This year I am pretty resolute about my resolutions – I made none. I have made resolutions of some kind every year since I can remember and as they don’t typically stick, I decided to try something different by simply ringing in 2015 as it was.

Clifford and I found ourselves playing a hand of two-player Euchre while watching the old ball drop. Again, I’m trying to think a little differently this time around. Perhaps not being as celebratory while 2014 came to a close will be far more fruitful than a silly list of declarations that get lost in the shuffle of day to day life a few weeks into the New Year. We shall see. That said, I still want to wish everyone out there all the best in 2015! May it be the ultimate year yet!

Moving into the New Year, I’ve spent the last few weeks bombarded with year-end retrospectives, Best-of-2014 lists, and other various nostalgic throw-backs to days gone by. Though inundated by music and media ad nauseam, I found myself inspired.

Now I was never that musically savvy. I myself can’t carry a tune. I never attended many concerts or bought that many cassettes or CDs. Movies were much more my thing. That said, I was a child born in the 70s (1979 does count as being born in the 70s), raised in the 80s, and living her teen angst-ridden years in the 90s… I’d forgotten how formative music was for me at one time and how some of the greatest music ever produced had emerged from those decades.

In fact, I’d gotten away from music almost altogether over the last ten years or so. Sure, it might have been on in the background while I was driving or on in the classroom when I was teaching, but I haven’t really been listening to the music. I tuned out when I was tuned in. It was white noise.

In the last several weeks, though, I’ve been listening again. I’ve been listening to the radio shows do their little flashbacks to whenever and almost every time a tune has played from my past, I’ve been completely transported. I know they say smell is the strongest memory trigger, but these songs of my youth have me remembering moments that have been long since forgotten. Okay, maybe not that long. I am only 35.

I’ve been remembering silly snippets and meaningful moments that I haven’t thought about in years. These flashbacks are fabulous. Even the sad songs have me smiling because enough years have now passed that time has healed whatever hurt way back when. Again, I’ve been inspired.

I have been inspired to find 365 songs that remind me of people I’ve met, moments I’ve shared, thoughts I’ve had through the years. I want to find 365 songs that trigger some sort of recollection, vivid or vague, over the last 30 odd years of my life.  This is not a resolution but rather an exploration – a challenge, really. We will see where it goes.

Music played a larger role in my life than I’d remembered or probably even cared to admit. Now it’s time to go back and appreciate all of those tiny (and not so tiny) no-take-backs set to the unexpected soundtrack of classic rock, pop and grunge music (with a little bit of The Beatles and 50s doo-wop sprinkled into the mix).

What songs take you back? Where do they take you? 

To kick things off – a 90s classic …

But let me begin at the beginning. I was in third or fourth grade when The Little Mermaid hit theaters. I remember because my elementary school’s music classes were forced to perform a Disney themed extravaganza as one of our mandatory concerts. My class was assigned the entire Little Mermaid line-up that included “Under The Sea” and “Part of Your World.”

When it was released, the Little Mermaid was the best thing since sliced bread. Disney hadn’t had a blockbuster hit (I mean Oliver & Company? Really?) for quite some  time and suddenly they had their new fair skinned, red-headed princess boasting 80’s bangs and bringing in the mega bucks. What could be better?

I hadn’t thought about mermaids pretty much since my musical debut and the animated movie’s overwhelming success (Ariel tends to be one of those Disney princesses I forget exists), till I saw a documentary about mermaids in Florida. And I am not talking about the two hour special on NatGeo or Discovery or whatever channel that tried to convince you of the physical evidence that proves mermaids exist. I saw a show on the history of a tourist trap outside of Tampa. It was tacky, but it was quaint. And above all, it was nostalgic. So it was right up my alley!

The Weeki Wachee Mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs Park in Florida are SO worth any detour.  As I pulled into the parking lot there were mermaid sculptures on poles. Gardens in front of the gate. It was a bit chilly and sparse that day in March with winter still rearing its ugly head (yes, even in Florida), and though the park is definitely dated, I could totally envision what it looked like in its heyday. I felt like I should have been pulling into the lot in a 1950’s Continental donning a bouffant, peddle-pushers and a peplum top.

Welcome to Weeki Wachee!

!!!! Can it get anymore kitschy than this?!!! OMG!!!

Weeki Wachee Springs is the deepest fresh water cave system in the United States. It is crystal clear and gorgeous.  There were a couple of mermaid shows offered. I thought I would check out the first one, maybe ride the river tour and head out.

The river tour. Crystal clear and gorgeous.

But the first show, which included how the mermaids actually do their thing, was SO captivating, I had to come back for the following show.

Inside Newton Perry’s Weeki Wachee Mermaid Theater.

Demonstrating how they do their mermaid thing.

I’d grabbed a corndog in between. It seemed fitting.

My lunch. It just felt right.

So what was the second show? The Little Mermaid!!! Obviously.

Ariel’s mermaid sisters.

Ariel

The prince and his mystery woman dancing on stage.

After the show you could get your picture taken with one of the mermaids or buy one in the souvenir shop. This place was so kitsch – I could hardly contain myself. Loved. It.

The park is relatively low-key when you have things like Universal, Sea World and Disney just a hop across the highway, but it was the type of place I would take my kids (if I had them) before anywhere else on a family vacay. It was a throw-back to the good old days and the sort of establishment that needs to be shared with the next generation and saluted for not selling out. I smiled at the sweetness and sincerity of this little park, off the beaten path, in some random Gulf-coastal town in Florida. The best $13 I have EVER spent in that state and absolutely worth every penny. A perfect no-take-back.

Have you ever been to Weeki Wachee? If so, share your story in the comments section below.

Week Wachee. Go there. Watch mermaids. Be a part of American commercial history.