Our April issue features more than 10 quirky roadside attractions in our sprawling state. But we only scratched the surface of fun that awaits you on four wheels. Here are five more destinations worth the trip.
Coral Castle
28655 S. Dixie Highway, Homestead
The grande dame of Florida roadside attractions, Coral Castle is not one edifice but a assemblage of more than 30 limestone sculptures, each built for a purpose by a diminutive Latvian émigré, Edward Leedskalnin, over the course of some three decades beginning in 1923. Visitors can enter the 9-ton gate and observe a throne, a Polaris telescope and a sundial accurate to the minute, among other achievements. The lore of Coral Castle is integral to the site’s appeal. Leedskalnin built the project in secret, reportedly without help or access to sophisticated technology; he claimed to have discovered how the pyramids in Giza were built. Next time you’re in Homestead, see if you can crack the code.
Spongeorama
510 Dodecanese Blvd., Tarpon Springs
If you thought the selection of sponges was extensive at your favorite supermarket, wait until you get a load of the enormous array of marine invertebrates amassed in the central Florida coastal town of Tarpon Springs, recognized as the Sea Sponge Capital of the World. It’s estimated that 90 percent of natural sea sponges collected globally are fished in Tarpon Springs. Its tradition of sponge diving, often tied into the area’s Greek immigrant population, dates back to the early 1900s. At Spongeorama, which specializes in the “crème de la crème” of sponges worldwide, you can take home your own new bath-and-body accessory, one that more resembles a Tribble from “Star Trek” than the generic green-and-yellow variety from Walmart. While you’re there, check out the shop’s exhibit center, with its educational (if kind of creepy!) life-size dioramas of sponge diving.
The Official Skunk Ape Headquarters
40904 Tamiami Trail E., Ochopee
For a town in nowhere’s-ville, Ochopee boasts at least three attractions worth visiting—the Nation’s Smallest Post Office and the Big Cypress Gallery, both spotlighted in our April issue, and this endearing testament to Florida’s stinkiest and most beloved cryptid. The Sunshine State’s answer to Bigfoot, this hairy biped has reportedly made its home in the Everglades, where it is estimated to weigh up to 450 pounds and reach seven feet in height. If you’re fortunate to run into operators Dave and Jack Shealy while you’re in town, they can share the knowledge they’ve gleaned about the mysterious creature. Visitors to the center, which is located inside the Trail Lakes campground, can purchase skunk ape merch; enjoy the company of one of the largest snakes held in captivity, a 24-foot-long, 400-pound python (part of an onsite animal exhibit); and take an Everglades tour with expert guides. Skunk ape sightings, of course, are not guaranteed.
The Monument of States
300 E. Monument Ave., Kissimmee
It’s easy to feel a swell of patriotic pride when basking in the Monument of States, a Kissimmee tourist attraction with roots in wartime morale boosting. Charles W. Bressler-Pettis, a retired Florida physician, conceived the idea of the step pyramid-style totem following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. To encourage solidarity in the American and Allied war effort, he sought, and received, donations of rocks from all 50 states and from countries around the world. President Franklin D. Roosevelt even gifted the project with a rock from his New York estate. Bressler-Pettis topped the structure with a sculpted eagle and an American flag. The hodgepodge of materials—native granite, fossils, building blocks, quartz and even a human skull—reflects the foundation of the country itself, as a collection of distinct states unified by a national sensibility.
Robert is Here fruit stand
19200 S.W. 344th St., Homestead
While you’re in Homestead, stock up on fruits found in few other Florida locales at this produce depot with an eccentric backstory. Its name dates to the childhood of owner Robert Moehling, who was only 7 years old, and thus difficult to see from the side of the road, when his father set up a coffee table loaded with cucumbers. A sign, “Robert is Here,” identified the young merchant’s presence. By 14, the enterprising Moehling began to grow his own mangoes, and at 24 he opened the giant market that still bears the name of his father’s sign. Robert is Here has been dubbed the “Disney World of tropical fruit” for good reason. It carries such exotic varieties as dragonfruit, lychee and sapodilla as well as the cucumber-shaped but sweet Monstera deliciosa. Visitors can enjoy milkshakes from any tropical fruit in the house, and in season, they can even buy a jackfruit that weighs up to 80 pounds—enough bang for your protein buck that you may be OK with giving up meat.
This Web Extra is from the April 2025 issue of Boca magazine. For more like this, click here to subscribe to the magazine.
