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                  <text>Along with a group of investors, Newton Perry opened Weeki Wachee Springs to the public in October of 1947. At the time, roadside attractions were becoming popular stops along Florida roadways. The attraction consisted of an amalgamation of vendors, an orchid garden, a river boat tour, as well as the star attraction: a mermaid show that took place in an underwater theater. Eventually, the May Museum of the Tropics, an "abandoned Seminole village", a show called “Birds of Prey”, and a petting zoo were added. After peaking in the 1950s and 1960s, attendance began to decline as theme parks and highways changed the dynamics of Florida's tourism. The State of Florida took over the attraction as a state park in 2008. Since then, the park has focused on appealing to a modern audience while preserving its history.</text>
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                  <text>&lt;a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/collections/show/63" target="_blank"&gt;Hernando County Collection&lt;/a&gt;, RICHES.</text>
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                  <text>&lt;span&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://weekiwachee.com/about-us/history-of-weeki-wachee-springs.html" target="_blank"&gt;History of Weeki Wachee Springs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;." Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. http://weekiwachee.com/about-us/history-of-weeki-wachee-springs.html.&lt;/span&gt;</text>
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                  <text>&lt;span&gt;Pelland, Maryan, and Dan Pelland. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/67516850" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Weeki Wachee Springs&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2005.&lt;/span&gt;</text>
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                  <text>&lt;span&gt;Vickers, Lu, and Bonnie Georgiadis. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/780478262" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Weeki Wachee Mermaids: Thirty Years of Underwater Photography&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012.&lt;/span&gt;</text>
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                <text>Letter from John M. May to Joe D. Seltzer (July 7, 1959)</text>
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                <text>Letter from May to Seltzer (July 7, 1959)</text>
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                <text>A letter from the owner of the May Museum of the Tropics, John M. May, to the manager of Weeki Wachee Springs, Joe D. Seltzer. In the letter, May tentatively agrees to Seltzer's plan to create another walkway to the museum, but expresses hesitation as he would not be able to be at the Springs until later that year to help move his large-scale beetle replica out of the way. As John May lived in Colorado and the May Museum of the Tropics was located in Florida, communication between employer, employees, and other staff at Weeki Wachee Springs was limited predominantly to letters of correspondence.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The May Natural History Museum of the Tropics is a non-profit organization that displays the world’s largest private insect collection. James May acquired the thousands of insects and arthropods that make up the collection from the late 1800s until his death in 1956. John May continued his father’s legacy, building a museum in Weeki Wachee, Florida, that lasted from 1954-1964, and a museum in Colorado that opened in the 1950s and is still open today. John May also took parts of the collection across the United States and Canada to display at fairs and exhibitions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Along with a group of investors, Newton Perry opened Weeki Wachee Springs to the public in October of 1947. At the time, roadside attractions were becoming popular stops along Florida roadways. The attraction consisted of an amalgamation of vendors, an orchid garden, a river boat tour, as well as the star attraction: a mermaid show that took place in an underwater theater. Eventually, the May Museum of the Tropics, an "abandoned Seminole village", a show called “Birds of Prey”, and a petting zoo were added. After peaking in the 1950s and 1960s, attendance began to decline as theme parks and highways changed the dynamics of Florida's tourism. The State of Florida took over the attraction as a state park in 2008. Since then, the park has focused on appealing to a modern audience while preserving its history.</text>
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                <text>Original 1-page typed letter from John M. May to Joe D. Seltzer, July 7, 1959: &lt;a href="https://coloradospringsbugmuseum.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;May Natural History Museum&lt;/a&gt;, Colorado Springs, Colorado.</text>
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                <text>&lt;a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/collections/show/63" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;Weeki Wachee Collection&lt;/a&gt;, Hernando County Collection, RICHES.</text>
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                <text>Originally created by John M. May and published by &lt;a href="https://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;RICHES&lt;/a&gt;.</text>
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                <text> Rebecca Schwandt's Thesis Project</text>
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                <text>Allman, T.D. &lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/873617194" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Finding Florida: The True History of the Sunshine State&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2013.</text>
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                <text>Georgiadis, Bonnie and Lu Vickers. &lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/780478262" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Weeki Wachee mermaids: thirty years of underwater photography&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012.</text>
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                <text>Hollis, Tim. &lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/61130658" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Glass Bottom Boats &amp;amp;amp&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</text>
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                <text>Mermaid Tails: Florida's Tourist Springs. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2006.</text>
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                <text>Pelland, Maryan. &lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/995504665" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Weeki Wachee Springs&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Arcadia Publishing Inc, 2006. .</text>
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                <text>Revels, Tracy J. &lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/666240031" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sunshine Paradise: A History of Florida Tourism&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2011.</text>
