Only in FLA: Weird Florida Attractions
Oh, Lord, my wife keeps sending me all this bloggery goodness to post.
From Jacksonville.com: Top 5 ‘Weird Florida’ Attractions
Their list:
1. Gibsonton, FL (been through there many times)
2. Spook Hill: Lake Wales, FL
3. Garden of Eden: Bristol, FL
4. The Wizard of Central Florida: Sanford, FL (been to Sanford many times, never to the Wizard)
5. Christmas, FL (been through there many times)
Anyone else have some Weird Florida attractions?
Scratch Ankle Festival?
My wife sent me an article about the Scratch Ankle Festival in Milton. She wanted to know why the heck did they call it that.
Here ya’ go, honey:
Scratch Ankle got its name from local legend. Local history indicates Milton was once nicknamed based on one of its most irritating features: the brambles and briars that grew along the banks of the river. In those days, the only way to get to Milton was by the River. Visitors leaving their boats would have their ankles torn by the briars. Hence, many say, in its early days, Milton was referred to as “Scratch Ankle.”
Sometimes, it’s just what it sounds like.
I swear, sometimes I think lawyers could screw up an orgy!
As a marketing professional, I can tell you that when someone wants to use your brand for something like an elementary school, that’s a good thing.
But, leave it to the lawyers to screw up a good thing:
World Golf Village, a registered trademark, will no longer be included in the name of the St. Johns County School District’s newest elementary school.
The school board chose the name after polled community members gave the highest number of votes to the name “World Golf Village Elementary,” which was previously known as new elementary school K.
Lawyers from the World Golf Village Foundation notified the district that the name is a registered trademark. The district could have kept the name under some stipulations.
For example, they would have to ensure that the school was always referred to as World Golf Village Elementary, and never an abbreviation of WGV or just World Golf.
Original Article: District drops WGV name
(Gotta love the attempt at editorial irony in that headline!)
Only in FLA: Florida legislator asks for info about male prostitutes – in front of kids!
Those of us that live in Florida are accustomed to to vigorous debate about sex, drugs, gambling, etc. And now, some of our kids are accustomed to it, too…
From the Orlando Slant-inel:
Thursday was Take Your Child to Work Day, so some of the reporters in the House press gallery brought their kids with them. But when the House launched into discussion of a bill that would increase penalties for prostitution, several scribes quickly rushed their daughters out of the gallery or had them listen to their iPods.Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, the bill’s co-sponsor, has been getting questioned by Rep. John Seiler, D-Wilton Manors, about the details of the bill.
Some of his questions: “What about escort services?” “Does it apply to male prostitutes?”…
Only in FLA: Why Carn-ies are so damn interesting!
Everybody who works at the fair has a story, they say, and every scar tells one. Dan Weaver starts his story like this:
“I should be dead.”
Weaver was working an old cable-run Ferris wheel on Aug. 25, 1978, at 11:05 p.m., across the street from a Catholic church. About 12 kids were on the ride.
The wheel was coming around when he saw a loose angle iron, just dangling there, and he had just enough time, he said, to try to knock it back up so it would clear the metal base of the ride. Then, he said, he would shut off the ride and get it fixed.
The angle iron was about a quarter-inch thick and about 8 feet long and was painted-white steel.
It went in just to the right of his belly button.
Came out his back.
Just missed his spine.
It pinned him to the metal base like a butterfly on a board…
Ew. Can’t believe they published the picture in a family newspaper, but WTH…
Oh, this is just too funny: Fallen Idol
You can take the girl out of the trailer, but you can’t take the trailer out of the girl…
Former ‘Idol’ star arrested
By Alexandra Zayas
Published April 29, 2007
TAMPA – Former American Idol contestant Jessica Sierra was arrested early Sunday morning at the Hyde Park Cafe for allegedly throwing a cocktail glass at another patron’s head, Tampa Police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.
The 21-year-old singer was “belligerent” and uncooperative with police, Davis said.
She was threatened with leg constraints after repeatedly kicking at the windows from within the squad car, so hard, officers thought they would break, Davis said.
Police have not yet determined if Sierra knew the victim, Wisam Hadad, 28, of Tampa. Hadad declined medical transport for the laceration over his eye.
When Sierra was transported to Orient Road Jail, police reportedly found a small baggie of cocaine in her purse.
She was arrested on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, possession of cocaine and introduction of contraband into a detention facility…
More "Hot Women in Jail" Posts
- Oh, this is just too funny: Fallen Idol
- Jessica Sierra offers cop oral sex in exchange for release
- Debra Lafave arrested again; does not offer oral sex to cop in exchange for release
- Did Tampa teacher get sentenced to prison for sex with student because she’s a lesbian?
- That nice girl from American Idol, Jessica Sierra, has a sex tape. Allegedly.
- Coming Soon: American Idol – The MILF Edition (or, “Is Jessica Sierra pregnant?”)
