I visited in March and April 1966 as an eleven year old. We stayed in Treasure Island and Indian Rocks. The movie is just how I remembered it. Thanks for sharing .
It was super cool for me to see it because my family went there pretty much ever summer through the 80's. Seeing how it was blew me away. I figured if it hit me like this it's got to impact others out there! :)
Indian Rocks beach was a great alternative to over crowded Clearwater in the 1980s. Now all of the small one story buildings like the apartment my family rented in 1983 are gone. Replaced with horrid twenty story condos. It's nice and sad at the same time to see Florida before it was ruined.
@@MarkHoltze I'm from Miami originally but my family moved. We only went back to Florida a few times when I was a teenager. Indian Rocks will always be my favorite beach. It was so great in the Summer on 1983.
OOOOMMMMGGGG I was 5 years old in St. Pete when this made. WOW I been to every place in the film at the same time. Dusted off all those old memories...Sadly all of our old pictures are gone my dad made movies like that one too. Day trips too ...all the old spots...Daytona Beach...Miami Beach...Nassau Bahamas I wish we still had them what a time it was too. Thank you so much for putting that on line...I want to cry. Good Tears.
Thank you, Mark, for a wonderful and nostalgic look back at Florida's west coast during the mid-60s. Your Great Grandpa was certainly a man of distinction who was wise enough to explore the sub-tropical resorts unique to central Florida. He captured on film the pre-Disney glory days of Florida's more casual coast, one filled with mom and pop motels, restaurants, gift shops and roadway attractions now long gone.
Wow, Busch Gardens back when it was centered around the bird show, Sunken Gardens, the old Tiki Gardens out on Indian Rocks/Shores Beach, Cypress gardens with the Southern Belles and the water ski show,........ Brings back a lot of memories for me as I grew up in Temple Terrace back in the '70s...... Thanks for posting!
George R: As a rare native of St. Petersburg, did you ever get tired of answering the question "But where are you originally from?" Frustrated, I often responded by saying, "you see that hospital over there? It has something called a maternity ward. People are actually born here!" I was born in Mound Park Hospital, now called Bayfront Medical (dating myself here).
My pleasure! Happy you were able to connect to the footage. My intention was to hopefully give people like yourself a little glimpse back in time. Much better than sitting in a dark closet ;)
Before Tierra Verde island was developed, daddy used to ride us over there on his motor boat from Pass-a-Grille. There were only a few shacks there: it was all scraggly pine trees and palmettos. We'd get our Christmas tree there. Daddy would tell us to pick out a good tree, and us kids would run around til we found one we all agreed was the best. Daddy chopped it down with ax, stowed it on the boat, and away we zoomed back home across the bay! Some of my happiest memories...then there was great excitement when the first big wave of building began, we went over to view the Model Homes. Entire blocks of brand new homes all decorated like the Jetson's space age! Guy Lombardo & his Royal Canadian orchestra were a great attraction, and were even broadcast on TV. Now the whole island is reserved for millionaires with their McMansions.
I was 3 in 63 also lived there til 74 I went to if i remember correctly sunshine elementary 1st grade til middle school, we last lived on treasure island, moved to the desert in 74. Been missing the beach ever since and it’s not even close to this anymore.
Mine too! We went a few times when I was young. It was just down the street from where we would rent a condo a few weeks each summer. I barely remember it, but loved the vibe as a kid for sure!
I was a kid in Largo in the 60's and Tiki Gardens was still extant. The prized thing for all of us little beach hammerheads @ Mildred Helms was a 'Tiki God' necklace from TG. :-)
Born in 67 and have lived in fl since 72 and this was such a great little film and reminder. I still live a couple of miles away from Sunken Gardens. I grew up in Largo very close to Indian Rocks. Tiki Garden..wow, blast from the past!! 😉
Absolutely loved watching this. We arrived in St Pete from Philadelphia 3 years later, and then moved to St Pete Beach after that. Had my senior prom at the Don CeSar (that big pink palace hotel). My mom and sister still live there but it sure has changed. No more famous green benches downtown...and John's Pass is unrecognizable. Thanks for the smiles!
Loved this... The old John's Pass bridge - AMAZING.... I lived on the Madeira side..., in the Angler Haven, just west of Shanty Hogans... Thank you for uploading this.
