Not Just Another Roadside Attraction

Sunken Gardens (St. Petersburg) -While the gardens themselves are the oldest attraction in the state (1903), they were a private project before eventually opening to the public in 1938, barely getting beaten out by Cypress Gardens for the official title. It was recently taken over by the city, so the alligator wrestling and other shows are gone. It's now more of an outdoor botanical museum, which may be the wave of the future for other venerable landmarks.

Sponge-O-Rama (Tarpon Springs) - The history of the sponge! Hurray! Who wouldn't love the sponge district in northern Pinellas County? It's as much a cultural experience as tourist destination, the quaint businesses in the Greek enclave still operated by descendants of the original divers. The gift shops and Mediterranean restaurants along Dodecanese Boulevard are anchored by the Sponge-O-Rama exhibit that will tell you the whole story. (And for the parents, there's traditional belly-dancing nightly at Zorba's.)

Cypress Gardens (Winter Haven) - The oldest Florida attraction of all opened in 1936. Water-ski tricks and Southern belles with parasols. Another childhood mystery of mine: What's going on under those hoop skirts?

Coral Castle (Homestead) - In the 1920s, a heartbroken Edward Leedskalnin began constructing this monument to his fiancée back in Latvia, who had canceled their wedding. It's a mystery to this day how the slight man of 100 pounds single-handedly moved blocks of hewn coral weighing many tons each. Theories involve gravitation grids, magnetism and UFOs. Whatever the method, Leedskalnin died with the secret in 1951. But the results of his obsession are a beautiful and fascinating glimpse into early frontier life south of Miami. Today, it's a new kind of Florida frontier. The area around the castle has become so dicey that the attraction is now ringed with spools of concertina wire like those you'd find at a maximum-security prison. Yikes.