Epic Travel → North America → The South → Florida → Tampa Bay Area → Solomon’s Castle

Location: East of Sarasota, Florida

Time Required: 2-4 hours

Red Tape/Notes: Open 10am – 4pm, Tuesday to Sunday. Closed in August and September. Tickets for an adult are $18 for the traditional castle tour, and $24 to add the additional gallery of transportation related art (and see an awesome collection of pre-1935 cars)

What’s Nearby?: Deep Hole, Treeumph

This place is a bit of an oddity, but the art is actually really impressive. Here’s the deal: Howard Solomon was a super fascinating dude who created art in various mediums – sculpting, painting, building, etc. He bought a property in the backwoods of Florida where he could build the ultimate space to create and house his work. And by “the ultimate space” I mean a home that’s shaped like a small castle, covered in aluminum siding. Many of the windows are stained glass art pieces, and inside the castle is his home and his art gallery. His home is cute and has some really neat artistic features, and the art in the gallery is pretty amazing, especially if you have a penchant for found objects/recycled art. Brace yourself for an onslaught of truly terrible jokes by the tour guides, though. Perhaps I was numbed to the jokes by the time we moved to the second tour, but I don’t think there were as many. The second tour is a short walk from the castle, in a large unassuming looking free-standing garage in a field. Inside is Howard Solomon’s amazing collection of old cars (which I love) and some accompanying art. There’s not nearly as much art as in the castle, but who cares. I was there to see the cars, and they are beautiful. Other than the two tours, there’s also a large boat sitting in a moat and a lighthouse, both built by the artist. The boat contains the restaurant, so you can grab some food while you’re there. There’s no photography allowed inside any of the buildings, so you’ll have to visit yourself to see the art.

Epic Travel → North America → The South → Florida → Tampa Bay Area → Solomon’s Castle