Wow, the memories came rushing back. I'm also surprised Webb's City wasn't included. It was fun to see the old John's Pass Bridge again. I spent many a happy summer night there snook fishing as a teen.
Thank you for posting this. I used to go to The KIngfish to eat, loved Tiki Gardens, The Bounty from the movie and especially The Wax Museum on St. Pete Beach. I cried when it closed. Disney World drove most of the nice places out of business.
My pleasure! Tiki gardens I visited as a kid, thought it was super cool back in the 80’s. Big reason I shared this stuff is to connect this place to individuals like yourself who have a connection to it. Being able to see it even briefly again for the first time in years is pretty cool.
Thanks for the reply. Seeing your video just brought back so many memories that I had to comment. Your Grandfather most have been a wonderful guy. Glad that you have this to remember him and stuff that he did. Tiki Gardens actually sold a vinyl album of the music they played and I have seen it for sale on ebay. Someone posted the album here on youtube to play. Thanks again.
I remember the wax museum, I think it was down on St Pete Beach down by The Dolphin (which is still there). I went there with my parents back in '72 or 73 along with the Tiki Gardens. Dirty Pair, you are right; Disney knocked a lot of the old Florida roadside attractions out of business and the Interstates did their part as well. I really feel that the Suncoast and FL in general was a better place to live back then. God I miss those times!
I agree; In some respects it was a better place to love back then. Silas Dents restaurant was right next to The Wax Museum and I just read that it was sold on Aug 1, 2018. There were a lot of cool places to visit back then but they are all gone. They have been replaced by generic attractions.
I used to shrimp the IC for a local bait shop for free but got to keep all the sea horses which I would sell to the curio shop down the street I was their main supplier at 12 made great money better than my paper rout on Madeira beach. 1972
Sunken Gardens is still there...and if you havent been lately, it looks beautiful..we were just there and history is important to the people of StPetersburg who voted to tax theirselves a one time tax and buy it in 1999, and the city is doing a great job of running it for 20 years making it beautiful and preserving the history..thanks for the video it was great..my husbands grandfather started it in 1903..Great explorations is next door in the same building Which is great fun for the children..So, we are proud that in your film, Sunken Gardens is still there even though most of the others are not..it was called Turners Sunken Garden in the beginning..if you haven’t been lately, you should go..,
I was 4 when this video was made. Born in St Anthony's Hospital and lived near Sunken Gardens. Wow, what a trip down memory lane this was. Thanks much for the great memories. 👍👍
This is incredible. I lived in Madeira Beach for most of my life and seeing the old pictures of the Kingfish restaurant and Johns Pass Marina brought back a lot of memories. Thanks!
Thank you so very much for this classic film. I remember seeing all of these places when visiting my grandparents in the 60s. I now live in Florida and often reminisce about the old St Pete. Sunken Gardens is still there and is as beautiful as ever. Also, the music is excellent choice! Thanks again for sharing your memories! 🏖
@@MarkHoltze I appreciate your response. Was that your grandfather? My grandfather (that lived in St. Pete) also had an old 8mm projector. I have a ton of his old films. I’d like to make a short film like you did 😊🙏
Oh my gosh! I was born and raised in St. Pete. and lived there until I was in my 20's then moved only slightly north but in the same county for most of my life. This was such a cool blast from the past! So much has changed and it was so cool to see the sights I used to see almost every day or at least once a week! Thank you for posting this!!
Hi Tracie! What a wonderful comment, made my day. So glad the images connected with you! It was 100% my intention to hopefully get some sort of connection here. Images back then of younger years aren’t nearly as abundant as today
@@MarkHoltze Well I really do want to thank you! I had a very tough life as a child but there were moments and places that I was very fond of and you showed quite a few of them! I've been currently dealing with some of the bad things that happened back then it helped me to bring back some happy memories. :-)
Went on vacation there with my mom, dad and little sister (August 1966). Stayed at the Port O’ Call Resort on Tierra Verde Island. Ate at the Kingfish. Went to the wax museum. Deep sea fishing at Hubbard’s Pier (when it was at Pass-a-Grille). It was my first trip to Florida.
