By Cheri Sicard
The team at Good Mythical Morning has compiled their picks of the 8 weirdest roadside attractions in the U.S. Roadside Americana has been entertaining Americans since road-tripping began, and the 8 picks here are must-sees for fans of high highway kitsch.
#1 Nicholas Cage’s pyramid-shaped tomb in New Orleans: Apparently the actor is said to have bought this tomb to appease the ghosts in his haunted mansion, who he believes ruined his career. Whatever you say, Nic.
#2 The Fountain of Youth: No wonder Ponce de León had trouble finding it. He was searching in Florida when it is actually in Lewiston, Delaware. Dutch settlers discovered the Fountain of Youth in the 17th century. Don’t expect any water though.
#3 The world’s largest collection of the smallest versions of the largest things: Lucas, Kansas, is home to this weird museum. For instance, there’s a small version of the world’s largest frying pan. The collection is all housed in a kitschy trailer.
#4 The nuclear waste adventure trail: The home of a former explosives factory and uranium refinery in Weldon Spring, Missouri, this place was abandoned in the 1960s with 1.48 million cubic yards of toxic nuclear waste. The EPA covered it with rocks in the 1980s, and then put an “Adventure trail” on top of it all. Climb to the top and see five counties!
#5 The world’s largest ball of twine: What would a list of the weirdest roadside attractions be without this classic, located in Cawker City, Kansas? This attraction started in 1953 when farmer Frank Stoeber started rolling his twine and people have been adding to it ever since.
#6 Grave in the road: Located in Franklin, Indiana, this is not a road SIDE attraction—it is an actual grave right smack dab in the middle of the road! No road ran through Nancy Barnett’s grave when she was buried there in 1831, but for whatever reason, the city built a road right through the cemetery in 1901. Nancy’s grandson greeted the building crew, sitting on his grandma’s grave with a shotgun. The solution? Build the road around the grave. A memorial marks the spot today.
#7 Gorilla holding a VW Bug: the Pioneer Auto Sales room in Leicester, Vermont, has an unforgettable sign out front in the form of a GIANT gorilla powerlifting a VW Bug above its head with one arm. The primate’s other arm stretches down so people can sit in it.
#8 The world’s largest Pez dispensing machine: In Burlingame, California, near San Francisco, you can find a 7 foot 10 inch tall Pez dispenser in the Pez Museum. Turns out the Pez company did not like this unauthorized attraction claiming to be the world’s largest Pez dispenser, so it is now called the world’s largest Pez dispensing machine.
Have you visited any of these weird attractions? Do you have other weird roadside attraction favorites? Drop a comment below and let us know about them.
##RVDT2109
Yes, weird to be sure. Also, I never realized that “weird” is one of the exceptions to the I-before-E-except-after-C spelling rule. I bet you didn’t know that, to quote Burt Lancaster’s Moonlight Graham character in the Field of Dreams movie.
If you’ve decided go to Cawker City Kansas you might as well continue on north to Smith Center Kansas to the Geographic Center of the lower 48 states of America. On your way there Lake Waconda is a beautiful place to camp and take the time to visit the small but remarkable museum. The name Waconda is the name that native Americans gave to a spring that is now covered by the lake. It was the one meeting place that all tribes would come together and there could be no fighting.
These places of interest are close enough to include Lucas which in addition has the Garden of Eden with its unique statues and burial vault of the artist’s wife.
One of my favorite websites is https://www.roadsideamerica.com/
Some of their attractions listed are not that great and are just worth a drive by if your in the area. But others are definitely worth a stop, so I always look over the map when I’m in an area. Folks can contribute by listing attractions too. I think one of my favorites is the ‘Dancing Rabbits’ in Dublin, OH, it’s a huge metal sculpture that you need to see up close to appreciate.
Darwin MN is home to the largest ball of twine made by one man. https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2128
Another attraction along the highways that you don’t see very often, (men working in the work zone).:):)
Excellent observation! Years ago the word spread that thousands of CALTRANS (CA Dept of Transportation) workers were going to be laid off because of an invention from Japan. A shovel that could stand up by itself!
LOL !
World’s Largest Fountain Drink Cup in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. (It’s close to a great Trail of Tears State Park that has full hookups).