WEIRDEST ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS IN AMERICA! – Dandy Fun House episode 52

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America the beautiful! Home of the brave! Home of the free! And most certainly Home of the weird! With summer on the way (at least at the time of this production), gas prices going down and Summer break on the horizon, we can expect road trippers to be loading up the ol Winnebago and rolling across the country in record numbers! And they’re gonna have to make at least a few stops along the way! Some of these stops will be mundane. Others, not so much. And others yet… downright weird! Therefore, we find it prudent to dedicate THIS episode of the Dandy Fun House to counting down the Top Ten Weirdest Roadside Attractions in America! Let’s step into the FUN HOUSE! 

Hello and welcome to the Dandy Fun House Video Show, Podcast and Blog! I’m your host Neil Dandy and this is where we seek the strangest retro pop culture, toys and games and all the fun stuff you can whack yourself out on! 

In this episode, we’ll be counting down the Top Ten WEIRDEST ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS IN AMERICA! 

But first! Bend your bean brain around these abnormal DANDY FUN HOUSE T SHIRTS! Specially woven from beard trimmings, we promise you’ll look amazing! But that’s not all! We’ve even cut 4 “special holes” in them for added entertainment. 1 to crawl your body into, 1 to poke your head out of and two to stick your arms through! Want one? Just head over to www.dandyfunhouse.com to get yours or if you’re watching on YouTube, we have a mini fun shop set up there too! 

10: WORLD’S LARGEST BALL OF TWINE, Cawker City, Kansas

This one grabbed my attention because I’ve always loved the song by Weird Al Yankovic, Biggest Ball of Twine In Minnesota. So naturally I assumed that the world’s largest ball of twine would indeed be in Minnesota, but… no. Apparently it’s just the biggest ball of twine in the STATE of Minnesota because the actual World’s Largest Ball of Twine resides in Cawker City, Kansas! The full and proper name would be the World Largest Ball of Sisal Twine which was started by a man named Frank Stoeber in 1953. After dedicating 4 years of his life to enlarging this twine ball, he got it up to 5000 lbs and a height of 8 ft!

Once a year in August the residents of Cawker City get together and have a Twine-A-Thon where everybody adds more to the ball. So it gets bigger every year! The World’s Largest Ball of Twine currently weighs in at over 27,000 lbs!

9: BIG IDAHO POTATO HOTEL, Boise, Idaho

This is exactly what it sounds like. A giant potato in Boise, Idaho that you can book as a hotel room. What!? Why? How!? I have so many questions!

It’s 6 tons of steel, plaster and concrete placed in the middle of 400 acres of farmland with a custom-built queen-sized bed and a small seating area inside and air conditioning! The restroom and shower are in a nearby converted grain silo however. 

But why? Well… in 2012 the Idaho Potato Commission COMMISSIONED it’s construction as it’s main attraction for the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Idaho Potato Commision. It then traveled the country on the back of a large truck for 7 years spreading the gospel of the Idaho Potato for all of America to hear and see!

Upon the end of it’s 7 year journey, Potato Commission employee and tiny home builder Kristie Wolfe took charge of the large spud and put it to good use in the middle of some prime Idaho farmland, transforming it into a destination accommodation that spud lovers from near and far come to drift away to starchy dreamland in. 

8: WORLD’S LARGEST CEDAR BUCKET, Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Ok, this one is in MY hometown of Murfreesboro, Tennessee! Home of the Dandy Fun House Studios! The World’s Largest Cedar Bucket lives in a quaint recreation of a pioneer town known as Cannonsburgh Village. 

The one currently on display is actually a replica of the original which was built in 1887 by the Tennessee Red Cedar Woodworks Company which was the only company in America making cedar buckets at the time. It was created over the course of an entire year as a promotional attraction for the company who took it on tour to fairs around the country winning a blue ribbon at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair as well as the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair who filled it with beer as one might expect in St. Louis. 1,566 gallons of it in fact. 

In 1950, a man named Charles White purchased the bucket at an auction and later donated it to Cannonsburgh Village in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1976.

The bucket was partially destroyed in 2005 due to a fire but was lovingly crafted back to life by the Rutherford County Blacksmith Association and rededicated back to Cannonsburgh Village in 2011.

DANDY FUN FACT!

Did you know that Murfreesboro, Tennessee is the exact geographical center of the state!? We have an obelisk that says so! (an obelisk is basically a tall, pointy pile of rocks erected to signify something of perceived importance)

7: FUTURE BIRTHPLACE OF CAPTAIN JAMES T. KIRK, Riverside, Iowa

True Trekkies know that in the original series, Captain James T. Kirk’s birthday is March 22nd, 2228 in the town of Riverside, Iowa. In the year 1985, a local Star Trek fanatic in town suggested to the city council that they erect a proper memorial in the Captain’s honor. The council agreed and it’s been a destination for Trekkies worldwide ever since!

