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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- Montgomery, Alabama - George and Lurleen Wallace Museum - Closed Bad news fellas. . . earlier this year I sent you a tip about the George and Lurleen Wallace Museum, which was dedicated to the life of four-term Alabama governor and four-time presidential candidate George C. Wallace. Unfortunately, the museum recently closed because of a lack of fund-raising for the non-profit Wallace Foundation. Gov. Wallace, the topic of a recent four-hour TNT mini-series starring Gary Sinise, continues to live in Montgomery, however, and hopes to raise enough funds to re-open the exhibit in a new location. Gov. Wallace may be seen soon in the Spike Lee documentary "Four Little Girls" which will be shown on HBO at the beginning of 1998. Sorry about the closing; the South has lost a monument to one of its icons. [David Azbell, 10/13/1997]George and Lurleen Wallace Museum - Closed:
Address: Montgomery, AL
Hours: Closed in 1997. - Clermont, Florida - President's Hall of Fame Call me old fashioned, but despite the staggering array of presidential ephemera, I miss this museum in its original form some 20-25 years ago as the "House of Presidents," as I recall. When you paid admission, you were ushered into a small dark paneled room with a dozen or so chairs where you would sit down. The first 10 or so wax presidents stood just feet away from you, silent and staring out, which was a little creepy in itself. A light would come on the first president and an audio spiel would commence telling a bit about the president. This would continue until the last president was highlighted. You would then be ushered into another dark panelled room with the next series of presidents.
When you finished with the last room, you exited into a little shop where there was a hole cut into a wall -- you could peer into and see the audio equipment that played the spiels.
A 'score' of years later, I was a bit saddened to see those original figures now disheveled and stuck here and there amidst the huge collection of presidential items. These other things were quite interesting, don't get me wrong, but I felt sorry for these old wax Presidents, some of which were losing their wigs and fingers. [Ron Jaffe, 10/24/2005]
[RA: The Hall of Presidents in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, operated the same way (maybe it still does), with chronological groups of presidents telling the story of America "in their own voices." It took almost an hour to wade through all the rooms -- too slow for today's soundbite kids. The format eventually faltered in some places, and the Chief Executives clammed up...]Presidents Hall of Fame:
Address: 123 N. Highway 27, Clermont, FL
Directions: East side of Route 27, one mile north of SR 50, on right next to Citrus Tower, before Grand Hwy.
Admission: $9.95 adults $4.95 Children
Hours: 9 am to 5 pm. (Call to verify)
Phone: 352-394-2836[Show Map] - POW Attraction Honors People Deprived of Attractions, Among Other Things
The National Prisoner of War Museum, built at a cost of almost $6 million, has opened in Andersonville, GA. It honors America's 800,000 wartime POWs, who were imprisoned in places such as the Philippines, Germany, and North Vietnam, which are not known for their commitment to lighthearted tourist entertainment.... [04/26/1998] Complete News Story 
Roscoe, Illinois - Historic Auto Attractions What this place is doing in my little town is beyond me, but Historic Auto Attractions is essentially a warehouse of pop culture and automotive artifacts that must've cost millions upon millions of dollars to acquire. Among the highlights: the Grateful Dead's infamous tour bus, one of John Dillinger's Studebakers that was used in an Indiana robbery (as well as the gun that killed him), Hitler's personal staff car, a plethora of Presidential Limousines, three Batmobiles, a Ghostbusters' car.
An entire exhibit dedicated to the JFK's assassination is the museum's centerpiece, with parts of the grassy knoll fence and the secret service car behind the president's in the motorcade, among others.
Lots of personal cars and accessories from celebrities as well -- Elvis, Johnny Cash, Howard Hughes, Buddy Holly, Al Capone. It's a lot of highly valuable stuff you always thought was in Chicago or Washington ... not in lowly Roscoe. [Andy, 06/02/2008]
Historic Auto Attractions:RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report
Address: 13825 Metric Drive, Roscoe, IL
Directions: I-39/I-90 exit 3. West on Rockton Rd, then after one mile look for the small oval Historic Auto Attractions sign on the right. Turn right onto Metric Drive. At the end of the street, on the right.
Admission: Adults $10, Seniors $8, Kids (ages 6-15) - $6, Under 6 - free
Hours: Tu-Sa 10-5, Su 11-4 in summer; weekends (Call to verify)
Phone: 815-389-7917[Show Map]- Historic bone yard home yours for the asking: New funeral museum to rise in its place
The caretaker's home near Springfield IL's historic Oak Ridge Cemetery is the subject of a tug-of-war: the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency wants to keep it, the Illinois Funeral Director's Association wants to knock it down. ... [06/28/1998] Complete News Story
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