The Coolest Roadside Attractions In Every State
Via Buzzfeed –
The Coolest Roadside Attractions In Every State.
I need to update my ‘big things’ photos and Stephanie and I are up for a summer roadtrip, so – let’s go.
Big Things – Las Vegas’ Wheel of Misfortune
Via – My Modern Metropolis: Las Vegas’ Wheel of Misfortune.
Street artist Aware decided to take a “glass half empty” approach and humorously created a giant non-spinning Wheel of Misfortune at an old magnesium plant – appropriately located in Las Vegas.
Coolest roadside attractions
Courtesy of guyism.com, Coolest roadside attractions | Cadillac Ranch | Largest ball of twine:
10. Martini Drinking Elephant – Fortville, Indiana
9. Bigfoot Discovery Museum – Felton, California
8. Jimmy Carter Peanut – Plains, Georgia
7. 7 POPS Diner – Arcadia, Oklahoma
6. Burt Reynolds and Friends Museum – Jupiter, Florida
5. W’eel Turtle Sculpture- Dunseith, North Dakota
4. UCM Museum – Abita Springs, Louisiana
3. World’s Largest Ball of Twine – Darwin, Minnesota
2. Gatorland – Orlando, Florida
1. Cadillac Ranch – Texas
I’m chuffed that #10 is the martini-drinking elephant from Fortville, Indiana, but that really makes me think this list is pretty off, especially since I’d consider Dinosaurland in Virginia, or The Big Blue Whale in Catoosa, Oklahoma or even The House on the Rock in Spring Green Wisconsin, to be much bigger and cooler roadside attractions than many they have on this list.
And there are a host of cool sites that I haven’t seen yet, like the Corn Palace in South Dakota, or South of the Border, in South Carolina that should probably make a list of “Coolest” roadside attractions.
Cute article, and some things to add to our travel list, but not definitive by any means.
Published Photographer
I completely failed to mention this before, but I’ve had several more of my photos published. Previously, my pictures were in Indiana Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, and Other Offbeat Stuff by Dick Wolfsie.
Recently, some of my Route 66 photos were published in the Journal for the Society of Commercial Archeology (yes, a real scholarly journal).
And I have some photos appearing in the just published book Weird U.S. – The ODDyssey Continues: Your Travel Guide to America’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets by Mark Moran.
Which is cool, because I own the first edition of that book, and they sent me a complimentary copy of the new one, which I’m really excited to get. It came in the mail while we were in Arizona.
So, I’m adding “published photographer” to my resume.
Giant Inflatable Dog Crap Escapes Moorings, Wreaks Havoc
I shit you not — Paul McCartney American Artist Paul McCarthy created, for an art exhibit called “East of Eden: A Garden Show” at the Paul Klee Art Center in Switzerland, a giant inflatable dog shit balloon. On July 31, it was the victim of high winds and blew several hundred meters, damaging power lines and windows, before landing on the grounds of a children’s home.
I’m putting this post in the category of Culture, but I don’t really mean it.
Seriously, though – I want to be as rich as Paul McCartney, so I can create GIANT INFLATABLE DOG SHIT for people’s garden shows. Because that is clearly a man who can say fuck you to the whole world.
Lisa kindly informs me that it wasn’t rocker Paul McCartney, but rather American Artist Paul McCarthy, who created the giant dog pile. Damn. That really takes a lot of the fun out of it right there.
Wait. No, it’s still really fun.
Damn, where’d all my free time go?
I’m sitting here making out our “To Do” list for this weekend, which includes:
- Putting together new treadmill
- discarding non-functioning television
- putting loads of stuff on ebay or craigslist.
- taking all the recycling to the recycling center
- laundry, laundry & more laundry
- Garrett’s birthday
- Church on Sunday
- Visit the rental house & install locks and pick up old lawn mower
I haven’t written a recap of last weekend’s festivities at the Kentucky Art Car Weekend yet – although all the photos are on Flickr so you can work out a general narration for yourself. I must say, driving down the street being chased by a Giant Red Phone that keeps ringing at you is quite surreal.
I also took a spin around town yesterday hunting down some elusive Big Things – something I haven’t done in quite a while. Those photos are still on my camera, though. Will need to take them off this weekend, if I get the chance. I found a hippo that I thought had disappeared, and a giant tomato, and also found nice retro 50’s signage and a cool diner on U.S. 40.
I really need to rework my “Big Things” pages again. I so want to get comments on the pages, and there are lots of things I need to add. I hope now that Movable Type is upgraded to 4.1, I’ll have less frustration building new sections. Although the upgrade has stopped posting my links regularly, which I need to figure out. That’s annoying, because I’ve written a lot of funny commentary in link descriptions that haven’t made it to my site. My wit should be preserved for posterity, people.
Giant Corms, Dublin, OH
Giant Corn in Dublin, Ohio. The field of corn is a tribute to a pioneering hybrid corn researcher.
links for 2008-03-21
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eBay (item 110235071660 end time Mar-21-08 20:16:33 PDT)
links for 2008-03-01
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Vote for the worst grammar. No, I’m not one of the poll items.
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The second installment of Melissa McEwan’s excellent series on basic feminis principles.
Giant Colgate Clock endangered
One of my favorite “Big Things” – the Colgate Clock – may be endangered.
The clock is the second largest in the world. Built in 1924, it sits on top of the Colgate-Palmolive plant in Clarksville, Indiana, near Louisville, Kentucky. We visited in April of 2005 and took photos of the giant clock, which can be seen for over a mile in either direction.
The Colgate plant is closing, and the fate of the giant clock is up in the air. The Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana has the clock on it’s list of 10 most endangered historical sites.