In May, I went to the Sirens of the Deep Mermaid Camp at Florida’s Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. There, women have been performing underwater as mermaids since 1947 (they performed for Elvis!). Throughout the decades, the show has expanded from a roadside attraction to a popular state park. Every summer, legendary sirens who performed decades ago host a camp for women who have always dreamed of swimming in a tail, in this spring.
I attended for research, for a novel I’m working on, but quickly fell in love with Weeki Wachee and the legendary mermaids, and realized that this was a pretty magical experience. The park’s kitsch is part of its magic–and boy, are these photos kitschy!
Lara Ehrlich 