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                <text>Vickers, Lu, and Sara Dionne. &lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/71237360" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Weeki Wachee, City of Mermaids: A History of One of Florida's Oldest Roadside Attractions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007.</text>
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                  <text>Weeki Wachee  Springs, Spring Hill, Florida</text>
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              <name>Curator</name>
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                  <text>Schwandt, Rebecca</text>
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                  <text>&lt;a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank"&gt;RICHES MI&lt;/a&gt;</text>
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                  <text>&lt;span&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://weekiwachee.com/about-us/history-of-weeki-wachee-springs.html" target="_blank"&gt;History of Weeki Wachee Springs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;." Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. http://weekiwachee.com/about-us/history-of-weeki-wachee-springs.html.&lt;/span&gt;</text>
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                  <text>&lt;span&gt;Pelland, Maryan, and Dan Pelland. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/67516850" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Weeki Wachee Springs&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2005.&lt;/span&gt;</text>
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                  <text>&lt;span&gt;Vickers, Lu, and Bonnie Georgiadis. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/780478262" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Weeki Wachee Mermaids: Thirty Years of Underwater Photography&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012.&lt;/span&gt;</text>
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                  <text>Rebecca Schwandt's Thesis Project</text>
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            <name>Title</name>
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                <text>Letter from Joe D. Seltzer to John M. May (June 17, 1959)</text>
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                <text>Letter from Seltzer to May (June 17, 1959)</text>
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          <element elementId="49">
            <name>Subject</name>
            <description/>
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                <text>Weeki Wachee Springs (Fla.)</text>
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                <text> Tourism--Florida</text>
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                <text> Springs--Florida</text>
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                <text> Parks--Florida</text>
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                <text> Entomology</text>
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                <text>A letter from the manager of Weeki Wachee Springs, Joe D. Seltzer, to the owner of the May Museum of the Tropics, John M. May, dated June 17, 1959. In the letter, Seltzer expresses his and his company's wish to build a new walkway and parking lot that would help attract more business to both the Springs and the museum. To accomplish the expansion, May's large-scale replica of a Hercules beetle, named Hercimer, needed to be moved. As John May lived in Colorado and the May Museum of the Tropics was located in Florida, communication between employer, employees, and other staff at Weeki Wachee Springs was limited predominantly to letters of correspondence.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The May Natural History Museum of the Tropics is a non-profit organization that displays the world’s largest private insect collection. James May acquired the thousands of insects and arthropods that make up the collection from the late 1800s until his death in 1956. John May continued his father’s legacy, building a museum in Weeki Wachee, Florida, that lasted from 1954-1964, and a museum in Colorado that opened in the 1950s and is still open today. John May also took parts of the collection across the United States and Canada to display at fairs and exhibitions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Along with a group of investors, Newton Perry opened Weeki Wachee Springs to the public in October of 1947. At the time, roadside attractions were becoming popular stops along Florida roadways. The attraction consisted of an amalgamation of vendors, an orchid garden, a river boat tour, as well as the star attraction: a mermaid show that took place in an underwater theater. Eventually, the May Museum of the Tropics, an "abandoned Seminole village", a show called “Birds of Prey”, and a petting zoo were added. After peaking in the 1950s and 1960s, attendance began to decline as theme parks and highways changed the dynamics of Florida's tourism. The State of Florida took over the attraction as a state park in 2008. Since then, the park has focused on appealing to a modern audience while preserving its history.</text>
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                <text>Original 1-page typed letter from Joe D. Seltzer to John M. May, June 17, 1959: &lt;a href="https://coloradospringsbugmuseum.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;May Natural History Museum&lt;/a&gt;, Colorado Springs, Colorado.</text>
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            <name>Is Part Of</name>
            <description/>
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              <elementText elementTextId="690280">
                <text>&lt;a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/collections/show/63" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;Weeki Wachee Collection&lt;/a&gt;, Hernando County Collection, RICHES.</text>
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          <element elementId="38">
            <name>Coverage</name>
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            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="690281">
                <text>May Museum of the Tropics, Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Weeki Wachee, Florida</text>
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            <name>Creator</name>
            <description/>
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                <text>Seltzer, Joe D.</text>
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          <element elementId="45">
            <name>Publisher</name>
            <description/>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="690283">
                <text>&lt;a href="https://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;RICHES&lt;/a&gt;</text>
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            <name>Date Created</name>
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              <elementText elementTextId="690284">
                <text>1959-06-17</text>
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            <name>Format</name>
            <description/>
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            <name>Language</name>
