Mr. Solomon was eccentric to say the least! The castle is completely covered with used printing plates from the Tampa newspaper...thus the silver color. No photos were allowed inside the castle, but everything was more than unique. He never found a piece of ANYTHING that he didn't recycle into art of some type, such as a life-sized elephant made of 55 gallon drums with clam shell toes, manatee rib tusks and and vintage oil can spout tail!

He was a huge proponent of puns...so they were everywhere...like "Rooms to Go" for the restrooms! :)

The grounds were covered with flora and fauna, the nature trail had some beautiful old oaks with Spanish moss and Polly, the resident kitty was friendly and had alot more toes than most kitties! While we didn't eat in "The Boat in the Moat," we did have a scrumptious lunch!

How interesting to hear the history of the famous Lippizan stallions and to learn about their extensive training! Did you know they are ALL born brown or black? And that they don't start turning white until they are 5-6 years old? They never wear a saddle until they are six years old...they spend their early years learning to follow commands and behave as expected. They don't really master the famous Lippizan maneuvers until they are into the teenage years because their rear legs aren't strong enough until they get older.

We met a rare Lippizan that remained brown (bay), six year old Jagger who was still grey in the mane and was performing with the youngest Hermann member for the first time...and several of the older horses who performed their signature moves for us.

It was an INCREDIBLE day!