Bear, Tammey, and I returned from a trip to Florida a couple of weeks ago and I have finally found the time to share a great experience with our Corgi friends. (I hope that none of my Texas Friends will make much to do about the fact that the Shiner Brewery Blog was posted the day we got home but I am a Texan and must set my priorities.) We had the chance to visit the Coral Castle in Homestead FL and it was better than I had expected it to be. I first heard of the Coral Castle years ago on one of those late night Believe it Or Not type TV shows and have always wanted to see it for myself and was just thrilled when I called and they said that there was room in the parking lot for my eighteen wheeler and of course I was welcome to bring Bear with me. Coral Castle is truely a beautiful and magical place! It was built by one little man named Ed Leedskalnin and to this day, no one knows how he did it. He never owned a motorized vehicel or any heave equipment. When Ed died in the early 50s he weighed less than 100 pounds and was only five feet tall. The only tools he owned are the hand tools that are on display there today. There are video taped interviews with the people who knew Ed and who grew up around the Coral Castle and no one ever saw him working on the castle. Although, he lived alone, he welcomed visitors and was well like by everyone who knew him. The Castle was open to the public with a 10 cent addmission.

The castle is built from blocks of coral that he excavated from the ground totaling more than 1000 tons. Some of the carved stones used to decorate the castle weigh up to 29 tons each. The individual stones that Ed Leedskalnin used to build his Coral Castle out-weigh any of the stones used to build the pyramids at Giza or any of the monoliths at Stonehenge.

Although, the Castle is in Homestead FL, it was originally built closer to Miami, Ed took it apart and moved it 28 miles to it's current location. He used an old truck frame as a trailer to carry the stones on and would hire a truck to come in the mornings and tow the loaded trailer to the Homestead location and return for the empty trailer after he removed and set the stones by himself.

If you are in South Florida this is a must see. And, be sure to bring your Corgi! Oh, what a great spot this would be for a Corgi gathering. There are lots more pictures in "our photos" on Bear's Page if you want to check them out.