| From ClassBrain.com FL Tourism Florida is full of unusual places for kids, among them the Monkey Garden, Mermaid City, and the Children's Garden stand out as uniquely fun places to visit in the state. All three locations are magical in their own unique ways.
The Sarasota Children's Garden is not only beautiful, filled with animal topiaries and vine covered mazes, it is also a wonderful experiment in recycling. Mint Mountain is made with recycled tires and filled with soil and fresh mint plants, while the Magic Dome is constructed of used plastic soda bottles.
In 1933, Joseph DuMond, an inquisitive animal behaviorist, released six monkeys into the wilds of Southern Florida which now is known as Monkey Jungle. More than fifty years later almost 400 primates representing over 30 species of primates roam a 30 acre reserve and peer inquisitively at the odd humans that visit their realm. Tamarins, orangutans, gorillas, howler monkeys and more can be seen on a daily basis, but the real stars of the show are the Java monkeys who can be seen collecting crabs and other shellfish along the riverbanks and mangrove swamps.
Mermaid City is the name that was given to Weeki Wachee Springs near Spring Hill, Florida in the 1940s. The park and its underwater mermaid theater opened in 1947, when Newton Perry, a Navy frogman instructor, created a way for his sequined mermaids to breath through hoses under water. The area was originally named “Weeki Wachee” by the Seminole Indians, meaning “little spring” or “winding river.” The bottom of this spring is so deep that its source hasn't been found. What they do know is that more than a million gallons of clear, fresh 72-degree water bubbles up from that source each day making it a perfect place to spy its resident mermaids. © Copyright 2004 by ClassBrain.com |
