Unrequited Love
Coral
Castle Forestiere Underground Gardens Tragic LoveRomeo & Juliet Indian Mound Tragedy Site, Sautee-Nacoochee Indian Mound [Hwys 75 & 17], Helen, Georgia. Pick a fight with your partner, then make up at the "Resting place of two tragic young lovers from the warring Chickasaw and Cherokee tribes." Did they roll down the mound to their deaths?
Blowing Rock, North Carolina. A despondent Indian threw himself to certain death off of this rocky outcropping, until he was blown back into the arms of his love! Maiden Rock, Wisconsin was named after an Indian teen suicide. A despondent Indian maiden threw herself to certain death off of this bluff, when her father would not allow her to marry the man of her choice. Sorry, no strong winds that day. |
There IS Romance in Roadside America. We've seen it, heard tales of marriage proposals in Bedrock City, honeymoons spent at S.O.B. or the World's Largest Penguin.
Not that we have this all figured out, mind you. Our wives (or female friends)
still balk at most invitations to hypertour. But the American highway is more than fiberglass statues, dusty museums, and
shriveled body parts on display. Romance happens for those who dare.
Are you ready to hit the road with your interstate soul mate?
Novel places: Profess your love...
...within
the chambers of the Great Heart, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois. A sister walk-thru heart throbs at the Franklin Institute [Benjamin Franklin
Parkway at 20th], Philadelphia, PA
...inside the Brontosaurus, Dinosaur World, Ossineke, Michigan, next to "The Greatest Heart."
...while admiring the Heart made of Rattlesnake Rattles, Dairy Queen, I-10 Frontage Rd., Ozona, Texas.
...atop the limestone ticker in the floor of the wedding chapel at Howe Caverns, Howes Cave, New York. [Off I-88, Howes Cave exit]. But you might want to try honeymooning at Secret Caverns.
...standing in the chill of Sonja Henie's Ice Heart, Omaha Cold Storage Terminal, Omaha, Nebraska: In 1941, on Valentine's Day eve, skating legend Sonja Henie brought her traveling
ice extravaganza to town. A wealthy local fan commissioned an 80-pound ice
replica of Sonja's heart, vowing the city would keep it until she returned.
But she never did, and died in 1969. Sadly, in the late 1990s, management tried
to find the heart a new home with local museums or civic groups, without success.
So they let it melt ....
Confusing places: Profess your love...
... at a Recreation of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Couderay, WI: The Hideout: Capone's Retreat [12101 W County CC, 17 mi. E of Hayward]. The
main eight-car garage is now remodeled as a bar and restaurant. Guided tours
are given of the Gun Tower, Jail Cell, and the "Nationally recognized recreation of the 1929 St. Valentine's Day massacre."
...on the plush carpet in the Infinity Room, House on the Rock, Spring Green, Wisconsin. True, the late owner Alex Jordan was a lifelong scamp of a bachelor. But the
narrow, glass-enclosed Infinity Room juts out over a cliff. Its disorienting
effect continues to benefit modern Casanovas...
...on the shores of the awful heart-shaped pond with the arrow stuck in it, at the Funny Farm, Bend, OR. The owners' "heart throbs" (Tab Hunter, Judy Garland, and others) are honored in florid flora surrounding
the Love Pond. Watch for action from the nearby fainting goats if your sweetie slaps you hard and loud enough...
...in the heart-shaped shadow of Jayne Mansfield's grave, Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania. Hollywood bombshell Jayne Mansfield lived from 1933 to 1967, before her grisly
decapitation in a car wreck. The heart-shaped monument reads: "We Live To Love You More Each Day."
Inside the Ames Brothers Pyramid, Laramie, Wyoming. This is also a notorious makeout haven (as, we suspect, are all of America's Stonehenges), so be warned.
Pathetic Places: Profess your love...
...at the Angel Museum, Beloit, Wisconsin, or among the cartoon dead baby angels of the Precious Moments Chapel, Carthage, Missouri. This is last ditch attempt territory, where clueless simps resort to heavy-handed lines like:"You are my perfect living angel on Earth." Who knows? Maybe it'll work...
