Florida’s early roadside attractions strove to satiate America’s appetite for the eccentric with rare animals, flamboyant gardens, crowd-thrilling acts and human oddities. Many such attractions became extinct with the rise of the state’s major theme parks. Others adapted to the changing times and anew environmental conscienciousness to endure as a precious bit of Florida history. Flash back at any of these:

CYPRESS GARDENS ADVENTURE PARK, Winter Haven, 863-324-2111, www.cypressgardens.com
Dick and Julie Pope launched Central Florida’s tradition of theme parks in the 1930s when they enhanced their gorgeous gardens with Southern belles and stunt water-skiers. The
“Queen for a Day” at Cypress Gardens
Cypress Gardens

classic park has recently reopened after undergoing major enhancements to resurrect its trademark traditions, along with some thoroughly modern twists. Don’t miss the butterfly arboretum and ice-skating extravaganzas, along with four roller coasters and 33 other rides.

GATORLAND, Orlando, 407-855-5496 or 800-393-JAWS, www.gatorland.com
Gnarly and tyrannisaurish, ‘gators became emblematic of Florida roadside attractions. Nothing drew in the crowds like these chompers. Many attractions devoted themselves primarily to the prehistoric beasts, including Gatorland, an alligator farm that opened in 1948. Through the years it has introduced snakes and other animals, shows, a get-wet playground and a petting zoo.

KEY WEST AQUARIUM, Key West, 305-296-2051, www.keywestaquarium.com
When Key West toppled from its position as one of the country’s richest towns to one of its poorest, the federal government sent the WPA in 1932 to build an open-air aquarium and jump-start tourism. The Key West Aquarium today lures visitors with homey charm and the promise of petting a shark. To show its eco-conscience, it has become involved in raising baby sea turtles.

MARINELAND, Marineland (south of St. Augustine), 904-460-1275, www.marineland.net
Tourists love dolphins, seals and all the creatures under the sea. Marineland near St. Augustine capitalized on that love affair in June 1938, when it opened the world’s first "oceanarium," an aquarium that recreates the ocean’s diversity of marine life. It thrilled early crowds with marine animal acts and a realistic view of ocean life. Today it takes an ecological and interactive course with dolphin encounter programs and scuba diving in the 450,000-gallon, 18-foot deep oceanarium, fed by water from the Atlantic.

MONKEY JUNGLE, Miami, 941-355-5305; www.monkeyjungle.com
Here, monkeys in the wild peer down at you – in YOUR cage. Monkey Jungle began in 1933 as an experiment on the territorial instincts
Albino alligator at St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park

of monkeys. Uncaged, the crab-eating macaque monkeys hung around. People came to look. When the monkeys objected to the intruders, founder Frank DuMond built cages for the visitors. Amazonian monkeys have joined the jungle, along with others, including tamarins, for which Frank pioneered a breeding program.

ST. AUGUSTINE ALLIGATOR FARM ZOOLOGICAL PARK, St. Augustine, 904-824-3337, www.alligatorfarm.com
In a city full of "oldest" superlatives, St. Augustine Alligator Farm opened in 1893 to score as the world’s first of its kind. During its 110-plus years, the park has grown from a commercial farm raising alligators and staging ‘gator wrestling to a zoological park with the world’s only complete collection of crocodilians, not to mention snakes, monkeys, birds and educational wildlife shows.

SILVER SPRINGS, Ocala, 352-236-2121, www.silversprings.com
In 1878, Hullam Jones glued a window to the bottom of a rowboat and simultaneously invented Florida tourism and the glass-bottom boat. Now grown to a 350-acre animal and nature park, it has added live animal exhibits and shows, a water park, Jeep Safari, Kids Ahoy! Playland and the brand-new Lighthouse Ride and Fantastic Fountains Water Show.

SUNKEN GARDENS, St. Petersburg, 727-551-3100, www.stpete.org/sunken.htm
Sunken Gardens began in 1935 as one man’s obsession with Florida’s ability to flourish. Visitors paid to peek and before you knew it, tourism overgrew the gardens. Residents and the city saved Sunken Gardens from demise in 1999. Today the classic attraction has taken on a new mission to educate, adding butterflies and rainforest programs to the lush waterfall-splashed gardens.

WEEKI WACHEE SPRINGS, Weeki Wachee, 352-596-2062, www.weekiwachee.com
Esther Williams and Don Knotts were among the stars filmed on location at Weeki Wachee, a.k.a. Mermaid City near Spring Hill. The park and its underwater mermaid theater opened in 1947 when a Navy frogman instructor devised a way for his sexy and sequined mermaids to breath through hoses under water. Today, a wilderness river cruise, a mermaid museum and school, water slides and flumes have added modern appeal to the classic underwater mermaid shows.