I am a sucker for old-fashioned tourist attractions. Weekee Wachi was my favorite place in Florida. It boasts mermaids swimming in a spring, and it’s been around for over 50 years.

Yesterday Max and I visited Tiny Town. It was the creation of the owner’s father, who started putting together a, well, tiny town out of tin cans and popsicle sticks.

And it is amazing.

The owners, who were in probably their 70s, took us on a custom tour of the different scenes. Here’s the neighborhood I grew up in, with Mama on the porch, here’s the Injun village…poor Ted got shot by a bow and arrow. Their love for what they do was apparent.

It warmed my heart, yet broke it at the same time. Places like this are a dying breed. In Orlando, before the rise of Disney, there were dozens of such kitschy attractions, but they’ve all gone the way of the dodo bird.  Hot Springs is no different. When we used to visit here when I was a child, there were two animal zoos, one called IQ Zoo. Animals would perform funny tricks. I loved it (although my animal rights adult self is horrified now). It’s gone. Soon, too, will be Tiny Town and the Alligator Farm, remnants of a day when kids didn’t need rollercoasters and video games to be amused. The owners, who inherited these treasures from their parents, will have no one to pass on the legacy to, as their children are out being lawyers and brokers.

I cry for that day.

But what can I do? I can take Max to enjoy them now so he will have these memories when he is my age, writing his own space blog or whatever they’ll have then. I want him to enjoy the pure simplicity of these places that probably don’t make enough money to pay the bills, but stay open for posterity.

I encourage you to visit these nostalgic treasures in your town, or when you’re on vacation. Show them that they’re still important to us, and let’s keep them alive as long as we can.

And one last gift. We saw celebrities at Tiny Town. Sorry for the blurry photo but I was just so excited at the sighting:

Yes, it’s a tiny Mr. T. He was followed by Fonzie, Laverne and Shirley, and Sonny and Cher. 50 Cent had not yet been inducted.