Exploring The Abandoned River Adventure Golf I Used To Work At & Pirates Island On Hwy 192 Kissimmee
River Adventure Golf & Pirates Island
Transcript
0:04
welcome everyone Adam the woo here as
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the recording of this it is Tuesday
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October 17th 20123 I'm standing here in
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CMI Florida off of Highway 192 there are
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some Sirens going by this is a miniature
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golf course here former miniature golf
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course by the name of Pirates
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Island I used to work at another place
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just like this about a mile up on the
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ride up there called River Adventure
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Golf I'm going to stop by there show
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what's left of that but I remember when
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this place closed about a year ago I
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figured that after it closed they would
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bulldoze it and they' probably put
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something else here it is just sitting
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here rotting away so I'm going to check
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it out and then also just drive up and
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down 192 and just see what else I can
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find but this right here is going to be
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probably the main subject matter and
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then also River Adventure Golf that I
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worked back in the 9s never worked at
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this particular one but I do have a saw
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spot for miniature golf places because I
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worked at one never been much of a
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golfer as far as 18 holes go let me
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think of Patty Shack and that type of
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thing maybe when I'm older I'll probably
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start playing a little bit but I've
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never played around of golf other than
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the miniature persuasion join
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me shall
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you very much grown
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over got the pirate ship over there it's
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pretty good theming through here I am
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really amazed how this place is just
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left by the
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wayside left
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alone Nature has taken over
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completely and the birds up there but
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wonder if there's any Gators in here
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this has even grown up quite a bit oh
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look up
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there there's a smiley face in the
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sky
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all themed around Pirates obviously
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here's Captain
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kid this is right off a very busy
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thoroughfare Highway 192 earo
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Bronson see the traffic the hustle and
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bustle of the
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Vehicles going by got the Advent Centric
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a right next door still open okay this
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is interesting the theming here got the
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wooden platforms and the Rope here not
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sure exactly what that
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was theming was definitely on point at
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this place it looks like a Little Smoke
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Stack I mean it's not but it kind of
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symbolizes a smoke stack with a sad
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face
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this is where they had the little areas
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where you could jot down your score on
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the
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scorecard and maybe
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some squatters in here at one point
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oh T foil up there I don't want to think
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about what that was used for hello
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this was a hole from the golf course it
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wasn't just for theming this was
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Blackbeard's challenge he put the golf
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ball there and he put it down this
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direction so this was an actual an
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actual hole there with the fake grass
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there on the
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ground doesn't appear to be a crow's
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nest anywhere up
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there like a lookout tower if there was
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a beenin
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removed
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lot of broken
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glass this is where the waterfall was
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here the water went right down this this
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section and then over over the cliffs
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there always nice to document this kind
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of stuff cuz there come a point when
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they'll bring the bulldozers in and
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they'll level all this seen that happen
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with a lot of different
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places only a matter of time and
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sometimes you don't know what the time
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frame is a place could sit like this for
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a year or two you keep passing go that's
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never going to go away and then one day
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you just drive by it and it's
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leveled and you're like man I wish I
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would have gone in there and checked
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that out so that's what I'm
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there was another one of these I don't
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know if it was this particular
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establishment or a franchise or chain
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that there was one just like this
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located over at the crossroads that they
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were on corner of 535 and I4 which
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evidently the state ended up taking over
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and they ended up you know paying the
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restaurants and roadside attractions and
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the grocery store and everything that
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was there a lot of money to to get out
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of that area and they were going to
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build like a a new on and off ramp and
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that's been put on hold but there was a
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Minature golf course there that was
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forced to close down similar to this one
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so this kind of reminds me of
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that can't tell if someone's living in
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there or
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not it's a little water fountain right
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here
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there you go it's like the one they have
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it Magic
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Kingdom over in Frontier land a lot less
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tourists in this one
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oh it's like a little Cannonball hole in
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the side there for theming
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nice
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there yeah thing themed around all the
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headstones also there's a bunch of these
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in
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around the back of the property was the
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parking area back here now it's just
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empty parking
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lot till time is taken over with
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the grass and everything has grown up
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over the
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stairs and over the course itself
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there's just a random empty boat back
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there another cave right
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here oh there's a seat right here check
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this out it's an actual rock
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mountain it's a big
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chair okay it looks like there was two
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different okay so this is Captain kids
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Adventures there was like there was 18
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holes on each individual one so there
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was two different Adventures that you
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could go
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on that makes
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sense so it's not each individual hole
