Lafayette, Indiana -
Rainforest Car Wash

You can forget all about those over-rated theme parks and theme restaurants. In Lafayette, Indiana, you can get your car cleaned at a theme car wash. It's called the Rainforest Car Wash. Not because it's friendly to the environment, but because animatronic elephants hose down your car!

A trip through the rainforest begins with a short wait in line. There, the giant head of a tiki god bellows such instructions as "PLEASE TURN DOWN YOUR RADIO!" Naturally, we got out of the car and bowed down to him. Next, your car is prepped by two men dressed exactly like Marlin Perkins from Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. We weren't sure whether or not this was intentional, however, since car wash attendants across the nation already tend to dress like Marlin Perkins. After choosing from a menu of wash options--including a Gorilla Wash and a Crocodile Wash-we paid the attendant. He thanked us and remarked, "That's the first time I ever saw anyone bow down to Big Bubba!" We put our car into neutral and waited for the adventure to begin. Sadly, the windows are covered with suds and/or wax throughout most of the journey. That makes it difficult, but not impossible, to see the cheap robotic monkeys, snakes, idols and elephants.

At no time during the wash is it safe to roll down your window for a photo. We learned that the hard way. [Mike Scholtz, 05/11/2000]