂

  3. # Suzyon 03 Mar 2005 at 3:08 pm

    Nonono, it’s all magic!!

    OK, it’s the air hoses (see pix). But it’s still magic!

  4. # Amberon 04 Mar 2005 at 8:51 am

    huh. I could see the air hoses, but it seemed so dangerous to breath from those things…. I’m used to the full-on equipment :).

  5. # terrilynnon 04 Mar 2005 at 4:48 pm

    Count me as another long-time mermaid wannabe. Other girls wanted ponies; I wanted me-sized seahorses.

    Still do.

  6. # Pascale Soleilon 06 Mar 2005 at 7:27 pm

    Check this out: http://weblog.burningbird.net/archives/2005/03/05/little-mermaid-dreams/

  7. # Suzyon 07 Mar 2005 at 7:45 am

    Pascale, thanks for sharing that. Very cool!