Was this the place that had a huge carousel on top of a pole next to the freeway, or was that a flea market. I lived in Houston as a kid and always asked my dad if we could ride that carousel in the sky.
Here's an early Gulfgate aerial view... http://www.texasfreeway.com/Houston/historic/photos/images/i45_i610s_undated.jpg And here's Seaworld's inspiration! Sea-Arama!! Awesome! http://www.texasfreeway.com/Houston...highways_images/txhwys_may70_sea-arama_1e.jpg
I remember going to the Sea-Arama as a kid. When I was 11 I did a stint as a kid broadcaster on the Sat. morning kids news show on Channel 2 and I remember we did a report about sharks from there.
I love stuff like this! I don't know if it's been brought up already, I bought a book about the history and evolution of the Houston freeway system. It was VERY interesting to read all the stories about the hows and the whys it evolved the way it did. http://www.houstonfreeways.com/ The eBook version of this book is now free. You can download it here : http://www.houstonfreeways.com/ebook.aspx
One of my memories of Sea Arama was they would leave a big blue shark sticker on your rear bumper if you parked in their parking lots that advertised the place. They would just stick it on there. I don't know how you told them you didn't want the sticker - someone once told me you had to leave your visors down or something. Anyway, so they put this sticker on my dad's car and he was pissed. He's always been anti-bumpter sticker because he always thought it was tacky and he kept his car in pristine condition. He was pissed because the bumper sticker was hard as hell to get off the car. He was so pissed and I'll never forget it because the car was a damn 1978 or 1979 Chevy Chevette. Quite possibly one of the worst cars ever to roll off an assembly line. LOL.
It was in Galveston. Went out of business when SeaWorld San Antonio opened. It was one of the first Marine parks, but it opened a year after SeaWorld in San Diego which is spanish for a Whale's vagina.
Thank you so much for posting this. This is great. I only perused a few of the pics, but I'll get into it more later. I appreciate it!
I found these links online if you want to see some pics of it back then and sadly, "now" : http://www.seaarama.zoomshare.com/ http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/lofiversion/index.php/t252.html
I remember that show. You guys featured my elementary school doing a ballet production of Cinderella. Exposed me to the whole city prancing around the stage dressed as a ******* bluebird. Anybody remember the name of the arcade that was in Gulfgate? Me and my cousin used to go there all the time back in the day. Man, the memories.
Also, speaking of places I used to got to back in the day, anybody got any pics of Fame City? I know that used to be my favorite place to go when I was a kid, but for the life of me, I can't remember why. Memory's a little fuzzy. All I can recall is skee-ball, recording booths, and a movie theater.
the first link brought back some amazing childhood memories. the second link is just sad. those "now" photos are from around 2004 i think. isn't that the location of schitterbahn now? i haven't been to galveston in forever...
You know, I'm not sure. I haven't actually lived in Houston for about 9-10 years now (I visit regularly, though). Didn't Tilman Fertita (sp?) buy that land? I don't remember. Some of you guys interested in this stuff should also check out the Houston Architecture Info forum (http://www.houstonarchitecture.info). Lots of nostalgia and building-related info there.
Speaking of Gulfgate, here's a shot of the I45/610 interchange back sometime during the 60's. Check out that mall back then! ----------------------------------------------------
