Exploring Potter's Wax Museum

Potters Wax Museum is one of those old Florida attractions that I've taken for granted because I thought it was just too "touristy" for a real Floridian to visit. Two things got me to finally pay admission to what claims to be America's first wax museum: my passion to visit all the surviving old Florida tourist attractions and Ponce de Leon. Founded by George L. Potter in 1949, the entrance fee is fairly reasonable by today's standards, but the attraction is pretty small too. It was originally located further east at the corner of Menendez Avenida and King Street. At some point, however, they moved into their current location, assuming the spot once occupied by Walgreens in the Ponce de Leon Shopping Center. In researching this unassuming Mediterranean Revival structure, I stumbled upon a bit of interesting history:

"In 1955 Lapidus (Morris Lapidus architect of Miami Beach's famed Fontainebleau Hotel) created the Ponce de Leon Shopping Center near the plaza in St. Augustine, the Nation's Oldest City. The anchor store, Woolworth's, was the scene of the first sit-in by black demonstrators from Florida Memorial College in March, 1960, and in 1963 four young teenagers, who came to be known as the "St. Augustine Four" were arrested at the same place and spent the next six months in jail and reform school, until national protests forced their release by the governor and cabinet of Florida in January 1964. Martin Luther King hailed them as "my warriors." The Woolworth's door-handles remain as a reminder of the event, and a Freedom Trail marker has been placed on the building by ACCORD, in its efforts to preserve the historic sites of the civil rights movement."

I must have missed the Freedom Trial marker and shot the photo of the Woolworth's door handle only by chance. On a previous trip I stumbled upon the marker of the site where a motel manager poured acid in the swimming pool an effort to get African Americans bathers to leave. St. Augustine has a rich role in the struggle for Civil Rights, but it isn't widely publicized.

Earlier location of the museum further east

Vintage brochure, probably when the museum had more elaborate sets (and space) for the wax figures at the previous location

I found these promotional images from the 1960s in the State Archives, shot when the museum was a bit fresher (and larger) than it is today.

State Archives of Florida

Today's journey through time at Potter's, begins with characters from the bible, followed by figures from the Middle Ages and British royalty. The chronological order is not strict, so one might find a bizarre juxtaposition like Princess Di standing behind Queen Victoria. Nearby I found Ponce de Leon hanging out with Menendez, looking towards Robert E. Lee and other Confederate Civil War generals. The wax figures are packed tightly together and much of the museum is dark. There were very few visitors on the day I visited, and I have to admit it was slightly creepy. More than once I remember the Wild Wild West episode where the figures in a wax museum turned out to be evil robots.

Looks like they need to hit Ponce's armor with some steel wool as it's getting rusty

The section with U.S. presidents is every bit as campy as the one at the President Hall of Fame in Clermont; JFK looks like he has Donald Trump's hair and Ladybird Johnson looks like she was embalmed rather than made of wax. One soon transitions into a recent pop culture area where a Harry Potter section is probably very popular with today's kids, and nearby celebrities from Brittany Spears to Micheal Jackson are holdovers from the days when they were at the top of super stardom.

I find the wax figures appealing in the same inexplicable way I find taxidermy appealing. The figures look lifelike but they have a surreal out of context aspect that always intrigues me. While it's not one of St. Augustine's larger or more elaborate attractions any more, I really enjoyed my visit there.

Nature's Theme Park

The current marketing slogan for Silver Springs is "Nature's Theme Park." While there is a telescoping observation tower and some children's play areas, it is true that the majority of what is on display at the venerable old park is nature itself. While wild critters are on view in their natural state below the glass bottom boats, in many places throughout the attraction they are in captivity. In addition to a petting zoo there are two giraffes and a large bear exhibit that is said to be the largest of its kind. On the lightly attended Christmas Eve afternoon we were there, very few people were struggling for views of the Kodiak Bear or watching the trance-like pacing of the native Black Bear. My wife and I attempted to feed the giraffes the 'special food' which appeared to be Norwegian Flatbread, but were mostly ignored by these horribly smelling giants of the animal kingdom.

What old Florida attraction doesn't have Macaws or Parrots?

The giraffe appeared to think we smelled as badly as we thought it smelled, and ignored our attempts to feed it

The Black Bear paced relentlessly

On the other side of the park there are flamingos, albino alligators and other reptiles on display (please note that we don't do snakes in this blog, as this author is scared of the creepy crawly critters.) The Big Gator Lagoon has all sorts of alligators and crocodiles on display and if you haven't had enough there is a Reptile Show and a Snake Show. And there are panthers on display across the river, allowing for close-up glimpses of the beautiful big cats. This side of the park was much better attended, a welcome contrast to the other side which was a bit like a ghost town.

The River Cruise was not in operation the day we visited.

While driving to Silver Springs on SR 40, a bobcat crossed the road in front of our car, the first time I'd ever seen this Florida native in the wild. It was a huge rush, even thought it was a brief glimpse. And while I enjoyed the opportunity to study and photograph the wild animals at Silver Springs up close, it is a completely different experience than seeing them in their natural habitat.







