Day 15 an unexpected treat

We woke up to clear skies and much cooler temperatures this morning after yesterday thunderstorms that ran from 5pm until around 11pm. I knew that it would not stay cool long, but it was refreshing for at least part of the day. The first leg of our ride today was about 100 to 110 miles riding in and out a very small communities. There are some very nice pieces of property on the out skirts of Lakeland and if wasn't for the scorching heat and flat straight roads, I might consider this place.

We stopped in a little town named Arcadia to refill the Valkyrie with fuel and then headed to our only stop on this ride, Solomon's Castle. I didn't know really what to expect other than a castle looking building made from aluminum plates. So we leave the gas station and I'm smoking through the country following the GPS and I blow by the wooden sign for the place. Make a u-turn and take the road back to small parking lot. To my surprise, we are not the only ones here. We are in the middle of nowhere, so I expected to see no one.

Get off the bike, walk the short distance through the driveway slant entrance and there it is, the Castle. It looks just like a Castle made out of aluminum. Ok, before we take the tour, we must eat. I knew that there was a restaurant here named, "The Boat in the Moat." What a cool looking place and the food was good to. After lunch we took the tour of the castle and this is where all the pieces started to come together about the castle and the restaurant.

Mr. Solomon is an artist that builds whats in his head using other peoples junk or recycling it. He never throws anything away knowing that something might come to mind that needs building. I'm not an art person in no form or fashion, but I do like mechanical things. I like knowing how they work and what makes them work. This artist builds things that sometimes function but what is more interesting is that he builds things with pipes, shocks, springs, barrels, coat hangers, wood, and anything that fits in his mind. He built the entire house/castle himself form recycled material. The aluminum hanging on the exterior of the house is from a local printing facility, so his material at the time of build was free.

Here is something else that was kind of cool. Most of the time when your looking at an artist stuff he or she is dead so you never really know the person. We were told during the tour that sometimes Mr. Solomon is around working in his shops or doing whatever. So we were wondering around the property and we entered the newest item that he created, the facial of the Alamo on the entrance of his workshop. That was some amazing looking work. There he was, working in the shop. So we mozyed in starting to look at the things he had recently created and was creating and he started to talk to us. We chatted for at least 20 or 30 minutes about things like where we were from, what he was using to create he new art, his collection of old cars, and marriage. During the tour they told us he was on his 5th marriage. Well Lori couldn't let that go and she had to ask the question point blank. Lori asked, "They tells us that you on your 5th wife." Then this frail, slightly bent over, 74 year old man got this sly little grin on his face and fired right back at Lori without a flinch, "I'm not on her as much as I liked to be." You should have seen Lori's Oh My Face!! It was priceless. She did not see that one coming. I laughed at that for the better part of the afternoon.

I wish that I could remember all the funny names that this man had given to each item of art that he created. He has some serious talent. The only way to see and appreciate it is to see it in person, but the next best thing is to check out the 40 pictures that I took. Look closely at the items and you will see some everyday items in most pieces. Pretty cool stuff.  As far as the restaurant goes, he built a 65 foot boat that was going to be used as a gift shop, but his daughter and son-in-law converted it into a restuarant that is quit the conversation piece.

We ended our day back in Lakeland and once again with temperatures reaching 94 degrees. The same old thunderstorm came rolling in here once again right about 5 o'clock and lasted about hour and half. Then we walked over the Cracker Barrel to do dinner and called it a night.

Tomorrow we will heading to the Gulf Coast to see some beaches, shopping, and just stuff. I plan to let Lori do a little more shopping if she chooses to and we want to do that before the afternoon heat rolls in.

Last couple of things to mention, tomorrow will be Lori and I's 28th wedding anniversary. I have know idea how she did it. Daniel our second and last child, left the United States yesterday and should be in Spain now. From Spain he will go to Afghanistan, then to England, and then back to the United States. In case you do not know, Daniel is in the West Virginia Air National Guard. Should be a 5 day trip, but the last trip he took lasted 12 days. Ok, now to the pictures and tomorrow map.

Today’s mileage =  196
Total for the trip = 3535

Day 16 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging