I discovered the Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial completely by accident. While on a visit to a botanical garden, I found a giant hand sculpture in view just behind a large wall at the garden.

I spent the next hour in complete shock at the gruesome images of mothers losing their babies, dead bodies all around, and a sick, defining silence I just could not escape.

The memorial opened in 1990 after six years of construction and is free to enter. It is a must-visit if you are in Miami Beach but be warned that I witnessed many men and women breaking down in tears after just a few minutes spent in the memorial.

Click here for Google Maps directions.

These pictures were taken in early 2007. I have driven by a few of them recently and some, if not all have been destroyed by weather and/or idiots who think they have talent.

If you know of any good places to find works like this in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach, drop me a comment and I will take my camera to document it.

Edward Leedskalnin was a romantic man. That, if nothing else is perfectly clear. After getting stood up by his love and bride to-be, he fled his homeland of Latvia and took an airplane to the United States, with nothing more than the clothes on his back, and a broken heart that would be the inspiration of an amazing work of art.

It took Ed almost 30 years but little by little, without the help of sophisticated tools or extra manpower, Ed built a castle for his love, made of nothing but giant coral stones. What Ed did is amazing on its own but how he did it is a secret he took to his grave.

There are urban legends about Ed being able to lift the stones with some sort of mysterious magnetic power only he knew how to used; a bunch of local kids from the 50’s claim they witnessed Ed singing to the stones as they levitated through the air. Thankfully, no one really knows how Ed did it, but I am grateful that I was able to tour such a historic piece of Americana.

Below are some of the pictures I took from my visit. If you live in Florida or are planning on visiting soon, stop by the amazing Coral Castle. For a measly $10 entrance, you just can’t go wrong.