Reportedly the second largest tourist attraction in all of Catoosa, Oklahoma, the Blue Whale was built by Hugh Davis in the early 1970s as a gift for his wife, a collector of whale figurines. The whale sits on a small pond and when the locals started coming around for a swim, Hugh added a sand beach and a few picnic tables. Soon, it became another quirky little attraction on Route 66. Although Hugh is long gone, the Blue Whale is still maintained and may or may not be open for a tour when you get there, depending on whether or not the caretaker is available!
The Steamboat Natchez is a modern (built in 1975) but authentic riverboat providing two-hour lunchtime cruises from the historic New Orleans French Quarter. The Natchez is patterned after the famous riverboats that hauled cargo and people up and down the Mississippi river around the turn of the 20th century and before. It features a steam calliope, live jazz band, optional Creole lunch and a fascinating engine room.
“The Awakening” is a sculpture created for the 1980 International Sculpture Conference Exhibition by J. Seward Johnson, Jr. It’s made up of five aluminum pieces that, when placed on the ground, resemble a 100-foot tall giant trying to break free from the earth. Or, maybe it’s the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk after Jack cuts down the stalk. Or, maybe somebody planted the Jolly Green Giant in a shallow grave! Ho, ho, ho, Green Giant!
The statute has moved around a bit but currently it resides in National Harbor, Prince George County, Maryland. It was moved there on 2/20/2008 after being sold for a cool $750,000.
Most people today have heard of Splash Mountain at the Disney parks and some of those people realize the story behind the ride is from a movie called Song of the South. Still fewer people know the origin of that story, Uncle Remus. Joel Chandler Harris wrote the Uncle Remus stories from stories he heard as a child, passed down from slaves. It was a subset of those tales told by slaves that eventually became the story inside Splash Mountain.
Ironically, the movie derived from old slave stories, Song of the South, hasn’t been released in the United States for many years because, rumor has it, Disney is afraid the movie will offend blacks. If you’ve seen the movie, you know the blacks in the movie are the only ones with their heads on straight and it’s the white people who should be offended, but that has nothing to do with the point of this post and I digress.
So much for the insightful history lesson. On to the attraction!
The Wren’s Nest is Harris’ restored home is Atlanta Georgia. Built in 1870, the home was named in 1900 after a pair of wrens nested in Harris’ mailbox that spring. He quickly installed a second mailbox so as not to disturb the nesting pair. Visitors can see his house, buy copies of his books (in either their original form or an easier to read, modern form) and hear the stories of Br’er Rabbit retold by professional storytellers.
If you spend a day or two in Atlanta, I’d recommend dedicating an hour or two to this attraction.
Cadillac Ranch is on historic Route 66 in Amarillo Texas. The “ranch” is comprised of 10 Cadillac cars “planted” face down and at an angle, the same angle as the sides of Great Pyramid of Cheops, in the Texas desert. The cars themselves were build between 1949 and 1963 but weren’t planted until 1973 when Stanley Marsh 3 (not III) commissioned the work as a lasting memorial to his “Ant Farm” social collective.
Today, people from all over the world come to this monument stuck in the middle of nowhere simply for the purpose of painting the cars the way they see fit. The layers and layers of old paint are pretty much the only thing holding the old junk-heaps together.
The Bishop’s Palace is a beautiful stone mansion built on Galveston Island, Texas, in 1892 for a lawyer/railroad magnate named Colonel Walter Gresham. It was designed by Nicholas Clayton and construction started in 1887. Later, the Catholic Church purchased it for use as a Bishop’s residence, hence the name. It is considered one of the top 14 representatives of Victorian homes in the United States.
One of the most interesting details inside the house is the collection of unique, award winning fireplace mantels. It also has details made of rare wood and intricate detail throughout. Of all the houses I’ve visited over the years, across the country, the Bishop’s Palace is the most interesting.
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