FOLLOW THAT DREAM PARKWAY
In 1996, a section of the SR 40 freeway was named “Follow That Dream Parkway“. A bronze historical marker honoring Elvis stands just west of the U.S. 19.
Tampa singer-songwriter Ronny Elliott was a teenager when the movie ‘Follow That Dream’ was being filmed, and tracked down to see where Elvis was staying. “…when Elvis went out for a walk that first morning, he stood around, chatting and signing pictures for quite a while,” says Elliot.
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Elliott made several trips and took numerous photographs of Elvis. The bank scene in “Follow That Dream” it was filmed in Ocala on Silver Springs Boulevard.
Among the crowd trying to see Elvis pulling up on a bench and getting out of a car was Tom Petty, who was 10 years old at the time.
He came from his home in Gainesville with his Uncle Earl, a photographer who worked with the film crew.
Young Petty was blown away by the crowd’s reaction and meeting Elvis was an incredible moment that inspired him to pursue a music career, according to a 2007 article in ‘The Gainesville Sun‘.
Petty would recall that Elvis appeared “radiant like an angel” who “seemed to shine and walk on the ground”.
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Elvis came over and greeted Tom, who said he didn’t remember what Elvis said because he was ‘too dumbfounded’.
We know Elvis visited Weeki Wachee State Park on July 31, 1961 because there are YouTube videos documenting the event where 3,000 fans gathered to see him greet the legendary mermaids.
The Coney Island Drive-Inn on Jefferson Street, which opened in 1960, has a shrine dedicated to Elvis, who claims he ate a foot-long hot dog there during a break in filming.
Elvis has never been so accessible again.
Reporters and photographers were barred from the set of ‘Follow That Dream,’ filmed in July 1961 on location in Yankeetown, Inverness, Crystal River and Ocala, Central Florida; it was the ninth of 31 films starring Elvis.
Based on a 1959 novel, ‘Pioneer, Go Home!’ From Fort Myers author Richard P. Powell, the film follows the struggles of a family stranded in rural Florida.
Elvis stayed at the Port Paradise Hotel in Crystal River during filming. A courtroom scene took place in the old 1912 Citrus County Courthouse in Inverness.
Source: strazcenterwatchreadlisten.wordpress.com
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