Places mdesilva Wants to Go

In Florida, these naughty monkeys live on their own mini-monkey Alcatraz.

A peaceful, unique botanical garden complete with waterfalls, mini islands, and swans.

The only Florida state park with publicly accessible caves.

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

A tribute to Ponce de Leon's supposed quest for eternal youth.

A luxuriant botanical garden below sea level.

The former home of the Nobel Prize-winning American writer is now home to dozens of six-toed cats.

An oddities shop that dabbles in the deathly and beautiful.

The behemoth beasts engaged in an epic battle is the second-tallest statue in the contiguous United States.

A celebration of the animation wizard's childhood home and antique railroad memorabilia collection.

With nickel-steel armor and three-inch thick bullet resistant windows, FDR's train was a rolling fortress.

This beautiful Miami garden was designed as a laboratory for tropical plants.

Two men built this castle on the Florida coast as an artistic “landscape sculpture.”

Six miles off the coast of Key West, a former military transport ship is now one of the largest artificial reefs in the world.

A small poultry graveyard in the courtyard of a popular Key West watering hole.

The island residents are known for taking their quirky sense of humor with them to the grave.

Visitors are welcome to enter this lush Key West sanctuary to entertain its plethora of rescued parrots.

These remote Florida islands have a history of sea turtles and sunken treasures, and one of the world’s largest coastal brick fortresses.

This recently rediscovered Civil War-era submarine was the first to ever sink an enemy ship.

Amazing pre-Civil War ruins alongside a shallow, rocky river that hosts beautiful (but endangered) lilies.

North America's oldest authentic African Village.

4,000 monkeys used for medical testing on an island off of South Carolina.

Paths are maintained, but trees have taken over plots.

"Not too many people can say they've had a nuclear bomb dropped on them, not too many would want to." — Walter Gregg.