6: CORN PALACE, Mitchell, South Dakota

The Corn Palace is a multi-purpose facility and event arena located in the lovely city of Mitchell, South Dakota. While that isn’t exactly anything very impressive, the fact that the entire building is completely covered in “crop art” meaning all the designs and artwork are made from corn, various grains and other decomposable organic materials very much IS! Because the architectural designs and external artwork is continually breaking down, an entirely new design is created each and every year making the Corn Palace almost an actual living, breathing event venue! Over 500,000 people visit it each year to behold it’s corniness and the town of Mitchell celebrates it’s biggest attraction with the Corn Palace Festival during harvest time. 

5: MYSTERY SPOT, Santa Cruz, CA

According to the Mystery Spot’s website at mysteryspot.com “The Mystery Spot is a gravitational anomaly located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz, California. It is a circular area of effect around 150 feet or 46 meters in diameter. Within the Mystery Spot you will be stunned as your perceptions of the laws of physics and gravity are questioned.”

Discovered in 1939 by a group of surveyors and opened to the public in 1940, what it actually IS is a gravity hill, tilt-induced visual illusion resulting from a tilted environment. This causes misperceptions of the height and orientation of objects including balls rolling uphill and people leaning farther than normally possible. Of course there’s no actual defying of gravity. It’s just that everything in the immediate surrounding area is all tilted in the same direction and to the same degree causing your brain to misinterpret the true horizon. Regardless, the place is a total mindfreak and is absolutely on my list of places to check out should I ever dare venture again to California. 

4: SPAM MUSEUM, Austin, Minnesota

Did you know that Minnesota has an entire museum dedicated solely to Hawaii’s favorite breakfast meat? That’s right, the city of Austin, Minnesota is home to the one and only SPAM MUSEUM! Best of all, it’s completely free! Even better, their SPAMbassadors give guided tours to groups of less than 10 people and virtual tours are also available. I don’t really know what they mean by virtual tours though. I’m not sure if you can simply do that through the internet from wherever you are or if it’s simply a recorded guide you listen to while you follow a predetermined route in person while visiting. They also hand out free SPAMples. I’m at a loss for words here but if you’d like to visit the SPAM museum or just learn more, you can visit their website at Https://www.spam.com/spam-museum  but please refrain from emailing unwanted solicitations to them. 

3: HAINES SHOE HOUSE, Hellam Township, Pennsylvania

The Haines Shoe House is a five story house built in the shape of a work boot by Mahlon Haines who owned a shoe business. It was basically created in 1948 as a marketing stunt and was rented out exclusively to elderly couples and newlyweds in the beginning. In more recent years it has been a museum, ice cream shop and also an Air BnB. This oddball attraction received a historical marker from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in July 2023 and is visible when driving down US Route 30!

2: IGLOO CITY, Cantwell, Alaska

Igloo city is a giant 4 story building in the shape of an igloo which was created in the 1970s for the initial purpose of being a unique destination hotel sitting almost exactly at the halfway point between the cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks. Unfortunately due to repeated failures at getting the unique structure to adhere to required building codes, Igloo City was never opened. Ownership has changed hands many times over the years but it has largely just sat abandoned all this time. The most recent ownership change occurred in 2023 with the new deed-holders announcing plans to turn it into a distillery. 

1: AL JOHNSON’S GOATS ON THE ROOF, Sister Bay, WI

This is bangin’ or should I say Baaaaa-ngin’ Swedish restaurant that just so happens to have a grass covered roof with goats on it! The restaurant itself is famous for being the greatest of all time at making delicious lingonberry pancakes. But how did a bunch of goats end up on the roof? 

Well… Mr. Johnson had a friend named Wink Larson who put a goat named Oscar on the roof one year as a birthday prank. It was so well received that Mr. Johnson decided to go ahead and incorporate roof goats as a permanent feature of his restaurant. Because who wouldn’t want livestock near the ventilation shafts of a place that makes and serves food? But I’m sure they have that all worked out with the health department and I digress! 

And for all you PETA warriors out there, the goats are not exposed to the harsh Wisconsin winter elements as they are only on display from late May through mid-October and every night they are chauffeured back home to Goat Farm Manor where they are lovingly and tenderly tucked into little goat beds and read cute farm stories until they bleet themselves to sleep. But not until the farmer checks under their little goat beds to make sure there are no scary Swedish Chefs lurking and hiding. 

And there you have it! The Dandy Fun House Countdown of the Top Ten Weirdest Roadside Attractions in America! 

Honorable mentions also include:

But don’t take my word for it! Get out there on the road this Summer and see it all for yourself and let me know what your favorite weirdo roadside attractions are by sending me a message through the Dandy Fun House website at dandyfunhouse.com where you’ll also find our DANDY FUN SHOP where absurdity is amplified as well as our…

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And speaking of hitting the road, I think it’s time for me to put the pedal to the floor and fly on out the door! Thanks for hanging out and come back real soon right here to the Dandy Fun House where everything is always FUN AND DANDY!