Florida's Quirky Gems: 10 Things You Won't Find Anywhere Else

Visit the Vortex Spring, a cave diving spot with an underwater world that stretches into a cavern that gives way to a river over 1600 feet.

[{"selector":"#anim-8fe8bc6c-7f56-4758-a302-8f503405a82d","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-cd6a89f7-57aa-43df-a0ee-560220e982d2","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 140.49531%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

See Hemingway’s House, Ernest Hemingway’s former home in Key West, Florida, which is now a museum.

[{"selector":"#anim-531fda92-a672-4e04-9926-0b5949173fbc","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-ab66a5d7-2579-440e-8a5b-45b9564b1f68","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 173.95267%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Eat at the Bubbleroom, a restaurant on Captiva Island known for its addictive bubble bread and wild rainbow decor.

[{"selector":"#anim-5a50d08c-d228-4324-981b-fef8fa8998be","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-5c75c580-c6ea-45bd-97b4-d24f5eb675ad","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 143.85577%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

See Coral Castle, a castle built by Latvian Edward Leedskalnin over 25 years, refusing anyone to see it before it was finished.

[{"selector":"#anim-a952c4a6-37b9-46b6-a08c-0a5ea0f7cb1f","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-34fd3b6b-b933-4d25-acc0-86e17846ff5f","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 143.85577%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Visit the Haunted Houses of Florida, especially in Saint Augustine, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the continental United States.

[{"selector":"#anim-4349c547-d7ed-4c64-8afe-60a30a89d42a","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-9c191076-0073-4793-ab74-bd1e62704bcb","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 148.78233%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

The Airstream Ranch was a unique landmark in Tampa that looked like Stonehenge and was made of classic campers.

[{"selector":"#anim-2d32b125-ed46-4ea6-bc1b-951502ede0f7","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-6dc52e7b-baa9-4e2c-a2ec-c76eab7bd1bf","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 139.19330%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Jules Undersea Lodge is an underwater hotel in Key Largo that you can only get to by SCUBA diving.

[{"selector":"#anim-b8d53d54-859f-4f3f-9a9e-916f57e4e2e4","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-da1b7bae-4b3d-454d-9a47-d94358d59bbb","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 185.66002%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

The Ring Museum is a museum in Sarasota that houses the rich pageantry of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

[{"selector":"#anim-ecb7df95-d329-4e00-bb28-062ac0b479a7","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-62b8304a-6263-4385-9f54-a458fc8e077c","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 149.46725%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Check out The Real “Bat Country”: the University of Gainsville’s Bat Houses, the largest conservatory of bats anywhere in the world.

[{"selector":"#anim-96ddb341-1a82-4d41-ba84-5974fc61967c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-6682ab8d-54dd-4df5-936f-8a11fe4030e7","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 148.78233%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

The Butterfly World: the largest collection of butterflies on the planet, located in Coconut Grove

[{"selector":"#anim-ff371cf5-4020-4c87-adbd-4000a449dbdb","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-470b8071-4c0b-4c81-986b-c00723cc49b0","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 185.66002%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]