Before we set out to explore the day we stopped to say hello to our parking lot neighbors. Nice couple from Germany.  They are exploring the US and will go to Alaska next summer. When I asked if I could take a picture of their rig he laughed and said that would be picture number 2,432.

German RV

The Choral Castle Museum got our attention in the travel brochures so we went to have a look.  Built from 1920 to 1940 Edward Leedskalnin, an immigrant from Latvia, built this castle of coral as a monument to the girl who broke his heart back in Latvia.  So says the legend.

This part of Florida is composed of coral and covered by only a few inches of topsoil. The tour guide explained about this love story and about how the castle was built.  Inside the castle walls is a garden area with tables and chairs all made of coral.

Coral Castle

There are many stories and myths about the castle and there are a lot of Masonic signs and symbols.  So was this about a monument to a lost love? or something else?  Who knows.

Coral Castle

There were a few interesting palm trees there too.  The Travelers Palm, fan-shaped, named so because each leaf base could accumulate rain water and travelers would look for this when they were thirsty.

Travelers Palm

Next we went to a Dade County Park and had lunch at a nice restaurant that overlooked the swimming hole by the Ocean.  Clouds rolling in.

Dade County Park

As we walked the path around the swimming hole we see this crocodile caution sign between the swim area and the ocean.  We looked and looked but did not see any.

Crocodile Warning

Next to the county park is the Biscayne National Park.  This is more of an underwater park, great for SCUBA divers to explore coral reefs and sunken ships.  Since we forgot to pack our SCUBA gear we just enjoyed the lovely visitor center and watched the movie.

Biscayne National Park

There are farm fields in this area south of Miami.  Many of the crops we were not able to identify, but we had no trouble when we saw this sweetcorn field.  We also saw some tomato fields, and strawberries.

Corn!

I am feeling for my Minnesota friends and family right now. Temps there are -2F and we sit here sweating it out in steamy 84F temps.  It is still very humid so back we go to the RV for some much-needed air conditioning.

Yikes!

• Gasoline Expense: $50 @ $3.49
• Lodging Expense:  none
• Admission:              $30