Paul Bunyan: Nearly 50 Feet Tall, And He Won't Shut Up
Giant Paul Bunyan is the chatty greeter of tourists at the magnificent Trees of Mystery, home to corkscrew redwoods and arboreal mutants. His mighty ax is ready to level forests, but for now the Tall Tale talking woodsman is content to wave his motorized hand, rotate his head, and pick you out of the crowd. He's not mean (perhaps reserving his sharpest japes for Cathedral Tree open mike night). But big Paul is persuasive.
Okay, okay. We'll sit on your boot. Story
*****
Evel Knievel Museum
The world's largest collection of Evelabilia includes the Skycycle X-2 that nearly jumped the Snake River Canyon, and a "Bad to the Bones" interactive exhibit linking daredevil Evel's injuries with his x-rays. Story
New Geographic Center of North America
The tiny town of Robinson thought the old Geographic Center of North America was bogus, claimed the title in 2015, and had it confirmed by the Feds in 2016. It's the only U.S. center that also serves beer. Story
Lunch Date at Yellowstone Bear World
Totally surrounded by bears. And they look so cuddly. See 'em out in drive-thru nature from your own vehicle, or stand on a mobile platform and toss food to the agreeable bruins. "C'mon bears!" Story
Wigwam Village Motel No. 7
Sleep in a concrete teepee like America's rugged roadside pioneers. Float in the kidney-shaped pool, marvel at your spacious conical accommodations. Built in the 1940s, it's the westernmost teepee motel, right along Route 66.
Story
The Gum Wall. Ewww.
You can smell it before you see it: the minty, sugary scent of massed mastication. The Gum Wall has been a wad magnet for gum chewers for decades, despite repeated attempts to scrape it clean.
Story
The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss
Painted in Dr. Seuss's familiar crazy colors, the Amazing World has activity areas for kids and quirky relics for adults. Outside, a sculpture garden freezes Seuss's most famous characters in impish bronze.
Story
Dearly Departed Tours and Museum
This small museum associated with an LA driving tour company recently careened to fame when it acquired the Jayne Mansfield Death Car. Other worthy relics include Divine's motel door of death and Karen Carpenter's bathroom sink.
Story
Coat of Many Feathers
What would you do with 450 dead duck heads? Ruby Abel yanked out all of their feathers and sewed them into a coat. It took her 600 hours. A mid-1960s hobby-out-of-control, now enshrined in a museum.
Story
*****
Have a Bunyan-sized summer!
The RoadsideAmerica.com Team
|
|
|
|