Memories....

**SWGB** · 05-28-2008, 10:08 PM

My sister sent this and the memories just flooded back, anybody else remember the bubble gum tree?

http://www.lostparks.com/mstrip.html

**InletBchDweller** · 05-28-2008, 10:46 PM

no on the bubble gum tree but I do remember pushing quarters in machines to make animals do stupid things...

This was an ICON that should have NEVEr been taken away. Many good memories were made there and many more could have been made.

One of my faves is when Mr. IBD's parents came over and we took them and little IBD and dressed in the cheesey western clothes and took a photo. A picture truely is worth a 1000 words...

**SWGB** · 05-28-2008, 10:52 PM

The bubble gum tree was the entrance to the ride thru haunted house. You had to pass thru the tree and everybody stuck their gum there. It was disgusting and fascinating at the same time.

Oh and I remembered that "Shorty" died about 2 years ago. He was the very short guy that was always there with a broom and dust pan.

**wrobert** · 05-29-2008, 07:46 AM

Yes I remember the bubble gum tree. I also remember Petticoat Junction/Old Laredo. It is listed but no pictures. That was a fun place to spend the afternoon.

**InletBchDweller** · 05-29-2008, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by wrobert

Yes I remember the bubble gum tree. I also remember Petticoat Junction/Old Laredo. It is listed but no pictures. That was a fun place to spend the afternoon.

OK, I actually never liked the haunted house and stayed clear from it. of course when I rode it when I was an adult I laughed the whole way through...

Oh, petticoat junction.

Another family place bulldozed down for Wally world...

**ShallowsNole** · 05-29-2008, 09:10 AM

Oh man...don't EVEN get me started on losing Miracle Strip. I could blog about that.

Many a wild evening on Panama City Beach...

JB · 05-29-2008, 09:27 AM

I love threads like this. Anyone remember the Destin depicted below?

**shakennotstirred** · 05-29-2008, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by JB

I love threads like this. Anyone remember the Destin depicted below?

Great pic!

**Will B** · 05-29-2008, 12:54 PM

Oh yeah...The Abominable Snowman! I remember that ride. May have been the first ride that actually made me barf. I liked the haunted mansion at Petticoat Junction that had all the hidden passage ways that you had to find in order to get through it...

That pic above is great. I'm guessing very early 70's based on no high rise condos and the canals already dug on Holiday Isle for the future housing boom...

**Franny** · 05-29-2008, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by sowalgayboi

My sister sent this and the memories just flooded back, anybody else remember the bubble gum tree?

http://www.lostparks.com/mstrip.html

I don't remember the bubble gum tree but I LOVED the roller coaster..I can hear the wooden tracks now. clickety clack clack. Why can't they make roller coasters like that now instead of the ones that twist and and go upside down and twist..

Originally Posted by JB

I love threads like this. Anyone remember the Destin depicted below?

Very cool picture...things sure have changed in thirty years!

DD · 05-29-2008, 06:11 PM

Man, JB. I would have LOVED to have seen it back then. That's back when we Texans thought we had a beach right here in our own back yards. Crazy Texans.

**Minnie** · 05-29-2008, 07:14 PM

That roller coaster was a classic and yes I do remember the Destin of yesteryears, we have been coming to the beach since the early 70's. Of course I was just a wee babe.

Franny they do still make wooden coasters, there is a great one in Arlington, Texas.

**NoHall** · 05-29-2008, 07:27 PM

Dante's Inferno... I remember riding it in the middle of summer, and (ironically) they had the A/C on at about 55 degrees, which was amazing after being so hot all day. Every time I hear Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell," I get pleasantly chilly and think of it.

My brother has different memories of Dante's Inferno--some girl near him (don't remember which direction) threw up on him!

Wooden roller coasters rock--they still have 2 great ones at Six Flags in Atlanta.

**Truffle Anne** · 05-29-2008, 07:34 PM

Minnie's roller coaster pic just made me throw up, and I'm sitting at my desk....

**ShallowsNole** · 05-29-2008, 09:07 PM

Miracle Strip - I adored the Snowman. Goodness gracious. And I USED to love the Starliner, but that was before I grew up and became afraid of heights. Now the Magic Mountain Railroad at Disney is all I can stand.

Oh...the swings were just inside the park, by Front Beach Road. I don't know why, but that was my favorite. In the middle of the Strip. Accidentally "lost" (read: kicked off

) many a cheap flip-flop over the fence...good times.

Anybody remember WPFM playing "Sweet Home Alabama" from the Top O' The Strip tower at 10:00 p.m. on Saturday night of AEA week?

That would have been about the same timeframe as the Destin picture, because I was too young to drive.

**SWGB** · 05-29-2008, 10:39 PM

Woo Hoo found this one too:

http://www.lostparks.com/topostrip.html

**JUL** · 05-29-2008, 11:59 PM

Originally Posted by sowalgayboi

My sister sent this and the memories just flooded back, anybody else remember the bubble gum tree?

http://www.lostparks.com/mstrip.html

No, but I do remember that devil. I was there in 1982...I believe we stayed at the Americana Hotel and I remember going to Breakers...are they still exisitng?

**SWGB** · 05-30-2008, 11:31 AM

Originally Posted by JUL

No, but I do remember that devil. I was there in 1982...I believe we stayed at the Americana Hotel and I remember going to Breakers...are they still exisitng?

Breakers is going under. The restaurant was doing fine, but leasing the current building down from Hooter's. The owner of the building is on the verge of foreclosure. Not sure if the restaurant will move or try to continue.