From Angelina’s tattoos and necklaces to Britney’s possible conversion, the flutter of the heart has caused many a romantic to fall out of the coo-coo’s nest. With Valentine’s Day just over a week away, this makes for some interesting tourism possibilities. Most famous of these is, of course, the Taj Mahal. I’ve never been, but imagine it blows the neon-pink petals off the papier-mâché flower given to me by a well-intended but not particularly artistic ex-boyfriend. In this vein of the love-struck homage is the Coral Castle, which bakes like a beautiful but overheated valentine in the Florida sun just outside Miami.

The Coral Castle is considered one of the mysteries of the architectural world. It really is carved entirely of coral, and took 28 years to complete. A labor of love in the truest sense, no one ever actually witnessed its being built, and it’s believed that its lovesick little creator, Ed Leedskalnin (who weighed only 100 pounds) worked on it entirely under the cover of night, using only handmade tools salvaged from a nearby junkyard.

Poor Ed--his dearly beloved left him the day before they were to be married, and he never got over it. If he could just build this castle, he’d win back her heart, or so he thought. Over 1,000 tons of coral later, he may have realized that his love quest had taken a wrong turn, so he did what any resourceful castle-builder would do at the time: he turned it into a tourist attraction, charging 10 cents admission for curiosity seekers who came from far and wide to see what love can build.

The price to enter has leaped to a little less than $10, and for that, you can decide if Ed was a romantic or a whack. Either way, I definitely agree with the sign at the gate: “you will be seeing unusual accomplishment.”