Simple
photo this week. I found this sign at Whidden's Marina in Boca Grande, Florida
on Gasparilla Island off the southwest coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico.
It's near Port Charlotte.
Is
the sign for real or just a hoax? I don't know. It caught my eye and gave me a
feeling of a much earlier time in this laid back island community. Whidden's
Marina is on the National Register of Historic Places.
According
to this other sign near where we parked our car (my friend, Tommy Head, from
Port Charlotte brought me out to the island to visit this quaint little town),
the marina has been in operation since 1925. That's 90 years and counting.
I
have to say, the structure appears to be the original 1925 building and may
have actually been the 'Sity Hall' back then. They've done a great job of
maintaining the appearance of a building that's been around and actively used
since 1925. A coat of paint would definitely destroy its state of senescence.
There
is also a beautiful, stately, old resort hotel on the island, The Gasparilla
Inn, but that will be the subject of another Photo-of-the-Week article some
time in the future.
We have many good memories of our times traveling throughout Florida, and will get back there again some day. It is interesting how some places manage to use off-beat vocabulary and spellings to create public interest, while others who do so just seem to look foolish. Here in Arkansas, there was a Dogpatch theme park in Yellville that we had visited may years ago based on the Lil' Abner comic strip, but it lacked for business and closed up in the late 80's. Now there is talk of a new owner of the property attempting to create a new theme park on the property. I hope they succeed.
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