WRITING SAMPLE

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SOLOMON’S FANTASY
by Adele Woodyard
(published in MOTORHOME “Crossroads” Sept., 2000)

The 11,000 square foot “castle” rises in all its shining splendor above 55 acres of Central Florida swampland. A yellow brick path leads to an entrance guarded by two knights in full armor. The Boat-in-the-Moat restaurant, a 65-foot replica of a 16th century Spanish galleon floats alongside the castle’s gleaming turrets and flying buttresses. A recent addition is a B&B shaped like a lighthouse. And king-of-the-castle Howard Solomon, a 70ish year old wisp of a man, built the whole shebang with his own two hands.

Unlike Disney’s Mickey Mouseland, this rural fantasy sits so far out in the “boonies” it’s a wonder anyone finds it. Yet ever since the castle opened to the public in 1984, thousands have come by tour bus and private car. Visitors pass beneath the sharp-pointed portcullis to enter a unique gallery where all the art, like the castle itself, is made of junk. Solomon’s laugh-a-minute tour leads them through rooms filled with animals, weird figures and assorted vehicles sculpted from materials salvaged from junkyards. A green monster lurks in the castle’s dungeon. The skeleton that hangs in the bell tower is there “because,” Solomon, a recognized artist/sculptor says, “it refused to pay its lunch tab.” 15,000 coat hangars turn into a 12 foot tall giraffe. Lamp shades, brake drums, and other scrap become a locomotive. Three dimensional paintings made of wood hang on the walls, and light shines through 80 stained glass windows.

Whatever turn his artistic imagination takes, his creations continue to surprise and delight the viewer. Off the beaten track, but definitely worth the trip. Located near the small town of Ona, off State Road 64 (Old Cracker Trail), about 8 miles west of U.S. Hwy 17, 39 miles east of Bradenton (I-75). $10.00 adult, $4.00 child under 12. Open 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Tues.-Sun. October through June. 4533 Solomon Road, Ona; 863-494-6077. www.solomonscastle.org