In the spring of 2001, I took a massive four-day road trip through the Midwest United States (Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois) to photograph "Big Things" as well as to visit my Grandparents on both sides of the family and to photograph my childhood hometown. I planned my trip using RoadSideAmerica.com to plot out tourist attractions listed in their database, and I attempted to visit some sites they didn’t have photos for as well.
Roselawn, Indiana
Giant Lady’s Leg Sundial at the Sun Aura Nudist Resort in Roselawn, Indiana. RoadsideAmerica.com wanted photos of a Giant Lady’s Leg Sundial at this nudist resort, but no one who had written in to them about it had ever had the guts to stop and ask if they could take photos. Until me! The sundial has been around since the 1970s, when it was in a documentary on the nudist resort, which was then called “Naked City.” I almost got sent off-course because the instructions I had directed me to the other nudist resort, the Ponderosa Sun Club , where the people were most unfriendly and almost didn’t give me directions to the correct place. But the folks at Sun Aura Resort were very nice and accomodating, and they escorted me into the grounds so I didn’t get scared by (or scare away) any nekkid people.
U.S. 10 West around Chicago
Big Things along U. S. 10 West around Chicago. I tried to avoid Chicago by taking US 10 West (The Historic Lincoln Highway) around Chicago. Bad plan! It was 45 mph the entire way and took forever! But I did get photos of a couple of big things there; the most interesting was a Giant Man made of Plastic Barrels, at a huge gardening and landscape rock center, which also featured a purple spotted cow and easter Island statues for your garden. I also got two Giant Inflated Dinosaurs, and a Giant Inflated Starbucks Coffee Cup.
The House on the Rock in Spring Green, Wisconsin
My friend and co-worker Brent Mundy recommended The House on the Rock Tourist attraction to me, and when I looked it up on RoadsideAmerica.com, it turns out to be one of their Seven Wonders. So of course I had to go. This was worth the entire trip, believe me. The house was built by a guy who was disgruntled that his dad was fired by Frank Lloyd Wright, and so built this house as a parody/commentary on Talesin, which is up the road. The attraction consists of the House and half a dozen galleries of wacky and eclectic collections.
>> Visit The House on the Rock Web Site
>> Visit the RoadSideAmerica review of The House on the Rock