In 2001 the state of Florida passed the Florida Springs Initiative and in 2007 took ownership of the Springs and over 4,400 surrounding acres. However, some locals take issue with the management of the park today and a Save Silver Springs movement has started (the state leases the park to a management company). While it was obvious that the heydays of Silver Springs have long passed, it also appeared that a great deal of money has been invested in creating environments for some of the animals. And almost a decade of working in the tourist industry left me with an understanding of the large amount of resources it takes to compete for the tourist dollar in Florida. I doubt Silver Springs will ever be a first tier attraction again and that's kind of sad. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for this amazing spot with such a storied past.

Vintage Silver Springs - Glass bottom boats

When I was a kid in Gainesville, out-of-state visitors were often treated to the closest major attraction of the day, Silver Springs. Many years passed between my childhood excursions of the late '60s and early '70 excursions and my one visit to Silver Springs as an adult. I was working in the hospitality industry in Orlando and was offered free passes to Silver Springs whenever I wanted to visit. So when I saw that the legendary Johnny Cash was performing there, I called my contact for tickets. I met my dad in the parking lot and made a beeline straight for the glass bottom boats, always my favorite element of the park. As I re-lived my sense of childhood wonder gazing into the blue abyss I could hear music. Johnny Cash had started playing and we were missing it. We ran to the outdoor concert area and it was not long before the bottom dropped out and we had one of those gigantic Florida rains and enormous volumes of water were dumped upon the stage. It didn't last long, but the place was flooded. My strongest memory of that day was Johnny Cash and his family performing the remainder of their set in six inches of water.

Since then I have been patiently biding my time, waiting for the opportunity to re-visit the park for a more thorough examination of how the place compares to my decades old childhood memories. When my wife asked where I wanted to go for my birthday, the decision was an easy one. My most enduring memories of the place from when I was a kid were the glass bottom boats, the underwater viewing area, the horseshoe palm and the statute of Osceola. I couldn't wait to see if they were still there.

The Shopping Pavilion

This is me with my mom's pen pal from France in the 1970s, hoping I didn't miss the boat. According to Tim Hollis in Glass Bottom Boats & Mermaid Tails, the mid-century looking promenade behind us was built after a fire in 1955 destroyed the existing buildings near the Springs.

While a number of the storefronts are vacant, the building is essentially unchanged, much to my relief.

The Boat Landing

Vintage postcards from the State Archives of Florida

The area where the boats dock is much as I remember too, however the number of actual boats seems quite a bit smaller.


There also used to be an underwater viewing area nearby, but that is no longer there.

This is my little brother from a '70s slide

This is where underwater viewing area used to be

The Glass Bottom Boats

According to Hollis, there is debate about when the use of glass bottom boats began at the Springs, but it is for certain they have been used there for over a century. The use of quiet electronic engines began in 1932 (prior to that they were driven by noisy outboards.)

Vintage images from the State Archives of Florida

As you can see the basic concept remains unchanged after all these years. The boat captain guides the boat over various springs and points out highlights, like the rock crevices from which the water pours out of the aquifer, fish and animal life under the water and on the surface, and man made objects under the water like sunken boats and props from movies. And as you can see it is just as fascinating to viewers today as it was in the early part of the 20th century.



Our boat captain was named David. We took the boat ride twice, so I can tell you that his narration is almost identical for each trip. But he delivers it in a unique, sing-song fashion, with such odd cadence that it is pretty tough to make out exactly what he is saying. And it made the trip that much more interesting; I highly recommend trying to get in his boat for the pure entertainment value.


From my experience working in the Central Florida tourist industry, I know that historically the week before December 25th is slow, because everyone usually wants to be home for Christmas (while the week between Christmas and New Years is one of the busiest of the year.) So on our first trip out my wife and I only shared the boat with the three other passengers.

Because Silver Springs has a holiday light show, the majority of visitors came closer to dusk, so our second ride was on a boat filled to capacity, exactly the way I remembered it as a kid. One difference I noticed is that when I was kid, passengers didn't send text messages during the boat ride.


One of the reasons I wanted to visit the Springs so badly was to see how it had been affected by the current state of Florida's water quality, as run off from septic tanks and fertilizer use has had a major impact on our water quality. While the water is still crystal clear, the abundance of stringy green algae is unmistakable. Also in addition to Florida native species like alligators, bluegill, bass and gar, there was a proliferation of exotic armored catfish. I don't believe I had ever seen this fish outside of an aquarium in the past.

Invasive armored catfish (Pterygoplicththys multiradiatus),

U.S. Department of the Interior

Overall I have to say the thrill of riding along over crystal clear water and then seeing the bottom open up below you as you pass over a 6o foot spring is still pretty amazing. Perhaps its my sense of nostalgia talking, but to me the natural, untouched parts of Florida are more thrilling than any simulator ride or roller coaster will ever be. And Silver Springs' historic glass bottoms boats are a great way to explore Florida's natural state.