R. Doug Wicker — Author

Ursula and I only recently returned from a two-month trip that took us first to Miami, where we caught up with our younger daughter Tracy for a brief visit, then onto a transatlantic cruise to Southhampton, U.K.; followed by a flight to Bucharest, Romania; a stay in Cairo, Egypt; a flight to Aswan, Egypt where we hoped aboard a Nile cruise to Luxor; a stop at our favorite hotel in Istanbul, Turkey; a jaunt down south to Cape Town, South Africa; a cruise along the western coast of Africa to Lisbon, Portugal with stops in Walvis Bay, Namibia; Luanda, Angola; São Tomé; Abidian, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast); Dakar, Senegal; Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands; and Las Palmas on Gran Canaria, Canary Islands. From there we hoped a flight to Amsterdam with the primary goal of visiting Keukenhof Gardens.

Needless to say, it’s been a busy couple of months that started on 5 February, and didn’t end until we arrived back in El Paso on 3 April. And guess what? I’ve been rummaging through well over 2,200 images, culling them down to around 1,800 (I probably deleted at least 300 more during the trip). Beginning today, I shall take you on a visual tour of this epic adventure beginning with the famous Coral Castle.

The reason for our visit to Coral Castle is simple. Tracy has lived in this area for many years and always wanted to visit it, but never seemed to find the time. So off we trundled in her vehicle on our way toward making her dream come true.

This large, impressive complex was built entirely by one man, Edward “Ed” Leedskalnin (1887-1951), a Latvian immigrant who had his heart broken at the tender age of 26 by his 16-year-old fiancée, Agnes Skuvst just one day before they were to exchange vows. Coral Castle was his tribute to his unrequited love.

When you look at the size of the limestone blocks in these images you wonder, how the heck did he do that all alone? Well, prepare to be shocked. The present location just north of Homestead isn’t even the original site. Most of these structures were originally constructed near Florida City, some ten miles to the southwest of the castle’s current location. So, not only did Ed build this stuff alone, he also disassembled it, moved it ten miles, and reassembled it… alone!

Aerial view of Coral Castle (Google Maps image):

How did Ed do that? Levitation? Aliens? Magical powers? No one knows for sure because he refused to allow anyone to watch him work. He even transported the structures at night to maintain the aura of mystery. But there is a logical, non-paranormal explanation. Reglardless of what you believe, Ed was a very inventive man. Here’s a repurposed Ford Model T differential that he crafted into a meat roaster:

And here’s the structure in which it is housed:

Rock structures aren’t the only sights here, and tourists are not the only visitors. As with much of Florida these days, invasive species can be found even here. This is a red-headed rock agama, which is indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa:

Cute. Colorful. And they rule the limestone roost. They’re everywhere here. But that’s not what draws the crowds. We’ll view more on this mystery on Wednesday, but until then here’s one last image for today:

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)