30 June 2008

Road Trip USA: Discovering a Different America

Offbeat attractions provide alternative to mainstream tourist fare

The Fremont Troll sits under a bridge in Seattle and clutches a real car in one hand. (Thomas C. Stratton)

By Lauren Monsen
Staff Writer

Washington -- The lure of the open road is a favorite theme in U.S. popular culture.  Immortalized in literature, music and film, the so-called Great American Road Trip is a rite of passage for American youth seeking adventure and is also a popular vacation choice for families.

Traversing the United States by car is an invitation to supplement -- or ditch -- the standard tourist agenda and seek out some of the country’s most treasured oddities: quirky local attractions that offer a glimpse at America’s lighter side.  These curiosities can be found in every state, and opinions vary as to which ones are worth a visit.  In the interest of offering some guidance to novelty seekers, America.gov has undertaken a brief (and very limited) survey of unconventional U.S. attractions.

GREAT BALLS OF TWINE

No fewer than four contenders vie for the title of the “World’s Largest Ball of Twine,” an object that delights visitors with its utter pointlessness.

The oldest contender -- located in Darwin, Minnesota -- is billed as the largest such object ever constructed by a single person.  Francis A. Johnson began wrapping twine into a ball in the early 1950s and continued until his death in 1989.  Measuring 40 feet (12 meters) in circumference and weighing 17,400 pounds (7,900 kilograms), Johnson’s ball of twine has become a source of civic pride. Townspeople celebrate “Twine Ball Day” every August.

Frank Stoeber, of Cawker City, Kansas, regarded Johnson’s ball as a challenge and decided to start his own.  He died in 1974 before surpassing Johnson’s record, but every August, a “Twine-a-thon” is held where people add more twine to the ball.  It now ranks as the world’s largest and heaviest ball of sisal twine, currently weighing almost 18,000 pounds (8,165 kilograms) and measuring 40 feet (12 meters) in circumference.

The third contender -- in Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin -- is the project of James Frank Kotera, who started wrapping his twine ball in 1979.  He continues to work on it, and by his estimation, the ball weighs 19,336 pounds (8,700 kilograms), making it the heaviest ball of twine ever built.  Kotera’s ball sits in an open-air enclosure on its creator’s front lawn; it has a smaller companion, “Junior,” made of string.

Not to be outdone, the town of Branson, Missouri, boasts its own ball of twine, allegedly certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the “world’s largest” (although this distinction might be fleeting, since the Kansas and Wisconsin balls are still works in progress).  Owned by the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum, the Missouri ball measures 41.5 feet (12.6 meters) in circumference.

An object billed as the World’s Largest Ball of Twine sits in an open-air enclosure in Cawker City, Kansas.

CAR CULTURE

Two of the best known auto-themed attractions in the United States are Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, and Carhenge near Alliance, Nebraska.

Cadillac Ranch -- conceived as a tribute to America’s most famous luxury automobile -- is a tongue-in-cheek art installation of vintage Cadillacs dating from 1949-1963, featuring cars lined up in a row with their front ends buried in the ground.  The cars’ back ends, with tail fins pointing at the sky, form a permanent salute to America’s automotive heritage.  Visitors are encouraged to bring cans of spray paint to decorate the “sculptures.”

Carhenge is a sly replica of England’s Stonehenge (a prehistoric burial ground marked by a circular setting of large, vertical stones), but in place of the stones that define the English prototype, its modern-day twin is constructed of 38 vintage American cars arranged in a circle.  The cars have been spray-painted a uniform gray, mimicking the color of natural stone, and the entire structure sits in the middle of a grassy plain.  With the addition of other automobile sculptures nearby, the site is now known as the Car Art Reserve.

CURIOUS CRITTERS AND MORE

Popular landmarks across the United States often include giant statues representing real or imaginary figures.  In Seattle, the ugly but much-loved Fremont Troll lurks beneath the Aurora Bridge, gripping a real Volkswagen Beetle car in one enormous hand.  In Klamath, California, the Trees of Mystery site contains a number of unusual tree formations, and its entrance is guarded by statues of the mythical lumberjack Paul Bunyan, who stands 49 feet (nearly 15 meters) high, and Bunyan’s sidekick, Babe the Blue Ox.  Bunyan’s mechanical right hand offers a sluggish wave and his “voice” (courtesy of a loudspeaker in his breast pocket) cheerfully greets visitors and answers their questions.

Dinosaur theme parks can be found coast to coast, but Dinosaur Land in White Post, Virginia, is a particular favorite of children.  Huge fiberglass replicas of prehistoric beasts, some locked in mortal combat, populate the forested grounds.  Not all the creatures are dinosaurs, however; a towering cobra, an outsized praying mantis, a shark and a model of King Kong are part of the mix.  The park’s loopy “dawn of time” effect is heightened by a caveman diorama, located indoors.

An architectural folly known as the Haines Shoe House, located in Hellam, Pennsylvania, is a classic of roadside Americana.  A 25-foot (7.6-meter) edifice that looks like a gigantic work boot, the house was built in 1948 as an advertising gimmick by Mahlon N. Haines, who owned shoe stores in Maryland and Pennsylvania.  The three-bedroom Shoe House features stained-glass windows with a shoe motif.  Haines initially used the house as guest quarters for the elderly couples and newlyweds whom he invited for weekend visits; as part of this promotional stunt, he gave free pairs of shoes to his guests.  Today, the Haines Shoe House is a museum; a shoe-shaped doghouse sits in the back yard.

Besides offering great photo opportunities, these roadside attractions serve as a reminder to plan for some wonderfully weird detours when embarking on Road Trip USA.

See also “Unorthodox U.S. Museums Show Off America’s Lighter Side” and Diversity.