And now for something completely different: Rex, the big orange dinosaur

 Jacksonville has what is probably the most quirky, offbeat, unique historical landmark around.

It is 20 feet tall, holding a very large legbone with one hand.  It has red eyes that light up, short arms, a white belly, and a mouth full of sharp teeth. 

It is located at 10150 Beach Boulevard, in front of an unprepossessing strip mall.  The mall used to be the site of a wacky entertainment called Goony Golf.  Goony Golf provided wonderful entertainment in the heyday of the miniature golf course craze.  Mini-golf was big fun; I played a lot of it when I was a kid, and I played some of it at Goony Golf.

Goony Golf was the most fun, because there was this huge orange dinosaur, an ersatz Tyrannosaurus Rex, that everyone came to know as Rex.  Rex would lift the bone with his left hand and open a door in which your golf balls would be collected at the end of play.  Rex was a hit, and won the affection of Jacksonville citizens.  When Goony Golf was dismantled and the property sold, there was a danger that Rex would be destroyed.  Citizens rose up to Save Our Rex, and the builders and owners of the strip mall were convinced to leave Rex where he stood.


 

 

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