Solomon Castle and a Boat in the Moat

Saturday, March 2, 2013

After seeing the Lipizzan Stallions, the band of 34 from Ancient Oaks RV Resort stopped by to see Solomon Castle in Ona, Florida on our way back to Okeechobee.  Ona is a few miles north of Arcadia Florida.

The castle was built by Howard Solomon in 1972.  It's a 12,000 square foot three story structure made from discarded aluminum printing plates.  It houses various sculptures and art work that Howard made from discarded materials.  The tour is full of puns and one liners, making it interesting and fun at the same time.  Howard is very creative and has a great sense of humor.

Since we arrived in time for lunch, we headed to the Boat In The Moat Restaurant for a delicious meal before touring the castle. Howard built the restaurant as a 16th century Spanish galleon.

 Here's Ted and Pat looking at the menu trying decide what to order for lunch.

This is Susan and Randy getting ready to order lunch.

Today is Susan's birthday.  So, we all sang Happy Birthday & enjoyed carrot cake for desert!

Here's Barry with the birthday girl.  (This was taken earlier as we left the Lipizzan show)

Next to the Boat in the Moat is the Light House.  Since Howard built the light house, there have been no ship wrecks here according to the tour guide!

This is the 12,000 sq. ft. castle made of discarded aluminum printing plates.

The two sculptures at the entrance were painted white and black. White is for day and black is for "knight"! I heard that groan. Hey, I am just quoting the tour guide!

The castle houses various sculptures and works of art that Howard made over the years from discarded and recycled materials like this elephant.

 This train is powered by a vacuum cleaner motor.

Here's our fun loving group. L to R: Craig, Debbie, Ted, Kitty, Randy, Pat, Susan, and Barry.

This is Sir Barry trying to help Madam Pat get on the castle horse.  Pat never made it to the top and Barry couldn't straighten up afterwards!  Ha!

And so ends another fun filled day for the over 55 gang. Who knows what we'll do next!