Robert, I know this comment is 8 months late, but your comment about the Port O' Call Resort blew my mind. I haven't thought about that place for 35 years. My family stayed there for a long weekend while they painted the interior of our house In St. Pete. I recall the white dolphin fountains that spat water into the pool. There was a radio station in one of the suites at the professional building. And there was even a landing strip for light aircraft just off the main road that leads to Ft. DeSoto Park. This was back in the late 60s - early 70s, well before those manmade islands were built out with luxury homes. And the London Wax Museum on Gulf Blvd. in St. Pete Beach - wow! That place scared the crap out of this little kid, because the second display one encountered upon entry was the werewolf and Frankenstein's monster. And scary versions, not the kid friendly images like we see today. Their Chamber of Horrors was gastly. Lord, how I miss all that...
Your film shows tiki gardens my grandfather supplied the birds and was involved in its opening, cool to see the old johns pass bridge and old school boogie boards, thank you
My pleasure. I know it's not grand and "cinematic" but I always love seeing what places looked like long ago. Seems I'm not the only one. It's nice to be able to share it and get it out of a closet :) Thanks for your comment!
My parents would take me to webbs city and nature trail and every Christmas we would go to webbs city to see santa and then to Doc webbs home to see all the Christmas lights
Yes Me too. Remember the Mermade show at Web City. Grandma took me all the time. Gas Wars and free botteled Coke a cola with a fill up given with S&H Green Stamps too. We moved there in1962 when my Grandparents retired I was 8 months Old then. Wow am I that old? Time sure have changed. I'm starting sound like my grand parents. LOL
@@bryanbrethauer2130 they also had animals that would dance and play basketball for a piece of corn chickens and rabbits I got lost in this room my mother left me I was scared she wouldn't find me
Thanks for this, I lived in st pete 66/75 off to Alaska in 75, we are snowbirds on the south side these days, its still st pete but not like it was as a kid
I'm asking just because I'm curious. What specifically aren't you happy with? I can relate to how you feel, I'm just not familiar with the area intimately. Thanks for your comment Robert!
My family moved there in 1923. That meant that my family was involved in a lot of the building projects that made it a tourist destination. Now, many of the landmarks are gone, replaced with high rise apartments. I grew up jokingly referring to it as the "City of the Living Dead", now it is a thoroughly trendy place and much of what made it precious is now gone. Frankly, it is just exactly what is happening all over. That is why I live in Nebraska now and only go back to St. Pete when I have to.
You want it to go back to how blacks weren't allowed anywhere downtown unless they worked a service job. You cannot stand that they can use any beach now right? You probably called slaves unpaid laborers just like the city officials still call them on their history section on the St. pete website www.stpete.org/history_and_preservation/index.php I'm glad your generation is dying off.
Robert M. Lewis Give credit to all the minorities that actually built up old st pete but were never allowed to enjoy it or live anywhere accept the rural southside.
This is fun stuff. It appears that he may have flown into TAMPA's AIRPORT (now an International Airport; I don't know if it was so back then...). But there's not just St. Pete that we see here: we see a lot of CYPRESS GARDENS (in Winter Haven, FL.), which is now called LEGO-LAND!! Winter Haven is about 45 minutes away from Orlando to the North East and the same distance from Tampa to the South West.
Not a problem! You're welcome. I only mentioned it because this all also harks back to my own adolescent years when my Family moved from Puerto Rico to Tampa -- and we visited all those places many times!! MANY, many times. I've now been in Los Angeles for 29 years. So imagine the Flashbacks for me! And this was a great one!
Big reason why i shared these was for that exact reason. it's cool for me to see places that I'm familiar with in modern times, but I think the magic really lies with how the images connect with people such as your self who experienced these places back then. The whole 8mm format looks like a memory which only ads to it. Thanks for watching Javier!
@@javimu111 HA! I was born in Florida, and grew up in St Pete and now also live in the LA area!!! This ia a great flashback of memories! Mark Holtze thanks for sharing this film... instantly brought huge childhood great memories!!!
Definitely some Cypress Gardens / Winter Haven stuff here. For anyone wondering: visiting the Tampa Bay area is great - but I'd skip Winter Haven unless you want to see the epicenter of all the Florida Man memes.
