Strange Attractions & Statues

12 Strange Tourist 12 Strange Tourist AttractionsAttractions

by by the Editors of Publications International, Ltd.the Editors of Publications International, Ltd.

"Hey, hey, easy kids. Everybody in the car. Boat leaves in two minutes ... Or perhaps you don't want to see the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth, which is only four short hours away?“

ThisquotewasdeliveredbyChevyChase'scharacterClarkGriswoldinthe1983familycar-tripcomedy"NationalLampoon'sVacation.“

Inthemovie,theGriswoldfamilytreksacrossAmericainastationwagoncalledthe"family truckster" toreachathemepark namedWalleyWorld.Walley Worldisfiction.

ButtheballoftwinementionedherebyfatherGriswoldisn't.

Infact,therearetwogiantballsoftwineyoucanvisitwhileyouroadtripNorthAmerica.Oneslightlysmallerballoftwinesits inCawkerCity,Kansas,anditslargercousin isondisplay inDarwin,Minn.

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/hsw-contact.htm



But why would anybody roll an 11-foot (3.3-meter) ball of twine?

It's a legitimate question. And it's not the first time you'll repeat, "But why?" inside your head as you read the following list of road trip tourist traps.

What other " U.S. and Canadian back roads?

Who built these wacky statues and sites and why world's largests" and odd attractionsexist out there on do they lure vacationers?

The Jolly Green Giant.




12. House on the RockResting atop a 60-foot stone formation in Spring Green, Wisconsin, the House on the Rock is one of the best-known architectural oddities in the United States.

Built by eccentric artist Alex Jordan in the 1940s, the House on the Rock was his vacation home before being turned into a museum in 1961. Jordan sold the building in the early 1980s, but it continues to grow as a tourist attraction.

With 14 unique and lavishly decorated rooms - including the Infinity Room, with 3,264 windows -- and a surrounding complex that houses a miniature circus and the world's largest carousel, the House on the Rock is at once wacky, tacky, innovative, and elegant.




11. Crazy Horse Memorial June 2008.

The Crazy Horse Memorial in Crazy Horse, South Dakota, is a labor of love that sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began in 1948 to honor the great Native American leader.

Ziolkowski's life's work (until his passing in 1982), the sculpture is likely the most ambitious roadside project ever undertaken.

Ziolkowski's family continues the project, but the statue remains very much a work in progress.

The carving is a depiction of the legendary warrior on horseback and will measure 641 feet long by 563 feet high when completed.




10. Superman Statue

Metropolis, in far southern Illinois, has nothing to fear these days because Superman lives there.

In 1972, the town decided to capitalize on its famous name and subsequently adopted the moniker, Hometown of Superman.“

A seven-foot-tall statue was erected in 1986, only to be replaced in 1993 by a more impressive 15-foot bronze monument.

In 2008, a statue of Lois Lane was erected next to her hunky beau in Superman Square.




9. Chuck the Channel Cat

Chuck the Channel Cat flips his tail at visitors cruising past his statue in Selkirk, Manitoba.

Erected in 1986, the two-ton, 25-foot-tall monument to the area's enormous catfish greets visitors with a smile.

Chuck's mission: to help promote Selkirk as the "Catfish Capital."

It's a well-deserved title -- anglers on the Red River regularly reel in catfish up to 30-plus pounds.




8. World's Largest Hockey Stick and Puck

Leave it to hockey-hungry Canadians to build the world's largest hockey stick and puck.

The stick, which is made of Douglas fir beams reinforced with steel, is 205 feet long, weighs 61,000 pounds, and is 40-times larger than life-size.

It was created for Expo '86 in Vancouver, British Columbia, before being sent to Duncan, where it has been a popular tourist attraction since 1988.


http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/hockey.htm



7. Albert, the World's Largest Bull

Located in Audubon, Iowa, Albert, the world's largest bull, stands 30 feet tall and weighs in at 45 tons . . . of concrete.

Named after local banker Albert Kruse, the monster Hereford statue was built in the 1960s for Operation T-Bone Days, an event held each September to honor the days when local cattle would board trains to the Chicago stockyards.

