Naples Famous Toucan
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Owner:
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terracognita
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Released:
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Sunday, April 19, 2009
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Origin:
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Virginia, United States
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Recently Spotted:
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In SCGA 2nd Anniversary Event Celebration
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Please take me home to Naples, FL, near Caribbean Gardens.
The Famous Toucan
From the beginning of Caribbean Gardens as an attraction in the 1950s, this iconic toucan sat atop the billboard-sized entrance sign on US 41. From its vantage point, it greeted Naples' guests and directed them to the botanical garden and its tropical inhabitants.
When the toucan's first coat of paint was dry, it towered over what what then a quiet two lane road. So quaint in fact that Caribbean Gardens was described as "located two miles North of Naples" in early brochures. Over the decades, this toucan watched Naples grow up around it until six lanes of traffic and the community's largest shopping mall surrounded and dwarfed its once singular size.
During those years, the giant sign weathered 1960's infamous Hurricane Donna, 1992's Hurricane Andrew, 2004's Hurricane Charley and numerous tropical storms. But in 2005, the sign was finally forced to show its age and many repairs by the twisting winds of Hurricane Wilma. Suffering significant damage, it was dismantled that same year. Although no longer perching over the highway, this toucan can at a last enjoy residing in the garden it had faithfully pointed toward for half a century.
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