We moved to Sanlando Springs, which was near Longwood, and I found
myself in a land of sheer paradise. Imagine this: you are seven and someone
turned you into Rudyard Kipling’s “Jungle Boy”- instantly in June, 1952.
Oh! Yeah! To this day, I swear the best years of my life were spent at
Sanlando Springs Tropical Theme Park, owned by John E. Robinson and
managed by Jack R. Butts. My odyssey here lasted until October, 1954.
Sanlando Springs was about 400 acres of heaven. Today, it is a gated
community called The Springs with all sorts of developments in housing,
condominiums and business; but back then it was my playground and I
played almost on every square foot. There was a large natural spring and lake
as the centerpiece where people would pay for what I got every day for free.
On one side of the impoundment of the spring was a large beach, very white
and maintained in pristine condition. Workers would rake the beach each
morning, removing the trash and fallen limbs of the tall palm trees. There
was a huge, three-level water slide extending about fifty feet above the water
and which gradually sloped out over the water. I probably used it more than
5,000 times over that 2 ¼ year period. I was on it a lot. Naturally, I got to
the point where I could “climb the tower” with an air mattress, or inflated
rubber tire and slide down the slide to sail over the water with four or five
taps of the waves. I was light anyway, so it was much easier for me to
accomplish this feat than others who weighed more. Children and even teen-
agers actually marveled at my dexterity and constantly tried to emulate what
I did with such ease, inexorably failing most of the time. I was quite the
center of attention in mixed gatherings of swimmers and could match most
when it came to diving skills too.
As you came off the slide, there was a wooden diving float anchored to
the right. The flotation was with empty fifty-five gallon drums sealed at both
ends and watertight. The float was large enough that 10-15 people could get
onto it at once and then dive off of the float into the water toward the spring,
which was farther on the right.
There was a concrete walkway around two-thirds of the spring , which
was 15 feet in depth, depending upon where one was located in the
spring proper. The water of the spring constantly flowed forth at a
temperature of seventy-two degrees year round and 24/7. Considered a 2nd
Magnitude Spring, the water had been underground being cleansed for
forty -plus years before breaking surface as crystal -clear in the bottom of the
spring. I knew this to be true too, because there were many nights when you
could find me in the spring, on the beach, or cavorting in the vicinity of one
of the dams at either end of the impoundment.
Both dams led to the river; but one was to the upper river, while the other
covered the lower river. The river was where the wooden and motorized river
boats were stored in a boat dock . There were a lot of them during the warm
months of the “season” (April 1- September 30), as many as 4-6 that I can
recall, because they were large enough to carry about 25 people, plus the
Captain and his “mate” and one or two of the boats were always needing
repairs, or painting. Usually, the “mate” was chosen by the Captain, who
also happened to be the owner of the boat concession and the conductor of
the boat tour. Naturally, the mate was a young child in each group that took
the journey, or it was one of the elders if there were no young people aboard.
Each trip took about twenty minutes and the boat would encircle a large
island created by the lower and upper parts of the river. The river itself had
a dark coloring to it throughout , except for sporadic places where there
might be light sand and no leaves, trees, or branches. The trip was
peaceful and serene, unless a storm arrived from the Gulf or the Atlantic,
which also happened a lot. It was Central Florida and this was a tributary
of the Little Wekiwa River.
I am telling you, the entire locale of Sanlando Springs was simple,
I am telling you, the entire locale of Sanlando Springs was simple,
unspoiled and naturally beautiful. There were flowers all over the place,
flower gardens with specialties and each type of flower was named with a
small stick-up label identifying what it was. The fragrances blended together
into a melting pot of nostril enlightenment that was beguiling and brought a
certain sense of melancholy that this must be what heaven would smell like
And “Why wasn’t I there right now?”. When one added in the fragrance of
the various types of trees, the hardwoods and the mixture of pine, one found
the sinuses were stretched to maximum sensitivity.
Walking east from the boat dock, one had to walk through a sub-tropical
Walking east from the boat dock, one had to walk through a sub-tropical
forest of scattered pine and palm trees with the white-sand beach to the right.
Walking over a small bridge near the northern dam, you could see a path that
led up a gradual-sloping hill to the outdoor refreshment stand on the right and
covered outdoor ballroom stage. Hot dogs , hamburgers, popcorn and sodas
were served here and a jukebox was constantly blaring forth music, even
when nobody was dancing, or eating. That too blended in with the smells of
the flora and fauna, for there were animals everywhere too. Squirrels and
birds were the most visible , as were the ants, dragonflies, bees, wasps and
all types of butterflies. It was a place to seek shade if the sun became too hot,
or if a sudden cloudburst opened the sky.
On the left of the pathway was the outer part of the Olympic-sized
swimming pool with a 10-foot depth at the deep end and 3-4 feet at the
shallow end. The pool area enclosed offices, change rooms and shower stalls
for each sex and basket-lockers for storage of garments, towels, etc. . At the
deep end was a “high dive” of about 10 feet and a “low dive” about three
feet from the surface of the pool. Concrete walkways surrounded the pools,
because there was also a baby pool which ran the width of the large pool
and was separated by a wall of concrete about 18 inches wide. It allowed
the parents to have easy access to their children if the parents decided to
remain in the big pool at the shallow end, while their children played in the
baby pool. The depth of the water in the baby pool was about 30 inches deep
and just enough to get a “soaking”. You could walk very carefully along the
entire length of the baby pool divider, but running was out of the question,
especially if there were puddles of water on the flat surface.