As an interesting side note, Albert's internal steel frame is made from dismantled Iowa windmills.




6. Lucy the Elephant

Looming 65 feet over the beach at Margate, New Jersey, Lucy the Elephant is the only example of "zoomorphic architecture" left in the United States.

With staircases in her legs leading to rooms inside, the wide-eyed elephant was originally built in 1881 as a real-estate promotion.

Over the years Lucy has served as a summer home, a tavern, a hotel, and a tourist attraction

Relocation in 1970 spared Lucy from demolition, and she received a loving face-lift and restoration in 2000.




5. Jolly Green Giant Statue

Ho, ho ho!

The Jolly Green Giant remains the towering symbol of the Green Giant food company, located in Blue Earth, Minnesota.

Since 1979, the 55-foot-tall statue, who sports a size 78 shoe, honors the third-most-recognized advertising icon of the 20th century.




4. Corn Palace

The city of Mitchell, South Dakota, proudly calls itself the "Corn Capital of the World," and it even has a palace in which to celebrate.

The Mitchell Corn Palace, originally constructed in 1892, is now an auditorium with Russian-style turrets and towers and murals that local artists create each year out of corn and other South Dakota grains.

After the annual fall harvest, pigeons and squirrels are allowed to devour the palace's murals until the next year when the process begins anew.




3. Paul Bunyan Statues

There are enough Paul Bunyan statues around the continent to delight any teller of tall tales.

Representations of the big fella -- known for his ability to lay down more trees in a single swath of his ax than any contemporary logging firm -- can be found wherever there have been logging camps.

One of the most memorable statues is located in Bangor, Maine, the lumberjack's alleged birthplace, where a 31-foot-tall, 37,000-pound Paul shows off his ax and scythe.

Other statues, such as those in Klamath, California, and Bemidji, Minnesota, show Bunyan accompanied by his faithful companion, Babe the blue ox.




2. Coral Castle

Coral Castle was the brainchild of Edward Leedskalnin, who was jilted by his fiancée the day before their wedding.

Crushed by the rejection, Leedskalnin moved from his home in Latvia and set out to build a monument to his lost love. The result was Coral Castle in Homestead, Florida.

Without any outside help or heavy machinery, the distraught lover sculpted more than 1,100 tons of coral into marvelous shapes.

he entry gate alone is made of a single coral block weighing nine tons. The fact that Leedskalnin was barely five feet tall and weighed only 100 pounds adds to the feat.


http://reference.howstuffworks.com/coral-encyclopedia.htm



1. World's Largest Ball of TwineDetermining the world's largest ball of twine can be difficult.

But the hands-down winner in the solo winder category has to be the nearly 9-ton 11-foot-tall hunk of string on display in Darwin, Minnesota.

Francis Johnson spent four hours a day between 1950 and 1979 rolling the ball. He used a crane to hoist the ever-expanding ball as it grew, to ensure uniform wrapping.

Another ball in the running is the 1,300-mile-plus length of string originally rolled by Frank Stoeber of Cawker City, Kansas.

From 1953 until his death in 1974, Stoeber diligently wound this twine ball. Every August, Cawker City hosts a festival during which anyone can add a bit of twine to the ball, so it now outweighs the one in Darwin, but it has had more than one person working on it.


http://reference.howstuffworks.com/twine-encyclopedia.htm

For a complimentary copy of this Power Point, send your email request for

Strange Attractions & Statues

To

Dr. John Hogan, CHA CHE MHSCo-founder www.HospitalityEducators.com

[email protected]@hoganhospitality.com

www.hoganhospitality.comwww.hoganhospitality.com

21 Roadside Statues21 Roadside Statues

The Hobo Joe Statue in Buckeye, Arizona, is one of the few remaining statues that was built for the now-defunct restaurant chain.

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/roadside-statues.htm


20. Arrow Statues: Twin Arrows, Arizona

.

The Arrow Statues plunging into the Colorado Plateau are all that remain of advertising for the Twin Arrows Trading

Post in Arizona.

