Jacksonville Turtles
Posted in Jacksonville, Uncategorized on August 13, 2009
When we were in Jacksonville a few weeks ago, we tracked down a few of the turtles that have been placed around the city. These huge turtles are part of a fundraising program that helped to benefit Child Guidance Center. These colorful turtles are painted by artists and are absolutely beautiful. When we are traveling, my kids are always excited to come across large statues. When we are in a city that has a program like this, they are especially excited. We turn spotting the statues into a scavenger hunt. We have found turtles in Jacksonville, pelicans in Pensacola, bears in Berlin, cows in Garmisch, and fish in New Orleans.
These statues make for a great scavenger hunt for the kids. Locate a map of the statues online or visit the local visitor center and ask where you can find a map of the statue locations. Use the map to check off the statues that you find while you are exploring the city. The kids will have a great time spotting the statues. If there is a statue located in front of a museum you are headed to, tell the children that you will see a statue soon so they can keep their eyes open. For example, when we were headed to the turtle pictured here, I told my small children that we were going to spot a giant turtle. They had so much fun looking around and trying to guess where it was going to be!
Have you seen sets of statues like this? Tell us about them!
Be sure to stop by DeliciousBaby to see other Photo Friday participants!
The last shot is perfect!
That’s nice. Make the visit more fun for kids and parents for sure!
We saw a few of the statues in a couple cities we visited in the past.
- Pigs in Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year festival in 2007
- Bears in a town (I don’t remember the name but I think it’s Cherokee) right in front of the Great Smoky Mountain park entrance.
A few years back (eek – just realized it’s almost 10 yrs ago!) Toronto had a “Moose In The City” promotion that was pretty fun – http://www.toronto.ca/moose/moose_moosellaneous.htm
These beautiful turtles remind me of it!
Mermaids in Norfolk, VA, Pineapples in Newport, RI (? but it’s a locals thing people do on their own), and Beehives in Yorktown, VA. And of course Jayhawks in Lawrence, KS.