After we waved our last goodbyes to my sister at the airport my family decided to make good use of the rest of the gorgeous, not-too-hot-yet Florida sunshine. We took a little trip down to Homestead which then later turned in to a much bigger adventure (don’t they always!).
If you live in Florida and have never read the book Weird Florida, I highly suggest it! It tells you all about the kooky sights right in your own backyard. One of those backyard attractions is Coral Castle.
I’m not going to give you the whole guided tour talk but the gist is that in the first half of the 20th century a lonely, little man (literally, he was just over 5 feet tall about about 100 lbs) decided it would be a great use of his genius and time to build an outdoor home from the neighboring limestone and coral beds. He built this “house” for his long lost love “Sweet Sixteen” with all the modern furnishings you could imagine…if you are the Flintstones, that is.
There are coral reading chairs, perfection sized bathtub, beds, a fully functioning freshwater well, 3-and 9-tone rock gates perfectly balanced on old Model T parts, and so much more kookiness. If that wasn’t weird enough, he built everything in secret and there are still many questions about how he managed to move, set, carve, and calibrate some of his creations. Come and see for yourself!
After our Coral Castle adventure, my dad drove us over to the Homestead Airport (this really comes no surprise to us). Now I say airport but really imagine a big green field with occasional strips of asphalt. Upon arrival we stole some seats to watch the small planes and gliders take off and land. Then my dad got a brilliant idea (also not a surprise) and offered my boyfriend a ride in a glider. Sounds scary at first, but if you think about it it’s much safer than a plane: no possibility of engine failure and no real crash and burn landing.
Not only did he get a ride, he got to fly it 🙂 Talk about an unexpected adventure!
JMO