The now-shu ttered Twin Arrows Trading Post survived for a spell after Route 66

was replaced by I-40, but the store/motel/cafe complex closed in the

1990s.

Just like the nearby Two Guns Trading Post (also closed), all that remains of the Twin Arrows Trading Post is the

advertising -- which includes the twin arrows embedded at the foot of the

Colorado Plateau.



19. Steve Canyon Statue: Idaho Springs, Colorado

Publications International,

Ltd.The Steve Canyon Statue was erected by the U.S. Treasury

Department.

In 1947, locals changed the name of Idah o Springs'

Squirrel Gulch district to Steve Canyon, in honor of a patriotic

cartoon character from the 1940s.

Three years later, the U.S. Treasury Department financed

this 40-foot-tall limestone carving.

A plaque for the statue pays tribute to "all American

cartoon characters who serve the Nation."

.



18. Mike the Headless Chicken Sculpture: Fruita, Colorado

The Mike the Headless Chicken sculpture tells the tale of Lloyd

Olsen and his chicken -- it survived 18 months without a head.

In 1945, Lloyd Olsen chopped a chicken's head off but missed its brain stem. Rather than getting fried, the bird, dubbed "Mike the

Headless Chicken," lived for another 18 months, with Olsen feeding it with an eyedropper.

In 2000, sculptor Lyle Nichols paid tribute to Mike's fortitude with this 300-pound interpretation, and the city of Fruita, Colorado, plays host to an annual festival that invites visitors to "party their heads off."

.



17. Jimmy Carter Peanut Sculpture: Plains, Georgia

The Jimmy Carter Peanut Sculpture in Plains, Georgia, commemorates

the former president's peanut-farming days.

Created by Dem ocrats in Indiana for a Jimmy Carter visit during his

presidential campaign in 1976, this roadside statue -- a 13-foot peanut --

pays homage to the former president's peanut-farming background and

toothy grin.

Its creators subsequently gave it to the president, and it now sits only a stone's throw from his old campaign

headquarters in Georgia.



16. Junk Statue of Liberty: McRae, Georgia

The Junk Statue of Liberty in

McRae, Georgia, was fashioned partly out of a tree stump,

Styrofoam, and green paint.In 1886, France gave the United

States the Statue of Liberty.

In 1986, the local Lions Club chapter in McRae, Georgia,

commemorated Lady Liberty's centennial by fashioning a one-

sixteenth scale model out of Styrofoam, a tree stump, and

other objects normally considered rubbish.

Thanks to a coat of green paint, the resemblance is uncanny.



15. Superman Statue: Metropolis, Illinois

This Superman statue was erected by Metropolis, Illinois to capitalize

on the superhero's popularity.

Metropolis, Illinois, with a population of 15,000 (including the

city an d the county), is not quite the Metropolis of DC Comics fame. But it predates Superman by a long shot,

as it was founded in 1839.In 1972, the town decided to

capitalize on the association with the comic book hero and adopted

the "Hometown of Superman" moniker.

A seven-foot statue went up in 1986, only to be replaced seven

years later by this more impressive 15-foot bronze piece.



14. Roadside Statue Garden: Dinosaurs, Cave City,

Kentucky

The Dinosaur Roadside Statue Garden in Cave

City, Kentucky, was designed to mark the

territory where dinosaur skeletons were

discovered.

As archaeologists discovered dinosaur skeletons in far-flung

places, many a visitors bureau saw their area's

status as one-time dinosaur stomping

grounds as the key to tourism growth.



13. Joe Louis Sculpture: Detroit, Michigan

Publications International, Ltd.

The Joe Louis Sculpture in Detroit, Michigan, is either loved

or hated by locals.

A gift to the city of Detroit from Sports Illu strated in 1987, this

sculpture by artist Robert Graham honors legendary boxer

(and Detroit native son) Joe Louis.

The 24-foot bronze fist, which is poised as if to strike, has been the source of local controversy

since its unveiling. Locals love it or hate it -- there is no middle

ground.