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didn't have a different pirate name so
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there's two pirate names for two
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different courses that would have been a
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tough one you would have had to go up
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here and you would have had to ramp it
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into into this and then there's probably
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a hole popped out of maybe over here no
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don't see the hole it came out of maybe
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right here ah maybe right there I don't
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know but it went into
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this then you got the hole
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pretty wild this little Wasteland over
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here next to the open
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spots just see the adjacent
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house all the louly pads down there that
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swinging door right there in the wind
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kind of freaks me out a little
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bit you just beautiful waterfall at one
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point went over the side of side of this
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right
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here those are from a bygone
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era former Roadside Attraction here in
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CMI
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Florida
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just left it one with the
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elements and The Swinging
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Door the pirate
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ship I don't know if I can go this way o
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there's a little Bridge right
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there thought someone was walking right
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there
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little Bridge little concrete bridge
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could walk the plank there except now
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got some mattresses in the water a
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little bit of theming left these cannon
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balls
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here these made out of
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Styrofoam oh no they're pretty pretty
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solid lot of bugs here in this little
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retention water Pond here the
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gnats Bartholomew Roberts
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Alias
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blackbart wonder if this is solid oh
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yeah this is like full
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on cement that thing is
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rip look at this very
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very very heavy as well oh what does
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this
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say can't tell what that scratched in
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there is far made a foul SM be assured
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it ain't our sea me thinks it's that
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Village sew tank lift station right over
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here what I
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have stuff all over my feet oh there's
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the sewer tank they were talking about
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the back side of the sign right
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there I'm going to have a lot of
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prickley on my socks and shoes after
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this oh yeah that's smells that really
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does
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smell Captain Howell Davis is amongst
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the most Gul oful of pirates poses posed
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as a merchant or even a pirate Hunter to
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better size up his prey
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interesting yeah that sewage tank back
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there is no joke it does
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this he the sky riders going to town
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Jesse it is cool to see stuff like
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this but it's also nice to not see stuff
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like this so it's exciting to explore
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but at the same time it's not really
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doing anyone favors to have it sitting
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here and I would imagine this will not
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be here well who knows I would imagine
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it won't be here too much longer and
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this is a pretty bad disrepair and this
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is Prime real estate on Highway 192 got
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the sign all boarded up over here this
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is located next to the Super Walmart
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across from the Steak and Shake Super
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Walmart just about half a block from
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oh that's neat it's not just painted on
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there there actually is a cannon ball in
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the side and one there too very
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clever I think I'm going to roll over to
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the other one that I used to work at
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which is definitely not as intact as
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one it tore it out a long time ago let's
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see if I can find any remnants whoa
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Billy bow legs
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me zoom in on
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this I know who Billy bolegs is
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because when I lived in the panhandle of
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Florida in a town called nville when I
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was very young I ran in a billy bowlegs
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midnight
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run named after the pirate gosh it would
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have probably been in the mid to late
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80s probably 86878
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8ish
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and I remember I think I still have a
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medallion the Billy bowlegs
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Medallion from that
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run probably have it
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somewhere can't really tell what that
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one
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says another name on that one
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a lagona
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21 something a little after Billy bolegs
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time frame he would have loved to have
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something like this a little Comfort the
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motor this thing had
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intact well I don't know I can't speak
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for Billy BS
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but why is this just sitting here I
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don't know it's a
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Cay I think I heard something I don't
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know what that noise was
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oo it's like a little area up there that
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someone could be
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in and just about probably 3/4 of a mile
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not even that far as Medieval Times is
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right there and then the Super Walmart I
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was talking about on the other side of
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that and then past that
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Walmart is where the Pirates place was
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but you can see little remnants here of
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River Adventure Golf where I used to
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work way back in the
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day they have mowed this down this area
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here and right next to River Adventure
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Golf was a place called The Viking Motel
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themed around Vikings did a video a long
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time ago looking for Vikings when it was
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still
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standing a lot of shopping carts back
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there many people have probably gone
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back there over over time with the
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shopping carts and left them back there
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gate is knocked down down
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here looks like they've had some heavy
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machinery back in there doing some
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mowing there's a small shopping cart
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here that is not a real tree that is a
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cell phone tower right
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there going full mini golf today was
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this where the mailbox yeah this is
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where the mailbox was right there that's
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the old mailbox
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stanson
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I can't tell if there's people back in
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the woods over there it's kind of tough
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to
