A Visit To Coral Castle

Sunday afternoon, the folks visited Coral Castle.  I hope this post is better than the one on Fruit and Spice Park.  BOL  Coral Castle was built by one man working alone.  It took him 20 years to complete.  Ed Leedskalnin was born in Latvia in 1887.  When he was 26, he was engaged to Agnes Scuffs who was 16.  The night before their wedding, she told Ed that she did not want to marry him because he was too old.  He always thought her mother didn't think he was rich enough or educated enough.  He had a fourth grade education. He was heart broken and he wandered for several years and eventually made his way to Florida around 1918-1920. He chose South Florida because he was told he had tuberculosis and the climate would be good for his health.  Ed was 5'5" and weighed only 100 pound.  We mention his size because it is quite amazing what he was able to build this on his own.

Ed created his castle for Agnes who he called "Sweet Sixteen".  She never visited, but she did know about the castle according to reports.  Mama thinks that Ed was obsessed with Agnes since he even built beds for the children he planned to have with her. Poor man. He even built a repentance corner for his kids and wife, which he never had.  He said if they misbehaved, he would make them put their heads through the opening, wedge them in place with a clock of wood and they would sit on a bench while he talked to them for about an hour.  He figured this would keep them in line for several months.  Yes, he had it all planned out except he never had the wife and children.  He died in 1951 at the age of 64.

When looking at the photos, remember that Ed worked totally alone and did not have machinery.  He did all the work with hand tools.  When he was asked how he did the work, he said he understood the laws of weight and leverage. He was a very private person and no one ever saw him work. 

Ed charged people $.25 to see his work.  The price is now $15 a person.

Ed's yard.

The cooker. The food is placed in the pot and it is lowered to the fire.  It is like a pressure cooker.

He created tables and chairs.

Tools that he used.

Ed

Ed's bed.  It hangs from the ceiling.

Ed's living quarters.  16 steps lead to the top.

Can you see the chairs towards the center.  There are chairs all over.  They are actually pretty comfortable.

Planets in the back.  See the moon?

Feast of Love Table - it is shaped like a heart.

Throne Room - Pictures really don't show it, but Ed's throne is here.  It weighs 5,000 pounds.  Sweet Sixteen's chair is there as well as a child's chair.  Directly behind Ed's throne is the mother-in-law's chair.  He designed it to be the most uncomfortable chair.

Nice view of a tree.

Florida table because it is shaped like Florida.

 

Ed's bathtub.

The well.

 

The quarry.  Each section of the walls around the castle are said to weigh 13,000 pounds.

There is a 9 ton gate which is considered to be Ed's most outstanding achievements, but it looks like Mama didn't take a photo of it.

Another picture of the wall.

Close up of one of the walls.

Mama thought it was interesting, but not worth $15 a person to her.  She did have a coupon, so their costs were $12 each. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Glad His Dad Is Not Ed Because He Wouldn't Want a Repentance Center

Our Last Weekend In South Florida

This past weekend was our last weekend in South Florida.  The folks were pretty busy seeing the sights.  Scout and I stayed inside where it was nice and cool. Our new shades really seem to be helping our place stay cooler. 

Friday, Mama noticed that the control board that monitors things showed that we were only running on 30 amps.  We should be on 50 amp.  She called Dad and he came home from work because we didn't know if it was our problem or the park's problem.  The office is closed on weekends, so we needed to figure out the problem before they closed for the weekend.  It turned out that it is our problem.  We need to get some sort of a board like a computer board, I guess.  The folks tried to order one of Saturday, but the store couldn't do it because their Internet was down.  Dad asked if they could check on it and call us back so we could order it and they said "No".  Mama thought that was pretty funny because there is a sign on the door that says customers are their business.  The part is a few hundred dollars, so you would think that would have motivated them.  Everything is running fine, so we will order it when we get back to Missouri.

Saturday night, the folks ate at a Cuban restaurant.  It was Mama's first time. She said it was really good!  She didn't have any leftovers, so I can't tell you first hand.  They planned on eating a dessert that they love, but they were so full that they couldn't.  The dessert is Tres Leches, which is a cake that is soaked in evaporated, sweetened condensed and whole milks and topped with caramel sauce and whipped cream.  

Yesterday, the folks visited Fruit & Spice Park.  They took a tram tour where they learned about all sorts of fruits, but not that many spices.  They thought it was quite interesting.  They learned about poisonous plants that many people have in their yards.  Some of the plants will cause itching and people don't realize it is the plant doing it.  Unfortunately, Mama can't remember any of the names.  She is a lot of help isn't she?  She said that with all the traveling we are doing that she has to remember so many street names and such that her brain just can't hold much.  She is putting all that stuff into short term memory.  I think she is just getting old.

Jackfruit - Dad says it is really good to eat.

Dad looking at the bananas.

The tour guide.

Bamboo

This is a common plant here that most people do not realize has fruit on it. 

Mama thought this was called The Living Tree - but can't find anything on it.  It has a lot of water in it. It is supposed to bring you good luck if you put your left hand on it.  You can hear an echo if you knock on  it.

I apologize that my report isn't better.  Mama said the names that the tour guide gave them were not their common names, so that makes it even harder to remember them.  Mama said the park would be better if they had signs up telling you what things are. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Thinks This Post Is One Of His Worst Yet.  Hangs His Head In Shame.