Coral Castle

"Into every vacation a little tourist trap must fall." Maybe that's not the exact quote, but that doesn't make it any less true.

On our Florida vacation that tourist trap was Coral Castle, a thousand tons of limestone constructed over 28 years by one man, Latvian immigrant Ed Leedskalnin.

Because it's just who we are, we were initially drawn more to all the lizards running around the property (like this invasive Red-headed Agama Danelle shot) then to the structure itself.  Hey, we don't get many lizards in Colorado.

Zak tried out one of the "Reading Chairs," looking a lot like my dad did when he "read."

Taryn assumed a more intellectual pose, as if contemplating how one man working alone with hand tools fashioned from used auto parts could have built such a place.

Zak seemed more at home in the "Throne Room."

The aptly named Obelisk.  Did I mention that Leedskalnin not only built the place by himself, but also moved it all 10 miles from its original location further south?

The Well is festooned with vividly colored foliage.  Really, just an excuse to use "festoon."

I'm not exactly sure what this little guy is.  Fence lizard, maybe?  Regardless, like I said earlier we respond to animals like magpies react to shiny objects.  So there was no way I wasn't taking a picture of the little sunbather.

The place actually was pretty neat, and not a bad way to kill an hour.  The kids were even more engaged than we expected.  And it was the subject of an episode of In Search Of...  What more do you need to know?