The snowbirds here are circus sideshow performers.

A luxuriant botanical garden below sea level.

One-time winter retreats of prolific inventor Thomas Edison and his friend Henry Ford.

Given just one more year to live, Conrad Schuck built his dream house in Bartow, Florida.

These crumbling foundations are all that remain of the once-stately 1840s manor that gave the town of Bradenton its name.

Former utopian colony based on the belief that the universe exists in a hollow sphere.

A gleaming white tower in ornate Indian style soars above the low-slung bungalows of north Tampa.

Despite being made of a seashell mortar, the crumbling remains of this historic Florida mill are still standing.

The ruins of a once-thriving sugarcane plantation that was burned in the Second Seminole War.

The ruins of this antebellum sugar plantation are the end result of a Seminole attack during the Florida Wars of 1836.

The scuba diving training facility was named for the steam that rises from the cave's chimney.

Where manatees are the snowbird vacationers in these balmy Florida springs.

The haunting "Hell House Altar" is one of the few remnants of an abandoned college that has been a magnet for local legends.

The institution is sitting on a goldmine of 21,000 paints, varnishes, pigments, and primers preserved for posterity.

A three-story tower of books about Abraham Lincoln is one of the more unusual monuments to the president.

A fantastic array of trays and cables once whisked books over to the Capitol at 600 feet per minute.

A brass plaque dedicated to a convicted cannibal hangs in the National Press Club, and that's not even the craziest part of the story.

Go take a picture with the inventor of the daguerreotype photographic process.

This stunning blue and gold room changed cities twice before becoming part of the Smithsonian.

The national park was once a plantation estate.

The most accurate timepiece in the world.

The oldest continuously operating fish market in the United States.

Seemingly unremarkable items like empty sushi trays, chef hats, and freshness stickers are being preserved so future generations can look back on this beloved cultural import.

The Byzantine, pre-Columbian, and medieval art at this stately mansion are some of the most under-appreciated collections in D.C.