Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/05/29/10-weirdest-free-oddities-in-the-u-s.html
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How much could a banana museum cost? One dollar?
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Depends if you just look at it.
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Would have been more whimsical at 1/12 scale.
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There’s also the worlds largest ball of paint, that you can help make bigger!
Oh, and Druid Hill here in ATL…
Oh! And almost literally right across the street from Druid Hill is Mason Mills Park and the old Decatur Waterworks!
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Betsy is the world’s largest spiny lobster and she is just down the road from me in Islamorada. free roadside attraction along the Overseas Highway!
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I live near Amarillo, and have been tremendously irritated by Cadillac Ranch ever since I became aware of it. It’s a terrible attraction, it’s boring and dumb, and the city should be massively embarrassed that the only reason tourists visit is because of a junkheap on the outskirts of town that was built by a goddamn pedophile.
If y’all must come to the Texas Panhandle, do so for Palo Duro Canyon instead, which is actually beautiful and thrilling to visit.
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I would like to recommend Lucy the Elephant. Definitely one of New Jersey’s more unique attractions.
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RIP Georgia Guidestones
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Pretty much every city has some interesting stuff in it. Amarillo has a decent science museum, they’ve got a small zoo, a whole museum dedicated to the American Quarter Horse, they’ve got a well-regarded minor league baseball team with an enthusiastic fan base. And again, Palo Duro Canyon is amazing.
I just don’t get why this bunch of old cars stuck in the dirt and covered in graffiti is the thing the city treats as its Precious Baby. But that’s probably less a problem with Amarillo (which, man alive, has more than its share of real problems) and more a problem with what tourists want to see. 
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The title for largest ball of twine is actually pretty contentious, and there are a lot of subcategories. The ball in Cawker City has /two/ caveats according to wikipedia: it is the ‘Largest ball of sisal twine built by a community.’
Personally I am partial to the ‘Heaviest twine ball’ in Lake Nebagamon. It’s not sisal, but it was made by an individual rather than a community.
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That reminds me that during the filming of the '70’s miniseries Children Of The Stones at the real stone circle of Avebury some fake stones were added to fill gaps. There’s a story that at one point a member of the crew picked up one of the fake stones and walked away with it to the astonishment of some tourists.
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Personally, I’m a big fan of weird roadside attractions like this… I like the idea of taking old junk, and repurposing it as a work of art, as I think it’s a better use of junk than putting it into our every growing landfills. I think it’s distinctly American and distinctly modern form of art-making. It’s democratic and accessible, and makes use of the detritus of modern life.
I mean, that’s basically how Paradise Gardens started, yeah, old Preacher Howard repurposing junk in his front yard (that, and he felt as if God was calling him to spread the word via his art). Again, personally, I think it shows creativity is not confined to art school or to the elite class, but to all of us. Art can be and is all around us, and we can all use whatever is at hand to express ourselves. It’s probably our most ancient driven, the desire to create something with new meaning out of what’s around us. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the creative impulse was the key to humans really becoming human.
YMMV! But I love this kind of thing!
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Mystery spot is not free
There is also one in Oregon
One used to be at Knotts Berry Farm but it was closed
Yes, I suspect I’m being weird about this one specifically – familiarity breeds contempt, etc.
I’m mostly a fan of roadside attractions, especially the Statue of a Giant Thing attraction – giant pecan, giant termite, giant cow (especially on top of a steakhouse, which is a rapidly vanishing subspecies). Also dinosaur statues, which seem to be more common than I expected, since I can think of at least three within driving distance. And if I had the time and money, I’d be entirely willing to take a tour to visit towns with statues of monsters – Mothman, Bigfoot, Ogopogo, etc.
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For those that miss the Mystery Shack at Knotts I can recommend the version that’s currently operating in the Calico Ghost Town (which used to be owned by the Knott family.) It’s basically exactly the same, with all the same gags and tricks of perspective.
Aren’t you under 3?
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Possibly not safe, definately the work of an intereting human, and free !
