UPDATE on Big Boy on Fourpawsetc Here
Seahorse Gift Shop in Palmetto Florida, was a happy place for my mother and for me when we visited my grandmother. It was there for most of my mothers life and mine. It sat at the foot of the Green bridge, which spans the Manatee River. Bradenton, where I live is on the south of the river and Palmetto is north of the river. I am the only member of our family that lives SOUTH of the river...or ever did.. The shop had free orange juice and papaya juices, sold all the treasrues found in gift shops back then. Mother bought earrings made from shells every time we visited. It was only a few blocks from my Grandmothers home.
The above are vintage shots, I borrowed from the internet, owned by the Palmetto Historical Society.
A few years ago the old bridge was not big enought to contain our trafic, they tore down the shop and build a bigger, better bridge. They turned 1/2 of the old bridge into a fishing bridge. This past week Palmetto added a beautiful piece of art. Right in the same place the yellow seahorse lived my whole life. We drove Big to see the horse, but the sun did not come out and my photos were not good.
the below are still shots snipped from the Video which is below and can be viewed on Youtube.
A short video by the City of Palmetto. HERE if you like Art or Seahorses or Both, it is worth the 2.26 minute view. It is an incredible work of art. All of the people that were interviewed were friends with my mother and her family and still are friends with my cousins, who all live in Palmetto
18 comments:
It is gorgeous! And now you have something to commemorate your shopping trips with your mom. Now if only they would put a tiny gift shop there. What wonderful memories you must have of this. Did you ever buy anything for yourself from there when you went with your mom?? Watching it being lowered made me wonder what it is made of nd how much it weighs.
That is so cool! But those construction workers! Acting like, "just another day at the office."
When I was a little girl on our family summer vacations, they used to stop at a big Shell 'factory'/gift shop that looked like yours. (I think this was around Punta Gorda?) Last time I was there, Ron and I'd recently moved to Florida. I bought a bunch of shells and made them into Christmas tree ornaments. Thanks for this trip down memory lane!
That is one whooper of a Seahorse...They are just magically to me. I could only watch them at the Aquariums and be perfectly happy.
Hugs Cecilia
Happy memories, I am glad they have a new statue in the same spot. Love the giant seahorse! I have seen similar gift shops while traveling around Florida.
Hari OM
Great landmark = it's a beaut! YAM xx
It's beautiful! I'm so glad they put it in the same spot. So many things like that have just been torn down and forgotten all over Florida and I'm sure other places too.
Love the giant seahorse... I got curious how tall it is, and if it's taller than our Pinocchio (in my City Walk post earlier this month)...
I googled and found that the seahorse is 22 feet (6,7 m). But our giant Pinocchio is 9 m = 29 ft 6 in.
The seahorse combined with gift shop brought up memories for me too, though. That may inspire a blog post of my own, we'll see...
That is some gorgeous Seahorse. What a piece of art.
Kind of Bittersweet memories..in the name of progress.
sue
I'm so glad you have those wonderful memories, and good for them for the memorial.
It is good to see that they replaced the Seahorse. You have lots of special memories from that place.
Wow, impressive. I loved reading your memories most, tho!!
I agree with Anni! Your memories are so interesting. MORE!! Please....
I do like this so much...I bet it brings back a lot of good memories for a lot of people.
That is a beautiful statue. Too bad that the gift shop had to be torn down though. Did they rebuild somewhere else or just close up shop?
I watched the video and saw how large it is. It's beautiful. It will bring good memories when you see it.
It must be nice that you have a family history that is partly nearby. Mine is across the Atlantic as my Mom and Dad were the only family to leave the EU after the war.. my Dad eventually had his Dad come and his unmarried sister. My Dad dies in 1962 and his dad in 1954. My aunt remained single and we were close. She passed in 2005. All I have now is my sister who married but had no kids and she is 10 years younger. We were never really close but are in touch weekly now. She lives and hour and half drive west and nort of our place. ,island Ontario by shores of Georgian Bay off Lake Huron. I love your family history posts.
That is such a great statue! The Seahorse Gift Shop would have been my kind of place. I lived near the seaside for many years and every time we went into town I would head to a place that sounds very much like this one. I used to spend my pocket money on sea shells :)
I lived in Bradenton when I was a child. In fact I was born there. My Grandmother, Nell Glenn used to work at the old Sea Horse souvenir shop, and We went there alot. It was very fun. I remember all the cool florida souvenirs, and the Papaya juice, and coconut milk and orange juice. Also I remember the big Alligators in the pen at the front of the store. They also had baby Camen in the store that you could buy. I played with them slot. It was a happy place and I'll always remember it. I am happy they kept a Sea Horse at the same location, a little bit of my past lives on.
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