News from the offbeat tourist attraction landscape of Roadside America.
Sightings Vol. 10, No. 3 March 28, 2014

Big Bender!

Check out this towering tribute to the hard-drinking, flame-belching robot from the year 3000 -- built during a night of hard drinking, naturally.

The Bar Of A Million Pennies

Penny Bar.Mike Moore found a cents-sational use for his wife's penny hoard; all he needed was his own bar, time, and a lot of glue.

 

Crowded Crypt of Henry Wooldridge

Wooldridge Monuments.An eccentric horse breeder wanted eternal company at his graveside, so he filled his lavish plot with statues of his favorite relatives and pets, dubbed "the procession that never moves."

Samurai Sword of the Pilot who Bombed Oregon

Samurai Sword. Japanese pilot Nobuo Fujita flew from an enemy sub to drop World War II bombs on America. Twenty years later he returned to his target with a gift to say he was sorry.

Surfing with Holy Mary and a Nude Guy

Surfing Madonna.The Madonna hangs ten at her new home -- the wall of a pizzeria. Up the coast, a naked surfer statue is a mostly loved beach town symbol -- although some wanted to restrain him in shorts.

Secret Life of Robots

Tobey Fraley's robots.Pittsburgh's resident robot-maker Tobey Fraley, talks about his new sculpture exhibition: what robots do when they're not building cars or conquering the world. Exhibition through April 2014.

Haunted House of Wax

Haunted House of Wax.This Niagara Falls horror attraction, when fully animated, is too horribly scary for the general public (at least in the opinion of its owner). And we chat with wax artist Derek Costello, who has cranked out dummies of Elvis, Frankenstein, and Darth Vader since before many of us were born.

 

Spotted by Tipsters

Bowling Art.Tipster Pamela Collins reports that Chris Barber, having devoted his retirement to creating unique bowling ball yard art, also crafts beautiful sculptures with discarded bowling pins.

Auto Thrill Shows.Don Oakley visited what is possibly the world's only collection of Auto Thrill Show Memorabilia -- it's in Iowa -- and rated it "the best display of Auto Thrill Show memorabilia I have ever seen."

Bible chapter guy.Christopher Schmitt tracked down the badly banged-up statue of the Man who put Chapters in the Bible, which used to be in London, but now is in North Carolina.

Melody Muffler sculptures.Jenny Greenleaf visited the Melody Muffler Sculptures -- 14 years after our last status report -- and found them not only standing, but multiplying.

Check out more discoveries in the very Latest Tips.

*****

Tourism News

LEonard KnightThe vacation landscape constantly shifts, with attractions born, flailing awkwardly for attention, growing in leaps and bounds, celebrating birthdays, suffering betrayal and heartbreak, dropping dead... and then resurrecting. We monitor this cycle of life through news stories and attraction reports on the Roadside America Twitter feed.

*****

Kickstarters: Help Fund a Project

Wooldridge Monuments.We're getting the word out about two intriguing Kickstarters underway right now: An American Giants film project to restore a proper head and arms on the sad, mutant Mortons Gap Muffler Man; and a documentary project about the Blue Ridge Barnum, Mark Cline (Foamhenge, Hunt Bigfoot with a Redneck). A few bucks from you may help these creative efforts come to fruition!


Remember, never let Bender drive.
The RoadsideAmerica.com Team

Mobile Apps

Roadside America iPhone app Roadside America App for iPhone: Update 1.8.7 - iOS 7 optimized.
Find what's nearby among 10,000+ USA/Canada offbeat attractions, inc. research targets and gallery photos not on the website. Fun trip tools.

$2.99 on the App Store (inc. access to 1 region); addtl. regions or "All Access" is in-app optional purchase.
iOS 7 iPhone, iPod touch (iPad compatible)

Roadside Presidents App for iPhone: Update 1.3.7 - iOS 7 optimized.
New photos, new landmarks. Roadside Presidential sights are inspiring, amusing, and sometimes embarrassing! Leaders, wannabes, first ladies, assassins, and other vital POTUS sights.

$2.99. iOS 7 iPhone, iPod touch, (iPad compatible). Available on the App Store.

Copyright © 2014, This Exit LLC, All rights reserved.
E-mail Comments, New Tips and Photo Submissions

Main image: Big Bender, Dittmer, Missouri