12. Jolly Green Giant Statue: Blue Earth, Minnesota

Publications International, Ltd.The Jolly Green Statue in Blue

Earth, Minnesota, has stood tall at the Green Giant headquarters

since 1979.

Ho, ho, ho -- Green Giant! We aring a size 78 shoe, this 55-

foot-tall likeness pays homage to the third-most recognizable

advertising icon of the 20th century.

The statue's geographical significance: The Green Giant company began in the fertile farmland that surrounds Blue

Earth, Minnesota.


11. Paul Bunyan Statue: Bemidji, Minnesota

Paul Bunyan statues can be found

from coast to coast. This one in Bemidji, Minnesota, is one of the

most notable of the big lumberjack.

Big Paul Bunyan might just be the mascot of the American road.

Throughout the northern forests -- and almost every other corner of the

country -- the hero of so many tall tales is immortalized as a gigantic statue, often accompanied by his

sidekick, Babe the Blue Ox.

The giant lumberjack was said to be 80 pounds when five giant storks

delivered him as a baby, and he grew so fast he was wearing his father's

clothes within a week. He grew up on the coast of Maine but relocated with

Babe to Minnesota.


11. Paul Bunyan Statue: Bemidji, Minnesota

Legend has it the young and rambunctious duo created the state's

10,000 lakes with their horseplay. Later, Paul went on to

invent the logging industry and chop down vast tracts of forest by himself.

The big fella is the subject of so many statues and woodcarvings it's

impossible to tally them all. This one resides in Bemidji, Minnesota, while a few of the other notable ones can be

found in Brainerd, Minnesota; Bangor, Maine; Klamath, California;

and Ossineke, Michigan.

In the end, however, Paul Bunyan is the unofficial patron saint of clear-

cutting and carries all of the political baggage that the title now entails.


10. Paul Bunyan's Girlfriend Statue: Hackensack, Minnesota

Paul Bunyan's Girlfriend statue

resides about 50 miles southeast of Bemidji, Minnesota, in a resort town

called Hackensack.

The town of Ha ckens ack, Minnesota, is the home of Paul Bunyan's

sweetheart, Lucette.

Sometimes called his wife, other times just his girlfriend, this

formidable but friendly-looking woman towers over the Minnesota

resort town, about 50 miles southeast of Bemidji, Bunyan's

hometown.


9. Enchanted Highway, North Dakota .North Dakota's Enchanted Highway Iis one mans attempt at giving his agricultural-based town another way of surviving.

The highest population density of huge roadside statues might well be North Dakota's Enchanted Highway, a 32-mile stretch of two-lane blacktop that runs between the towns of Gladstone and Regent in Hettinger County, North Dakota.

The statues are the handiwork of one Gary Greff, a self-taught sculptor and onetime schoolteacher and principal who feared that Regent would become a ghost town if its economy did not diversify beyond agriculture.

So what was Greff's solution to the problem? You've got it -- a colony of enormous sculptures on the side of the road. Greff went to work in the early 1990s and is still at it today. At the time of this writing, the Enchanted Highway was home to six of Greff's installations -- Tin Family (1991), Roosevelt Rides Again (1993), Pheasants on the Prairie (1996), Grasshoppers in the Field (1999), Geese in Flight (2001), and Deer Crossing (2002). Greff also runs the Enchanted Highway Gift Shop in Regent and plans to build several more oversize attractions before he hangs up his welding torch.


8. W'eel Turtle Sculpture: Dunseith, North Dakota

The W'eel Turtle Sculpture was

made out of 2,000 tire rims by Dales Thrifty Barn, a gas station, cafe and

motel in Dunseith, North Dakota.

Made in 1982 from 2,000 tire rims that never made it to their

destination, W'eel stands sentinel on the North Dakota prairie and lures customers to Dale's Thrifty Barn, the gas station/cafe/motel

responsible for its existence.

The 40-foot turtle's one-ton head bobs from side to side, perhaps acknowledging the surrounding Turtle Mountains or the annual

turtle derby in nearby Boissevain, Manitoba.