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              <elementText elementTextId="690288">
                <text>eng</text>
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            <name>Mediator</name>
            <description/>
            <elementTextContainer>
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                <text>History Teacher</text>
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              <elementText elementTextId="690290">
                <text> Humanities Teacher</text>
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          </element>
          <element elementId="124">
            <name>Provenance</name>
            <description/>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="690291">
                <text>Originally created by Joe D. Seltzer and published by &lt;a href="https://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;RICHES&lt;/a&gt;</text>
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            <name>Rights Holder</name>
            <description/>
            <elementTextContainer>
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                <text>Copyright to this resource is held by &lt;a href="https://coloradospringsbugmuseum.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;May Natural History Museum&lt;/a&gt; and is provided here by &lt;a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;RICHES&lt;/a&gt; for educational purposes only.</text>
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            <name>Accrual Method</name>
            <description/>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="690293">
                <text>Donation</text>
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            <name>Contributing Project</name>
            <description/>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="690294">
                <text>Florida Humanities Council Community Grant Program and Friends of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park</text>
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              <elementText elementTextId="690295">
                <text> Rebecca Schwandt's Thesis Project</text>
              </elementText>
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          <element elementId="133">
            <name>Curator</name>
            <description/>
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              <elementText elementTextId="690296">
                <text>O'Neil, Rhiannon</text>
              </elementText>
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          <element elementId="134">
            <name>Digital Collection</name>
            <description/>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="690297">
                <text>&lt;a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;RICHES MI&lt;/a&gt;</text>
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            <description/>
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                <text>&lt;a href="https://coloradospringsbugmuseum.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;May Natural History Museum&lt;/a&gt;</text>
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          <element elementId="136">
            <name>External Reference</name>
            <description/>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="690299">
                <text>Allman, T.D. &lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/873617194" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Finding Florida: The True History of the Sunshine State&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2013.</text>
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                <text>Ammidown, Margot. "&lt;a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1504171?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;Edens, Underworlds, and Shrines: Florida’s Small Tourist Attractions&lt;/a&gt;." &lt;em&gt;The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts&lt;/em&gt; 23, 1998, 238-259. Accessed November 9, 2018. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1504171?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.</text>
              </elementText>
              <elementText elementTextId="690301">
                <text>Georgiadis, Bonnie and Lu Vickers. &lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/780478262" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Weeki Wachee mermaids: thirty years of underwater photography&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012.</text>
              </elementText>
              <elementText elementTextId="690302">
                <text>Hollis, Tim. &lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/61130658" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Glass Bottom Boats &amp;amp;amp&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</text>
              </elementText>
              <elementText elementTextId="690303">
                <text>Mermaid Tails: Florida's Tourist Springs. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2006.</text>
              </elementText>
              <elementText elementTextId="690304">
                <text>Pelland, Maryan. &lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/995504665" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Weeki Wachee Springs&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Arcadia Publishing Inc, 2006. .</text>
              </elementText>
              <elementText elementTextId="690305">
                <text>Revels, Tracy J. &lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/666240031" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sunshine Paradise: A History of Florida Tourism&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2011.</text>
              </elementText>
              <elementText elementTextId="690306">
                <text>Vickers, Lu, and Sara Dionne. &lt;a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/71237360" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Weeki Wachee, City of Mermaids: A History of One of Florida's Oldest Roadside Attractions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007.</text>
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        <name>Florida tourism</name>
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      <tag tagId="56570">
        <name>Joe D. Seltzer</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="54567">
        <name>John M. May</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="54568">
        <name>May Museum of the Tropics</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="32614">
        <name>museums</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="38441">
        <name>natural springs</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="12246">
        <name>parks</name>
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      <tag tagId="38629">
        <name>Rebecca Schwandt</name>
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      <tag tagId="54550">
        <name>roadside attractions</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="54551">
        <name>roadside tourism</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="38994">
        <name>tourist attractions</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="16898">
        <name>Weeki Wachee Springs State Park</name>
      </tag>
    </tagContainer>
  </item>
</itemContainer>
