Vintage Thingie Thursday : A Vintage Souvenir From A Vintage Theme Park

Welcome everyone to Vintage Thingies Thursday. If you are new to this party, please take the time to read and follow the instructions for participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, click HERE. I try and keep things fairly simple, so please make sure you follow the instructions. Please only ONE link per week. Lastly, if you link in, LINK back to my blog, so everyone can see all of the vintage goodies being showed that day. If you don't link back here, they won't know who to visit......thanks so much.

This past weekend, my daughter and I went in a local antique shop. From the looks of things, business must not be too good right now. Several vendors had from 75% to even 90% off in their booths. I happened to spot a little pitcher that sure brought back a lot of memories. The original sticker marked Japan was still on the bottom. I don't imagine this to have too much monetary value, but memory value, it holds quiet a few.


Let me say this, there really was a marine wildlife park before Sea World.....at least here in Texas there was and here is a great little souvenir creamer to prove just that. When I spotted this, it sure brought back a lot of memories. Not bad for .49 cents.

(All Seven Seas Photos from Internet)

According to Wikipedia:

Seven Seas Marine Life Park was a marine mammal park and animal theme park built and owned by the city of Arlington, Texas, United States.

The park opened on March 18, 1972. The 35-acre (140,000 m²) site was located in north Arlington off Interstate 30 near Six Flags Over Texas and adjacent to Arlington Stadium.

The city council of Arlington voted to close the park in 1976 because it did not generate enough revenue to both pay its operating expenses and pay off the bonded indebtedness.

The property is now the site of the Arlington Sheraton Hotel and has several buildings on property that date back to the park.

I guess back in the 1970's tropical landscape was not in the budget. I had to laugh at myself when I saw this picture. Native Texas Landscape in the background.

This ship was the icon of the park. It was visible from the Interstate for years, I think a portion of this may be still in standing today.


There was only one ride in the whole park. This was a cave type ride and if I remember correctly, a penguin exhibit. It was most popular to say the least, as the heat here in Texas was always a scorcher in the summer and this ride was so cool.

This brought back fun memories, we used to go there when we had family members visiting from out of town. I can remember going myself as a child several times.

I remember once, there was an attraction and you got to pick a "oyster" and mine had a pearl inside. It was a little pearl and they put it in a pink plastic clam case. I still have that little pearl, I just could not find it today...go figure!

Here is the map of the park. I remember this map so well........

Well, hope you enjoyed a peek at a vintage theme park that was in operation before Sea World became so popular, at least around here anyway!! What about you? Did you ever get the chance to visit Seven Seas?? My guess, would be not too many have even heard of it.

Have a great weekend everyone and a wonderful Vintage Thingies Thursday!!!

Take Me Back Tuesday: It's On The Line

The blue sky above, the heat from the sun, the soft gentle breeze on my skin, the sound of birds singing in the trees, the calmness that comes over me and soothes the spirit. These things are among the many pleasures that come from..........

.......clean wet laundry piled in a basket, a bag of clothes pins and a clothesline in the back yard. A simple pleasure really, but one that brings back lots of memories from childhood and also allows me to reflect on my everyday happenings today.

We live in a world that is in fast forward mode all the time. We are programed to get things done quickly, the easiest and the fastest way possible. We learn to take the path that requires very little energy from ourselves to get to the end result the quickest. Let me give you an example.

About a month ago, we were appliance shopping and I was dreaming of owning a pair of the new fangled front loader machines. Oh, the ones I wanted were top of the line, of course, with a top of the line price. When I looked at all the performance statistics, the one thing that stood out with the dryer was the fact it professed to drying a HUGE load of laundry in only 10 minutes.


I thought about that one....10 minutes to dry a load of laundry....that registered with me that once I put the clothes in the dryer I had only 10 minutes before I had to return to the laundry room to fold and put away that load....and all of a sudden, the appeal was lost. I dislike so much folding and putting away the laundry that all of a sudden, that was not a great selling point for me. Truth.

So for now, I have put that dream aside. Things can be bigger, faster, and prettier, but that does not mean it is the best for me.......

Often times, for me, I get so caught up in the daily grind of living I forget to slow down and enjoy the journey. If you are like me, let me say this, a clothes line will solve a lot of these issues. For me, once I take a basket of clothes out to the line, things slow down drastically. All of a sudden, I have time to think, ponder current situations, and relax in the warm sunshine without a care in the world.

One by one, the clothes are hung to dry and during this process, I have lots of time to think. Whether it be about someplace we have been or someplace we are dreaming of going. Sometimes thoughts of my family, friends, or thoughts of total strangers flood my mind. It is a slow down process, time to think, time to ponder the questions that plague my mind, time to leave the worries of the day right there in the sunshine.

It is a very therapeutic process and one I am so thankful to be able to enjoy. I know some think this is so old fashion and think who in their right mind would hang clothes on a line in the year 2010. I say, that these folks are the very ones who need to experience a slow down process and stop and enjoy the little things.

I remember as a young girl, we would spend the weekends at my grandmothers house. There was nothing like the smell of freshly laundered sheets as we snuggled into bed at night. The smell was intoxicating, fresh, clean with a hint of sunshine. No other place I ever remembered had linens that smelled that fresh, only my grandma's house. Along with the sheets, the towels were always soft and smelled just as good as the sheets. In fact, if you opened up the linen closet, the freshness filled the small space. I never really questioned that fresh laundry smell until I became an adult. I wondered why my laundry was not that fresh smelling and how it was I only remember that from my grandma's house.

The answer was so simple, it made me smile.....Downy fabric softener, a clothesline and sunshine. If you have not slept on freshly, line dried sheets in a while, you have no idea what you are missing. Do you suffer from sleep apnea? I am certain a freshly made bed with sunshine dried sheets will have you sleeping like a baby in no time.

But don't take my word for it, ask Dora. Now, if I can come up with a solution in keeping wiener dogs out of the laundry basket of clean clothes, I will have it made.

Thanks for stopping by on this Take me back Tuesday.....simple memories from a much simpler time. These days, sometimes when you least expect it, the past will sneak up on the present......slow down, relax and smell the fresh laundry....I'd hate for you to miss out!