7. Golden Driller Statue: Tulsa, Oklahoma

The Golden Driller Statue in Tulsa,

Oklahoma, weighs in at 43,500 pounds.

Originally erected in 1953 for the International Petroleum Exposition, the Golden Driller claims the title of

world's largest freestanding statue -- 76 feet tall and 43,500 pounds.

The big guy was refurbished and relocated to its current home at the

Tulsa Exposition Center in 1966, where it has since survived

tornadoes, art critics, and even the occasional shotgun blast.


6. Caveman Statue: Grants Pass, Oregon

The Caveman Statue represents the club that used to meet in the cave system

near Grants Pass, Oregon.

In 1874, a hunte r discovered a cave system near Grants Pass, Oregon. The

men in the community eventually used it as the launching pad for an Elks-like club

named the Cavemen.After a secret subterranean ceremony in

1922, the group dressed in skins and marched in local parades.

The club isn't as visible today, but members left a lasting mark on the town

in 1971 in the form of an 18-foot fiberglass Neanderthal who welcomes

visitors.


5. Forbidden Gardens Statues: Katy, Texas

The Forbidden Gardens in Katy,

Texas, offers a glimpse into Chinese history, including a model

of Emperor Qins tomb.

Built in 1997 by a Hong Kong tycoon as a testament to Chinese

history, this Houston-area attraction features a one-third scale model of one of China's greatest archaeological finds:

Emperor Qin's tomb and its resident army of 6,000 terra-cotta

soldiers.

The Gardens also include an elaborate model of the Forbidden

City.


4. Fremont Troll Statue: Seattle, Washington

The Fremont Troll Statue lurking

under a bridge in Seattle, Washington, brings to mind many

a fairy tale.

Like a postmodern Brothers Grimm tale, a gigantic concrete

troll lurks under the Aurora Avenue Bridge in Seattle's

Fremont neighborhood, mangling a Volkswagen Beetle in its

massive meat hook.

That location had been increasingly littered with junk

before the troll was built in 1990 and the Fremont Arts Council

revitalized the area.


3. Jackalope Statue: Douglas, Wyoming

Publications International, Ltd.The Jackalope Statue resides in

Douglas, Wyoming, also known as the "Jackalope Capital of the World."

Douglas, Wyoming, is the self-proclaimed "Jackalope Capital of the World" because, as the tall tale goes, pioneers first spotted the legendary

critter in the area in the 1820s.The city pays homage to the beast with a statue built in the center of town in

1965 and an annual festival.

Jackalope hunting licenses are even available through the local chamber of commerce, but only to those whose IQ is more than 50 but less than 72, and the season is limited to two hours a

year.


2. Chuck the Channel Cat Statue: Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

Chuck the Channel Cat Statue can

be found in Selkirk, Manitoba, which is also known as the "Catfish

Capital."

From its home at the Dae rwood Motor Inn in Selkirk, Manitoba, this

30-foot monument to the area's enormous catfish greets visitors

with a smile.

Chuck's mission: to help promote Selkirk as the "Catfish Capital," a suitable title for the place where anglers often yank 30-pounders

from the Red River.


1. Ernie the Turtle Statue: Turtleford, Saskatchewan, Canada

Ernie the Turtle was created by Don Foulds,

who's built other roadside attractions in Canada.

While not in the s ame league as W'eel in North Dakota, Ernie the Turtle claims the title of Canada's largest turtle with an impressive

eight-foot peak at the crest of its shell.Built in 1983, the sculpture is the work of Don

Foulds, who was also behind several other big roadside beasts in Saskatchewan.

ABOUT THE AUTHORA Denver-based freelance writer, Eric

Peterson contributes to numerous periodicals and travel guides. His recent credits include Ramble: A Field Guide to the U.S.A. and stories for Sky, the New

York Daily News, and Westword.

For a complimentary copy of this Power Point, send your email request for

Strange Attractions & Statues

To

Dr. John Hogan, CHA CHE MHSCo-founder www.HospitalityEducators.com

[email protected]@hoganhospitality.com

www.hoganhospitality.comwww.hoganhospitality.com

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