Retro Theme Oasis

Fort Smith, Arkansas

Sure, we were already late getting to Judge Parker's Gallows, but how could we not pull off for a London double-decker bus full of dummies?

The Park at West End, in the city's historic district, is in a lot turned into a tiny amusement park. Described as a "retro fun park" when it opened in 2006, it includes a 1957 Pullman dining rail car (now the "Boomerang Diner"), a 56-ft. tall Ferris wheel that operated at the 1935 San Diego World's Fair, a hand-painted carousel, an arcade, and a big fiberglass rooster statue.

The red bus is a 1963 British Leyland, with its lower level converted into a snack stand. A uniformed mannequin sits in the driver's seat. The upper level is inhabited by an assortment of clothing store mannequins -- mostly kids. On top of the bus -- a Big Boy hoisting a burger.

Fort Smith knows its retro-fun magnets.

Update Sept. 2020: Though more fiberglass statues have been added on the property, the bus windows have been painted over -- marring some Roadside America appeal for this attraction.