Saturday, December 06, 2008

Solomon's Castle - 12/06/08

We were nine for breakfast at Snellgroves this morning - J.T., Debbie, Bill, Boyd, Eddie, Robert, Lloyd, Mark and I. Unfortunately five had plans for the day that did not include riding. So, Boyd, Robert, Lloyd, Mark and set out in a light sprinkle and headed for Solomon's Castle via Hopewell, Nichols, Pine Dale, Pierce, Agricola, Baird, Fort Green, Vandolah, Ona, and Bridges. Unfortunately, Boyd succumbed to an upset stomach around Fort Green Springs and headed for home.

Turning off CR-665 onto Solomon Road brought us to our destination. Solomon’s Castle is well hidden in a copse of trees and is not visible from the road or even the parking lot. Rounding a corner of the drive, you are met with your first view of the castle.

The aluminum skin is made from old printing plates from the Wachula newspaper. In fact, just about everything on the premises is made from reclaimed material. Luckily, today was rather cloudy which made the glare off the siding bearable.

You can see that the guard dog was not much disturbed by our presence.

I tried to get a location shot of the guys around the horse statue. I’m not sure what Lloyd was doing when the picture was taken and I don’t think I want to know.

The front entrance of the castle is guarded by two salvaged suits of armor called Knight and Day.















The castle is also protected by a dragon – a huge iguana named, Igor.

While Robert and I waited for the tour to begin, Lloyd and Mark settled into the restaurant aboard the “Boat in the Moat”, a near full scale replica of Columbus’ ship, the Santa Maria.

Now begins the tour of the castle, which may be described as a “corny-copious” display of excellent art and very bad puns. No offense to our guide, Dusty. It is what Mr. Solomon requires. Artists! Most of the art work, including sculptures, paintings, and stained glass windows, is also created from reclaimed materials. Here are a few representative samples of Mr. Solomon’s art.

About ten minutes into the tour, Robert and I were looking for an exit. When the tour entered the restaurant and we saw Mark and Lloyd sitting in a quiet corner sipping cold beverages, we decided the time had come to say goodbye to Dusty and join our buddies. Robert and I both concluded that the ten dollars spent on the tour would have been much better spent in the restaurant where the food was good and the beer was cold. A word to the wise for future visitors.

Gunny


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