Iowa

New Reports

• 

  Pocahontas, the Princess Giant

  Pocahontas, Iowa

  Impressive sculpture of the town's namesake, 25 feet tall, stands next to a road that doesn't get a lot of traffic. Built in 1954.

• 

  Replica Cardiff Giant

  Fort Dodge, Iowa

  Full-size copy of the famous prank. Fort Dodge is where the gypsum block came from that was carved into the original Cardiff Giant.

• 

  Hospers Memorial Statues

  Hospers, Iowa

  Sculptor/painter Fred Reinders created a cluster of colorful war memorial monuments and allegorical statues.

Sights for Oddball Excursions

• 

  Grotto of the Redemption

  West Bend, Iowa

  A priest promised the Virgin Mary he'd build a wondrous shrine if pneumonia didn't kill him. It didn't, and he did.

• 

  Albert the Bull

  Audubon, Iowa

  Albert is a 45-ton, 30-foot-tall concrete replica of the perfect Hereford bull. Push a button and he'll tell you his story.

• 

  Squirrel Cage Jail

  Council Bluffs, Iowa

  The largest revolving jail in the U.S., although it no longer revolves. Three stories high, built in 1885. Experience the horror of hi-tech Victorian criminal justice.

• 

  Spook Cave: Underground Boat Tour

  McGregor, Iowa

  All-boat, all underground tour. Relax, but don't ignore warnings to duck.

• 

  Future Birthplace of James T. Kirk

  Riverside, Iowa

  This is the place. Photo-worthy monument marks the spot, which is behind a downtown hair salon.

• 

  Star Trek Voyage Home Museum

  Riverside, Iowa

  Star Trek collectibles, home-built exhibits, and occasional artifacts in the town where Captain James T. Kirk will be born in the 23rd century.

• 

  Snake Alley - A Very Crooked Street

  Burlington, Iowa

  A combatant in the World's Crookedest Street battle, in an unexpected place. No traffic back-ups to drive down Snake Alley, unlike San Francisco's more famous crooked street.

• 

  Buddy Holly Crash Site

  Clear Lake, Iowa

  Corn field where the pioneer rocker with the geek glasses and hiccup-y voice met an early end, along with Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper.

• 

  Surf Ballroom: Buddy Holly's Last Gig

  Clear Lake, Iowa

  Preserved as 1959 site of the last performance of rockers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, before their plane crashed nearby.

• 

  Field of Dreams

  Dyersville, Iowa

  Hollywood's baseball tourist attraction in Iowa: the cornfield ballfield created for the Kevin Costner movie.

• 

  Matchstick Marvels Museum

  Gladbrook, Iowa

  Pat Acton builds impressively-detailed, giant models of buildings, spaceships, whatever, out of hundreds of thousands of wooden matchsticks.

• 

  Cabbage Patch Fantasy Land

  Griswold, Iowa

  2,500 square feet of Cabbage Patch Kids and accessories, the personal collection of "Cabbage Patch Lady" Donna Brown. Don't miss the Cabbage Patch Space Shuttle astronauts.