Moving to Florida was the last thing I ever thought I would do; I know I have said that in one of my blogs and to most people who have asked me how I ended up In Florida. Now I am here, and I am always finding out new any crazy things about Florida. There is so much more to Florida than golf courses, beaches and retirement homes. I have always wanted to do random road trips to weird and usual places here, because who doesn’t love road trips to weird places. Since I am not able to hit the road at the moment, I thought I would just share some weird and crazy facts and my must see three Florida mansions.
One of the first places I need to hit on a quick road trip is Solomon Castle. This cool castle is built of tin, by sculpturer Howard Solomon. This is the first place I want to hit on a road trip of weird and amazing Florida. I can take country roads all the way there, you don’t get any more Florida back roads than the back roads northwest of Arcadia. I have driven them lots of times but have never hit up this bed and breakfast, art museum, nature trails history wonderland. If this is somewhere you think you need a Florida back road trip too here is the website. Solomon's Castle (solomonscastle.com)
Number 2 on my list is another castle, yes, I have a thing for castles. Coral Castle was built single handedly by Edward Leedskalnin between 1921 and 1951. The 1,100 tons of coral rock was carved from his private property in Miami. The story is he built it in secret only during the night using the secret of the pyramids. Being someone who has been researching and fascinated by ancient structures including the pyramids this is a must experience for me. Coral Castle Museum
And the third mansion on my list is the bat mansion at the university of Florida. I love bats, they are the cutest little flying rats and watching zip around the sky munching on mosquitoes like popcorn on a warm evening is some good entertainment.
I also promised some weird Florida facts…
Florida means “Flowery Easter” in Spanish
Florida’s oldest tree was a 3500 yr old cypress named the Senator, was burned down in March of 2012 by a woman.
There are more than 30,000 lakes in Florida.
St. Augustine, which is located in Northeast Florida, is the oldest European settlement in North America and has a “love trees” where a palm tree and an oak tree grow on, in and through one another. One can spot this inseparable couple in Agustina’s Love Tree Café and Boutique in St. Augustine, Florida.
Florida is also home to the world’s most dangerous tree – the Manchineel tree. All parts of the tree contain strong toxins. Mere contact with the sap from this tree can cause blisters on the skin. The tree is also known as “the beach apple” and “little apple of death.[21]
Clearwater has the highest rate of lightning strikes in the United States.
The Florida Keys, a group of about 1,700 tiny islands,
The Florida Reef is the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States.
Florida is the 29th most obese state in the country.
Every public building in Florida must have outward opening doors due to strong winds during hurricane season.
I could go on and on with all the wild and weird Florida facts, but I gotta save something for later, what is life without surprise and mystery. September is right around the corner, the start of slow season and spooky season, so a girl can dream that I will hit up a mansion or two and find some spooky weird places I can road trip to! Maybe the next time you have a day off here in this crazy state you can skip Walmart and the beach and find yourself somewhere that you thought was only in your imagination.