- The Debra Lafave violation report is a punny thing
Boyette’s Update, and a reminder to catch these numrods…
Update:
Family says Boyette’s Grove owner is still alive
By TIMES STAFF
Published April 28, 2007http://www.sptimes.com/2007/04/28/Hernando/Family_says_Boyette_s.shtml‘SPRING LAKE’
Jim Oleson, the owner of the iconic Boyett’s Grove and Citrus Attraction on Spring Lake Highway, is alive, but his family said little else about his condition on Friday. Oleson, 58, was shot once in the chest during a robbery Wednesday afternoon. A family member spoke to reporters at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa on behalf of the family, saying they wanted to thank everyone for their words of concern and encouragement. Oleson is listed in critical condition. The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office is still seeking the three men involved in the armed robbery. On Friday, the agency released composite sketches of two individuals sought in connection to the incident. The first man is black, 20 to 25 years old, clean shaven and was wearing a white shirt. Authorities also want to question a person of interest, a black man with dreadlocks tied atop his head. Anyone with information can call the anonymous tip line at (352) 797-8477.
Tacky Criminal Report
From Yahoo! News:
GREENSBORO, N.C. – It took one glance for Sandra Rowells to recognize the man she said broke into her home, offered her $500 to hide him and fled wearing some of her clothing. Rowells, 70, said police asked her if Jahmell Kareem, 33, of Winston-Salem was the right suspect.
“Yeah, ’cause that’s my shirt he’s got on,” Rowells said she told police. “It made me mad because my daughter had just sent me that T-shirt from Florida.”
**Clarification: Man pictured is probably not the criminal, since this was just some random image that popped up in my google search for “tacky florida shirt”. Probably. But he sure looks guilty of something, doesn’t he?
Now, every day is Gay-Day at Disney
My wife forwarded this article to me because she got a kick out of it:
Walt Disney would be horrified at gay marriages in his parks
Yep, WDW is marketing ceremonies for the gay-lesbian crowd. Yep, the same company that used to refuse to acknowledge/recognize the annual Gay-Day event. I used to work at Disney, right out of college. I think this is more about employee relations than customer relations. 
Regardless of how you feel about the issue, you have to admit that the best line in the article was this:
Disney, apparently, has put the “fairy” back in “fairy tale,”
Sounds like the basis of an ad campaign…
[ducking and running]
Catch the nimrods that shot the owner of Boyett’s Grove
My wife sent me this article from the St. Pete Times. Boyett’s Grove is a small roadside attraction in Hernando County, a few miles outside of Brooksville. It’s a working citrus grove that sells their own produce, as well as a small zoo and souvenir store
(mostly just stuff only a tourist would buy – you know what I mean). My kids loved going there, and the animals were surprising well-kept. In fact, there was once an episode of “Simple Life” filmed there where a 
monkey went all pissy on Paris Hilton. Funny as hell.
Anyway, catch these mother-effers, y’all!
Attraction owner shot, robbed
By JOHN FRANK
Published April 26, 2007SPRING LAKE – A manhunt continued into the night for three suspects who robbed a Hernando County tourist attraction and shot the owner in the chest Wednesday afternoon.Jim Oleson was tending the cash register at Boyett’s Grove and Citrus Attraction on Spring Lake Highway at 2:43 p.m. when three young black men, two of whom wore Halloween masks entered the store, according to witnesses and a preliminary investigation by the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.
The suspects took an undisclosed amount of cash and shot the 58-year-old owner below the heart with a handgun. Oleson was airlifted to St. Joseph’s hospital in Tampa where he underwent surgery in the evening and was listed in critical condition, authorities said.
A patron in the store was also robbed, but he was left unharmed. Oleson’s wife, Kathy Boyett Oleson, also was in the store.
Perched on a hilltop of citrus groves in southeastern Hernando County, Boyett’s Grove is part citrus stand and part Old Florida tourist-trap, complete with a small zoo featuring live alligators, monkeys and parrots.
Carol Francis was just finishing a tour of the zoo portion behind the shop with her daughter and two young grandchildren when someone at the back door told them the owner had been shot.
Francis, a retired nurse, told her daughter and grandchildren to go hide while she went inside to try to help Oleson, who was bleeding but conscious.
“He was behind the counter,” she said. “There wasn’t much I could do.”
Ritch McFerren, 69, was pulling up to the shop to get some oranges when a man rushed out the door and told him to call 911. “I ran out to the truck to make the call,” the Spring Hill resident said between cigarette puffs. “And I was on the phone with 911 when the first deputy arrived.”
McFerren came from the south but said he didn’t see the suspects or the white vehicle authorities were trying to locate.
Authorities described the first suspect as a black male, 20 to 25 years old and about 5-foot 10-inches. He is clean shaven and was wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants. The other two suspects wore Halloween-type masks and dark clothing, authorities said.
Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Donna Black said investigators are trying to locate a vehicle spotted at the scene at the time of the shooting. She described it as a late-80s model white Mercedes, a two-door coupe with a red hard top last seen driving south on U.S. 41.
Deputies spent the afternoon and evening searching the surrounding area by air in a helicopter and by ground with canine officers. Spring Lake Highway was closed for a time between State Road 50 and Powell Road.
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