Disorientation Vacation
Some roadside attractions, the really out-there ones, relish gobbling up and dissolving visitors in the stomach acid of sensory experience. A chaos-driven art collective in New Mexico converted an abandoned bowling alley into a sci-fi multiverse of video hamsters and musical lasers -- the House of Eternal Return. Weird. Meanwhile, in the hills of Tennessee, Chris Katsner singlehandedly transformed his grandpappy's farm into Backyard Terrors Dinosaur Park, a warren of thunder lizards. And -- of course -- a giant walk-in cannibal clown head.
House of Eternal Return
Backyard Terrors Dinosaur Park
*****
Secret Farmhouse of the Redwood Coast
It looks like an ordinary barn -- if a barn had cinderblock walls, steel windows, and gun ports. It’s the U.S. military's Secret Station B-71. Story
Buffalo Bill Kill Statue
William Cody didn't get his "Buffalo Bill" nickname because he liked them. He earned it by killing them. And for a few hours, on the spot marked by this massive statue, Bill made it a particularly bad day to be a buffalo. Story
The Babson Boulders
Before Roger Babson died he had his beliefs carved into big rocks along a wooded trail. "Help Mother." "Be On Time." "Get A Job." He also tried to pick a fight with Gravity. Story
Mare Island Shipyard Museum
The U.S. Navy's first west coast installation that supported the Pacific fleet -- from wooden sloops-of-war to nuclear missile subs. Museum has a working periscope, a River Rat, a Man of Balls, and a Wall of Hammers.
Story
Hollywood Cars Museum
Don't let the name fool you; this place is pure Las Vegas, with the glittery vehicles of Liberace, a Bonnie and Clyde Death Car, and a 40-foot limo with a heart-shaped hot tub. Story
Relics of the World's Largest Man
Most of Robert Wadlow's Size XXXXXL odds and ends were destroyed after his death by his average-size mom. A few mementoes survive in his hometown museum in Illinois. Story
World's Largest Overall
While we're in the tall men's department, what about the "World's Largest Overall?" They've loomed at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds for years. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that no one there knows how big they are. And someone misplaced the tape measure. Story
*****
Trunkations Blog: Queen of the Air
America’s first flying machine? The bullet-like iron-riveted “Queen of the Air” supposedly flew in 1860, powered by a mysterious motor, and resembles a Jules Verne lunar projectile. Story
*****
Barely outrunning the cannibal clown head,
The RoadsideAmerica.com Team
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