Near the top of my list of Florida's vintage roadside attractions is Panama City's Goofy Golf, because it is mostly intact in its original 1959 form. As these 1960s pictures from the State Archives show, many of the hole features remain unchanged today, only with new paint colors. Goofy Golf was the brainchild of Lee Kopin, who built courses in Ft. Walton Beach and Pensacola further down the panhandle, as well as in Texas, Nevada and California. There's a Sphinx, a blue Easter Island head, a bizarre tiki, a golden buddha, a rocketship, dinosaurs and much, much more. I could go on and on but words don't do the place justice. You truly have to see it for yourself.
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I worry about how places like this will fare if tourists stop coming to the beach because of the oil spill.
ReplyDeleteYou're right...and I don't suppose "Save the Purple Dinosaurs" bumper stickers are would have a significant impact. But seriously, you really have an important point. So many businesses like this could go by the wayside permanently because of this disaster.
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike- I'm posting about Goony Golf in Lake George NY today - and you're right, you have to go heavy on the photos with posts like this!
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