Born at Mound Park Hospital 1958. Grew up in St. Pete and moved away in 1979. Came back to get married in 1988. Wedding reception at Tiki Gardens...still got the souvenir glasses. :p Thanks for the flashback
@@pewe0422 First of all I didn't delete or hide your comment, I'm not sure why it's gone, but that might be on you to suit your narrative. Maybe youtube removed it given it can basically understand intent now and removes BS comments. Last thing i'll say is free speech doesn't exist on platforms not owned by you. I can't say whatever I want here, I'm not protected under free speech and neither are you. Just FYI, don't be daft.
Oh man when John's Pass was actually a fishing village not the concrete neon nightmare it is now. The old bridge too with the cat walk underneath it. When the whole of the Tampa Bay area wasn't so damn crowded! Better days in many ways.
Awesome film. Having been here in St. Pete since 76 saw a lot that was familiar from the way back machine, and make that were here.. and now gone. Some like the Don.. still here. but there is huge build up on all sides of it now.
We moved here in 67 and bought the Playtime manor hotel on 4 th street. My grandmother bought the hotel next to us called the Welcome inn my cousin bought the next hotel grew up in the 70s The porpoise pub in Seminole was my favorite the kids playground in back they kept ( amazingly) porpoises in an above ground swimming pool They had a giraffe and train tracks and a two story house made of only studs a sail boat in concrete. Parents could drink beer when we all played. I used to go hunting in weedon island walk across 4 th street with a bow to the woods where the St Lewis cardinal training field was. Schools we had no AC ( 54 th Avenue elementary what a hot box 😂. Webb city Golden tiger restaurant The mismanaged million dollar pier Fishing . Twin lakes party’s. :/
ABOX: Thank you for the memories! Wow...the Porpoise Pub in Seminole! I had my 5th birthday party there. I distinctly remember a large circular water tank where a porpoise (dolphin?) swam while the little kids cruised around the tank in a sort of tiny amusement ride boat. I haven't thought about the Pub for decades. As I recall, the property backed up against Lake Seminole. Do you also remember the Fish-A-Thon held during the last week of summer sponsored by the City of St. Pete? And you mentioned a few restaurants...do you remember the Careless Navigator on Treasure Island, the smoked mullet at Ted Peters in So. Pasadena, or the hamburgers at El Caps on 4th Street in St. Pete? BTW: I'm a rare native of St. Pete...born and raised.
jason suhadolnik Its still exists as a vibration intact Somewhere just as we al remember it. Just as your bedroom is not there after you walk out. Unless its observed by consciousness. Or the really bazar reality A CCTV cam holds the reality in a stationery phase lock The dbl slit experiment proves it. When we all pass from this dimension we can all return back to any memory in space / time its just as real as this reality that belongs to all of us as a simulation But thats reduced to that We are all only one being. That most mind boggling part.
Duke of Haas Yup to all those restaurants What about Golden Tiger on 9 th st and 62 nd And the Gondolla on 4 st Ponderosa on 4 st with the 99 cent cheeseburger plate. My Fav place was porpoise pub they used to have the little elevated train track i think they had giraffe which was at your level. The two story house of studs with cannons. The sail boat top in the concrete i never got to go to fishing event but i do recall it ! That poor porpoise swimming in that dark water they looked happy . The was the start of the rights for animal movement taking that down.
Since the video says St Petersburg but some of the film shows areas that are not located in St. Petersburg I'm not sure. St. Petersburg Beach is it's own city just like Madeira beach but they are part of pinellas county. The beach shown right before the kids looks very similar to what is Northshore Beach today. Also there was Spa Beach next to the Pier. I'm a native of St. Pete but I wasn't born till 75 so it's very interesting to see what my city looked like way back then.
Music gives it atmosphere, understandable you might not appreciate that, the option to mute it is one click away, perhaps exercising that. Less strokes than typing the comment that's for sure ;).
Town was segregated by geography.. Blacks lived south of Central Avenue; whites north Newspapers in the 60's had separate listings for "Negro" jobs. Then in 1971 they started busing kids across town to desegregate. This got young people of both races to mingle and gather socially, attend concerts, sporting events. Today the neighborhood I grew up in has as many black people as white. These are the grandchildren of the 60's generation.
