Pan American Highway Gardens (1964)
Avis Pan American Highway Rides (1965)

Pan American Highway Gardens This large garden area, one of the few pavilions that are sponsored by the Fair itself, honors the completion of the Inter-American Highway, the common artery for seven countries from Mexico to Panama, which opened in April 1963. The tropical gardens are of the kinds found in the jungles and mountains through which the great highway runs. Eastman Kodak has donated 12 photo-murals of highway scenes.

The theme of this garden was a strange one, for most Fair guests were unlikely to have ever heard of the Inter-American Highway, let alone actually drive it. The area was likely a last minute substitute for a pavilion that was never completed. (CD #TBD Set 353 #8)

Avis Pan American Highway Rides Visitors drive miniature cars along a "transcontinental" road. The trip leads past tropical gardens and replicas of Central American Indian statues. The surroundings simulate those of the Pan American Highway, running through 17 nations from Mexico to Argentina.

The area looked very different for the 1965 season. Now billed as the "Avis Pan American Highway Rides," the once tranquil gardens had been transformed into a noisy and exhaust-spewing go-kart track. (CD #TBD Set 326 #3)

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