Tips, leads, stories from travelers, plus Roadsideamerica.com Team reports on quirky museums, ironic monuments, and must-see oddities! Trip planning caution: Some tips may not be verified. Over time, attractions change, move, burn down. What's a vacation without a little risk? Submit your own tip.
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- Redfield, Arkansas - The Mammoth Orange I have visited this restaurant for many years until moving to Chicago. I have always been greeted by the amazing Miss Ernestine, the owner, who was always ready with a hug and greeting and a minute to chat. If we called ahead and let her know we were coming on Catfish Fridays she would make an extra hot batch of her famous jalapeno hush puppies. I have never met a more perfect example of Southern Hospitality. When I walked in to the Orange it was like coming home.
I have just learned that Miss Ernestine passed away last month. She will be missed by all. [Erika Gray, 10/31/2007]
Mammoth Orange Drink Stand:
Address: 103 N Highway 365, Redfield, AR [Show Map]
Directions: Between Pine Bluff and Little Rock, intersection of Hwy 46 and 365. Take the Redfield exit off I-530/US Hwy 65 and follow Arkansas Hwy 46 through town to 4-way stop sign. Turn left and the Orange is on right.
Phone: 501-397-2347 
Twin Arrows, Arizona - Twin Arrows I first saw Twin Arrows and Two Guns in June of 1965, Dad hauled his wife and 6 kids in a 1958 Ford wagon with a sign hanging out the back that said "California or Bust" from Chicago to Long Beach Ca. for a permanent move.
I started driving Trucks around 1977 and would drive past these two landmarks many times on my runs; it never occurred to me that they would ever fall to disrepair.
I am going on a motorcycle tour of the Grand Canyon on 05-09-2009 -- I may have to take a side trip just to get my picture taken at these two places before it all crumbles to the ground.
It's a shame that all it takes is some money to restore these two Rt. 66 icons. If I were a rich man it would get done for future generations to see on this historic route. [Bob Mateski, 04/30/2009]
Death Valley, California - Scotty's Castle "Big digs built way out in the middle of nowhere by con man who was swindling a rich doofus."
That database note of ours ably sums up Scotty's Castle, but we probably need to provide a little more info:
The con man was Death Valley Scotty -- one Walter Scott, who spent years touring the world with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show, and as a desert surveyor. His mark: rich Chicago businessman Albert Johnson, who believed Scott's claim about a Death Valley gold mine. Johnson came out to the site after giving Scott lots of money with no results, and the desert climate improved his health. Ultimately Johnson financed and built the southwestern/gothic hybrid "castle" in the late 1920s, with Scotty a permanent, colorful fixture.
The castle was sold to the National Park Service in 1970. The rangers dress in 1939 period clothing and conduct 50 minute long living history tours. [RoadsideAmerica.com Team, 02/03/2008]
Scotty's Castle:
Address: Rt. 267, Death Valley, CA [Show Map]
Directions: Out on Rt. 267 near the NV border. Note -- no fuel at the castle, and the nearest gas is 45 miles away.
Hours: Daily 9 am - 5 pm. (Call to verify)
Phone: 760-786-3200- San Francisco, California - San Francisco Style Polka Hall of Fame The San Francisco Style Polka Hall of Fame is as funky as it gets. It consists of 3 display cases on the wall of a pizza parlor in the Castro district of San Francisco.
Following in the grand tradition of local polka halls of fame, such as those in Cleveland and Chicago, 3 San Francisco bands got together and founded the San Francisco Polka Hall of Fame. Cleveland style polka derives from Slovenian tamburitz music, while Chicago style polka is Polish, with the lyrics often sung in Polish. San Francisco style polka throws tradition out the window. It drags in other musical styles, such as punk rock, blues, C&W, jazz, and anything else the practioners can think of. It is an impure musical form.
Founding members of the SFSPHOF are Polkacide, Big Lou's Polka Casserole and The Squeegees. 2003 inductees are Brave Combo from Denton Texas and the Polkaholics from Chicago. [Linda Seekins, 07/09/2003]
San Francisco Style Polka Hall of Fame - gone:
Address: 508 Castro St., San Francisco, CA
Directions: Escape from New York Pizza, Castro Street (between 18th and 19th Sts).
Admission: Free.
Hours: Gone since before 2005. - New Castle, Delaware - 34-ft. Tall Stainless Steel Mary Under construction by sculptor Charles Parks, a 4.2 ton stainless steel statue of the Virgin Mary will stand on the property of the Holy Spirit Catholic Church, visible from I-295. The statue will be 34 ft. tall. Other Mary statues sculpted by Parks include one in Santa Clara, CA, and a touring Our Lady of the New Millennium in the Chicago area.
The News Journal reports the statue is about halfway completed in Parks' studio. [Roadsideamerica.com Team, 04/17/2006]
34-ft. Tall Stainless Steel Mary:
Address: 12 Winder Road, New Castle, DE [Show Map]
Directions: Holy Spirit Catholic Church. I-295, New Castle Ave. exit.
Phone: 302-658-1069
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