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tell but these are the lights I worked
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here for a while over a year part-time I
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was working at Kmart full-time and then
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nights and weekends I'd work at the
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miniature golf golf course full-time at
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Kmart parttime at the mini golf course
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and then worked to the video store for a
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while too so when I wasn't doing the
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mini
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golf it was either before or after I did
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the mini golf place I was working at the
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video store is this a themed
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Rock I think this might be a themed Rock
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left over no that's a real rock it looks
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like a themed
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Rock Viking Motel was over here tons of
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shopping carts back in
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there and when I worked here remember my
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supervisor told me when they built this
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place the people who own the golf course
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also owned Viking Motel when they built
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a place they built bu an elevated area
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out of crushed cars oh look at
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this there is one of the
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bridges this is bringing back memory so
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it didn't bulldoze all of it look at
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that wow when I get back home I'm going
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try to dig up some old photos of me when
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I worked here a much thinner blond
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haired bleached out blond hair version
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of
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myself
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should I keep going
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in yeah there's like some little camps
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back in there see the foundation of the
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Viking Motel over there this is where I
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parked my car I drive my car right up
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here park the car right in this area
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this is late '90s
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early 2000s but more like late '90s
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wow
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bringing back some memories I've kind of
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parked my car where it is now where I
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started over there a few times in the
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past but I don't think I've ever walked
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up in here since they've torn it out and
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I use that term lightly cuz they haven't
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torn all of it out so take a look at
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there I don't want to step down in there
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that's like elevated up there's like
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probably snakes under
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there there's a bridge right in
22:37
there so I believe this was where the
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crushed cars were and then they built a
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mountain over that so they didn't take
22:44
those
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out man I walked across this thing so
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many times going to in and out of
22:50
work but I can't recall exactly where
22:53
probably right here is where the main oh
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it's right there there the foundation
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right there wow I got to go up
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there this makes me sad cuz I have
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memories
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here oo this is not structurally sound
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yeah no that's not a good idea I'll go
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up that
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way wow
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wow this was where people would come up
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I would explain to them how it worked
23:52
what the price point was and then I
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would hand them their golf clubs right
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here I spent a lot of of time right here
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where this bonfire has been
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created and then they would go off to
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Hole number one that was right here they
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go down and incline and that was hole
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number one that I would sometimes on a
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slow night I would just play hole number
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one over and over I get really good at
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hole number
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one I'm pretty sure I have some photos
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at least one or two photos of me right
24:20
in here so I cross that bridge park my
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car cross across that bridge and I would
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right here help the
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customers and there was like holes all
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up there all grown over
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now I think I have a photo where I'm
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right here a slender me leaning over I
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think my sister came to visit her a
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friend I think it might have been a
24:46
sister with her camera back when it
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would he had to do the like 1 hour photo
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thing it was before digital and she took
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a picture of me leaning out the side and
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one of the guys that sold the time
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shares
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back when they would give out beanie
24:59
babies for time
25:01
shares he was in the photo with me and
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we were like right here so if I go home
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and I can find that I'll put it in at
25:08
the end of the
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video all right I think I'm going to get
25:16
the heck out of here
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though
25:28
that's enough
25:34
reminising just talked to the lady
25:34
that's going by there on the
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sidewalk she was telling me that
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sometimes people will be back in the
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woods back in
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here she was giving me a little warning
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I said it's
25:46
okay nothing to worry about didn't
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disturb
25:55
anyone you would never know that there
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used to be River Venture Golf back in
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here by looking at at this now from the
25:58
road it looks like
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a I don't know like a swamp
26:03
land the old light up there grown
26:13
over relics of the
26:13
past my past all right this is
26:16
interesting this restaurant closed fast
26:17
food restaurant and this I believe was
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an Arby's yeah I can see the Arby's
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emblem up there which is really
26:27
interesting
26:28
because the Arby's in celebration closed
26:31
a couple months ago I was there when
26:33
they were pulling out the signage from
26:34
the windows it had closed a couple days
26:37
before I noticed it the celebration
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Arby's was is only like you know 3 miles
26:42
from
26:43
here but the Arby's here is closed is
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Arby's pulling completely out of Central
26:47
Florida or at least in
26:51
area two Arby's gone in the same neck of
26:55
the woods
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interesting would be way off Bas is this
27:06
was not an Arby's but it looks like the
27:08
color scheme of an
27:09
Arby's I never went to this Arby's I
27:11
always went to the one in
27:13
celebration frequented in Arby's for a
27:15
big roast
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beef definitely not beefy beefy King
27:20
quality in The Milk District of Orlando
27:22
which is my favorite roast beef but
27:24
that's quite a hike from here so
27:26
sometimes I was destined to get
27:29
Arby's yep restaurant is no longer open
27:33
okay there is one open at 219 West Vine
27:35
Street it
27:37
says it was an
27:39
Arby's two Arby's down I don't know how
27:43
many more to
27:44
go this is right off 192 okay I got back
27:47
to my place and I found my Billy bow
27:49
legs midnight run 1985 Northwest Florida
27:52
track club still have it had it a little
27:56
box with a bunch of old photos and
27:58
momentos and things so when I think of
28:01
Billy BS he was a pirate Billy Bo 1985
28:04
it would have been 11 years old living
28:07
in nville Florida here the track club
28:10
and here is myself working at River
28:14
Aventure golf the place that is now
28:16
sitting desolate and empty and there is
28:21
myself taking so basically I had to take
28:24
this big shovel when it would rain cuz
28:27
it rains every day in Florida and there'
28:29
be a little lull in business and I have
28:30
to go out there and take the shovel and
28:33
get the water and get take the water off
28:36
of the greens and there's me not exactly
28:39
the best photo quality it's a little
28:41
kind of darkened out but you can see
28:44
Highway 192 over there in the distance
28:47
there's me wearing the shirt there and
28:51
here's that photo I was talking about in
28:53
fact over here you can see the
28:55
sign that has the river vure golf rules
28:58
and things like that on it and there's
29:00
me and I showed the spot where that was
29:03
building's gone but there's myself a
29:05
much younger bee late '90s
29:08
version of myself few pounds thinner
29:11
well more than a few pounds thinner
29:13
short bleach blonde hair and no
29:16
beard a little walk down memory lane
29:24
today thanks for watching I'll see you
29:24
in the next video the
29:26
Vlog
29:27
is over