Saturday, May 29, 2010

Bluebird of Happiness


One of my very first outings last year with my new camera was to Vilano Beach.   It was a little village that I just happened upon, as I had no idea that it existed, but what I did find was this strange little duck-bird thing.

I couldn't make out the motel name on it's belly, but I knew that someday I'd figure it out.



Until that time, I was just so very happy that I had a picture or two of the strange creature enclosed in a chain link fence.  He was just so peely and broken.  It was an unusual find to say the least.


See, it says Motel very clear but I couldn't figure out the name.

A couple of years ago the bird-duck was moved to it's current location behind the fence.  I found this photo on the St. Augustine newspaper site.  I was just happy to see a photo of this guy without the fence.




A few days ago as I was turning off a movie I was watching on the DVR, the TV news was on and showing this story about saving the Vilano Beach Bird!  If I had turned the movie off just a few moments later I would have never seen this story.  Thankfully I have a DVR and was able to rewind to the beginning of the segment.

I got out my camera and took pictures of the TV. 

I am indeed crazy.

It was 74º at 10:30 at night.

That's good to know!


So, after going to VilanoBeachFL.com I found out a little more about the bluebird.



I found this photo!!!!!  Oh my goodness, what a great photo!!

Newt's Motel - That's what it says on the belly of the bird.  You can clearly see that it's a bird in this photo.  In fact, Wilda, of Newt and Wilda, called this the Bluebird of Happiness.

So, the townspeople of Vilano Beach raised money and have decided to (and did!) paint the bird blue and turn his little clipped wings into proper flying wings as in the photo above.  They wanted to return him to his Bluebird of Happiness glory.

There is still a question as to where the bluebird is going to live once it's makeover is finished, but it's good to know that it isn't rotting behind a fence anymore.

What I did learn from poking around is that the bluebird was originally the advertisement for a place that sold oranges.  The bird wasn't a bird at all in the beginning, he was two oranges stacked on top of each other.  The original wings of the bird, may have actually been leaves?!  That part I don't know, but they could be.  Knowing that this was orignally oranges makes a lot more sense and makes the bird idea even more fun.  That Wilda was a visionary!

Hope you're having a wonderful Memorial Day!
Kristin

5 comments:

jb said...

I love this! What a story, history, research, and fact filled mystery! Next time I am in your neck of the woods, guess what will be on our to-do list...along with manatee mailbox spotting!

Kristin - The Goat said...

I just can't believe I saw the story about it on TV. What are the chances!!

We will have to go find him :) I'll need updated photos!

Debby@Just Breathe said...

What an interesting story. I really enjoyed it and timing is everything. Glad you solved your mystery. He is a big bird!

denise said...

so interesting! i love these random stories...i hate watching news (usually) but if you were the one providing it i would tune in often! love the randomness of catching the details on t.v. and no, i don't think you are crazy for taking photos of the t.v.! thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

omg how fun .. i can't believe how it all came together for you.