By the late 1940s, long before Disney dreamed of building a magic kingdom in central Florida, the state had more botanical gardens, jungles, monkeys, parrots, and glass-bottomed boats than a tourist could shake a camera at. But only one place had banana-eating mermaids, and that was Weeki Wachee.
Located about forty-five miles north of Tampa, and still in existence today, Weeki Wachee has been featured in major motion pictures and visited by astronauts, movie stars, and Elvis Presley. Like everyone else, they came to see the famous mermaids in actuality, highly trained swimmers and...

A strange and unsettling glimpse of the land of sun and surf in the waning moments of segregation in the South. Gilbert King, author of Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
A testament to the efforts of a black community determined to provide wholesome recreation for their families in a segregated society. This masterpiece of local history changes the way we think about the history of tourism and civil rights. Susan Sessions Rugh, author of Are We There Yet?: The Golden Age of American Family Vacations
The story of...