Sharpe, Kentucky - Historic Apple Valley and ToyLAND

A family has turned a historic store and their yard into a roadside attraction. I was given an informative, entertaining 1-hour tour by the owner's teenage son Ian. He first took us into the little store that belonged to his grandfather. It's filled with memorabilia and history of the old store and it owners collected over the years. This included various Gulf, Coke, Pepsi and Apple Valley products, plaques, signs and autographs and trinkets from random stars in his dad's history in several movies and shows!

The property is filled with creative junk art -- some of it inspired by other tourist attractions. This includes 7 lawnmowers half-buried, paying homage to the Cadillac Ranch, a "hillbilly" shower, and a whole lot more. My favorite part was the "ToyLAND," which is a shed filled with thousands of toys. There were animated vintage figures, miniature trains, and models. Very crazy and fascinating! [Coby Gross, 06/06/2009]