Oddball Florida

This entertaining guide directs travelers to the off-the-wall and offbeat destinations in Florida, home of gator wrestlers, school bus demolition derbies, Hemingway wannabes, the Fountain of Youth, the Nudist Hall of Fame, and a utopian community based on the premise that the earth is not round, but concave. Additional oddball attractions include a graveyard for roosters, the world’s largest strawberry, the world’s smallest police station, and museums dedicated to seashells, hamburgers, oranges, teddy bears, sponges, air conditioning, and one very old petrified cat. Documenting local oddities and forgotten history, this travel guide covers Florida in six regions with maps and detailed directions for each site as well as phone numbers, hours, websites, and various photographs.

“A travel guide with a twist, providing plenty of opportunities to revel in the strangeness on public display.”  —The Bloomsbury Review on Oddball Indiana

“This is not your parents' travel book, but in the new millennium, all travel guides will be written like this.”  —Chuck Shepard, author of the column “News of the Weird,” on Oddball Illinois

“One irresistible guidebook.”  —Chicago Tribune on Oddball Illinois

Jerome Pohlen is the author of Oddball Minnesota, Oddball Colorado, Oddball Indiana, Oddball Illinois, and Oddball Wisconsin. He is a regular travel commentator for 848 on WBEZ, the Chicago affiliate of National Public Radio. He lives in Chicago.