A gaudy painted elephant stands in memory of south Florida's fallen carnies.

A lion given to the prime minister somehow got stuffed and sent to Florida.

A tribute to the furry local heroes who helped get residents through many tough times.

The museum chronicling a treasure hunter's dream, fulfilled.

This concrete sculpture features a woman opening her heart to showcase a beautiful fern.

This small Key West museum is packed with dozens of artifacts that illustrate the life of the iconic playwright.

The largest freshwater lake in the Florida Keys.

History is hiding at the Morean Center for Clay.

The site of a gold-digging conquistador's bloody landing in the Americas.

Four metal statues of massive animal penises stand outside the university's Animal Sciences building.

This railroad and oil tycoon's lavish estate now stands as a time capsule of the Gilded Age.

The ruins of a creative scholar's fantastical unfinished sanctuary act as his massive gravestone.

The highest point in Florida is still the lowest high point in the country.

In a city crazy for seashells this museum educates and amazes visitors using the wonder of cast-off exoskeletons.

Get up close with some alligators at this roadside farm attraction.

A historic presidential getaway on the continental United States' southernmost island.

Remarkably realistic Florida shoal bass "swim" inside this large globoid sculpture.

A sprawling maze of used books piled from floor to ceiling.

This lush Florida island is home to the ruins of a crooked ship breaker's tiny empire.

"Bite or Smite" became the unlikely mascot of a Tampa suburb.

A graveyard of bathyspheres and diving bells paints a weirdly accurate account of ocean exploration's rickety history.

A local landmark with generations of spraypainted messages, and more being added each day.

The world's largest private aircraft collection.

An idyllic swimming pool tells the tale of Hemingway's trouble with women.