Both John and I had read years ago about Edward Leedskainin and his ability to singlehandedly move huge stones. A small man who weighed in at around 100 pounds moved Stonehenge size rocks and the end result of his 28-years labour is Rock Gate House, later renamed Coral Castle.
Personally, I prefer Ed's moniker for his creation if only because castle suggests an actual castle and this is far from that! Still, this relatively small conclave is a true wonder.
My one complaint about the guided tour is the blatant withholding of information regarding Ed's process. The hype about Ed's 'secret', including possible help from aliens and goodness knows what else, is nothing short of a business ploy to garner repeat visitors and IMHO justify the rather expensive entry fee. Thank goodness there is ample information available on the web and this next video offers one explanation of how anyone can move multi-ton rocks.
No matter how Ed really did it, Rock Gate House is impressive.
He incorporated rocking chairs, wells, sundials and just about every object one would expect to find in a residence - all made of rock.
This 2-storey 'tower' is used to store Ed's simple tools on the ground floor while the second storey is a personal enclosure equipped with a swing chair and rough cot for sleeping.
At any given time during our visit there were 30-40 other people around yet it was still possible to take photos without a single person in sight.
Tropical flowers were here and there. This one was particularly beautiful.
Shortly after we entered the enclosure I spotted this little guy watching the tourists from afar. Love his colouring!
And then, huddled in near the actual rock gate that gave Ed the inspirational name for his creation we spotted this cat taking a reprieve from the hot sun - and tourists because no one could climb over the rail!
Coral Castle is a testament to one man's determination, originality and creativity and well worth a visit if you are in the Miami area.
This concludes our posts from Florida. Again we'd like to thank Billie, Steve, Katherine and Paul for making it possible. Stay tuned for our next stop - Lisbon Portugal.
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