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By Doug, January 22, 2010 22:03

Do you love clowns or hate them?  What about dolls, like those creepy ones in movies?  What about clown dolls!?  It’s enough to send shivers down your spine.

The Klown Doll Museum in Plainview (its full and proper name) houses a collection of 4,500 nightmares-in-waiting that’ll provide you with countless sleepless nights.  If you like clowns and you like dolls then the Klown Doll Museum (in Plainview) will satisfy your horribly strange and spooky obsession.  I mean, seriously, can you imagine walking through this place at night with nothing but a wax candle to light your way?  Can’t you just hear the pitter-patter sounds of those grotesque clown dolls as they move through the shadows, lurking, ready to pounce?  All those creepy dolls staring at you through those messed up, unblinking eyes looking straight into your soul?  How could you turn your back on any of them—they’d drive a butcher’s knife right through you!  Over and over and over again. 

Sorry, my mind drifted again, but those things are really bizarre.

Oh, and why do they call it the Klown Doll Museum (in Plainview) instead of the Clown Doll Museum (in Plainview)?  Apparently there was a Klown Band in the town 50 years ago and the unusual spelling stuck.  Klowns or clowns, if you want to see them, go to Nebraska.  Happy dreams.

The Klown Doll Museum of Plainview

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By Doug, December 4, 2009 19:56

The Lunchbox Museum, Columbus, Georgia.

We all had them, didn’t we?  Those cool metal lunchboxes we toted to school every day with our peanut butter and jelly sandwich and maybe, if we were lucky, a Jell-O pudding cup!  Mine was a school bus with Mickey and his friends but I remember other kids who had Scooby and the gang, Bugs Bunny or maybe Barbie, if you were a “yucky” girl.

He [Allen Woodall] began collecting lunch boxes a mere four years ago, because, as he puts it, “they’re just so neat!” He now has more than 1,000 lunch boxes and related items, including thermoses, coolers and even tobacco tins that doubled as lunch boxes.

Of course, if there’s something to collect, someone will collect it and eventually decide the world needs a museum to house the prized collection.  Lunchboxes are no exception!  The “World’s Largest” lunchbox museum is in Columbus, Georgia (conveniently located near the old farmers’ market in the historic downtown area).

The Lunchbox Museum

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By Doug, July 12, 2009 03:08

Salvation Mountain

What can you do to make an ugly desert God just plopped down in Imperial County, California look nice? Pile up some junk and clay then paint it, of course! And, Leonard Night is doing just that so we don’t have to look at the ugly desert anymore.

Salvation Mountain is Leonard’s tribute to God and his gift to the world with its simple yet powerful message: “God Is Love.” Leonard’s passion has lovingly created this brilliant “outsider art” masterpiece resplendent with not only biblical and religious scripture such as the Lord’s Prayer, John 3:16, and the Sinner’s Prayer, but also including flowers, trees, waterfalls, suns, bluebirds, and many other fascinating and colorful objects.

Leonard became a Christian in 1967, on a Wednesday, at 10:30 in the morning while sitting in his van. He was 35 years old and had held various odd jobs including fighting the Korean War for 10 days. Leonard went around to various churches trying to enlighten them on how to properly worship Jesus but for some reason met resistance. Moving on, he was then inspired to make a hot air balloon to help spread the Lord’s message and began collecting bits of fabric and sewing them together. That occupied Leonard for the next 14 years but apparently it wasn’t God’s will to have Leonard fly in his balloon to spread the Word as it (the balloon, not the Word) kept collapsing on itself when he tried to inflate it. Although he persisted, eventually the balloon began to rot and Leonard looked for other ways to spread the Word.

Leonard decided to leave California but wanted to spend one extra week in the area to make a small memorial with a half bag of concrete he had lying around. Weeks begat months begat years and after tons of junk, sand, concrete and paint were assembled, Leonard had the 50-foot high creation he was after! Until it collapsed on itself.

Undaunted, Leonard rebuilt the mountain, this time using native adobe clay and straw. He applied paint liberally to keep the elements from washing away his work. Over the years, Leonard has applied well over 100,000 gallons of paint to his mountain of clay and debris as (he hopes) a lasting tribute to God.

If you stop by, bring some paint for Leonard!

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By Doug, June 30, 2009 10:06

Concrete Penguin

The Penguin in Cut Bank, Montana, is the world’s largest talking, concrete penguin.  It’s 27 feet tall.  And, I guess that’s all I have to say about that.

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By Doug, June 24, 2009 07:29

Lucy the Elephant, outside Atlantic City, New Jersey

In 1881, 25-year-old James V. Lafferty had some oceanfront land to sell and he needed a gimmick to do it. That gimmick was Lucy, a six-story high, 90-ton wood and tin structure built in the shape of a giant elephant from nearly a million pieces of wood. Lucy worked as intended, Lafferty got a patent on animal shaped buildings and people flocked to his land to see it. Lucy was so popular Lafferty built two more similar structures including one on Coney Island that was twice as high as Lucy but it burned and today the original Lucy is the only survivor.

Throughout her history, Lucy has served as a real estate office (her original purpose), bar, and hotel. Today she serves as a museum. Entry into Lucy is through a door on one of her legs and visitors can go all the way up to “howdah” for commanding views of the ocean.

If you’re in Atlantic City, take a few minutes to drive to Margate, New Jersey and see Lucy in person. Since she can be seen for up to eight miles away, you shouldn’t have any problem finding her!

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By Doug, June 22, 2009 07:00

The Peachoid, in Gaffney South Carolina

What do you get when you cross a spherical water tower with 50 gallons of orange paint (in 20 different shades)? The Gaffney South Carolina Peachoid, of course. Apparently, South Carolina is offended that Georgia is called the “Peach State” when South Carolina grows more peaches. Built in 1981, the Peachoid has stood the test of time although rumor has it the paint was redone so it looked less like a giant butt and more like a giant peach. Oh, that big leaf? It weighs seven tons.

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By Doug, June 21, 2009 11:51

The Blue Whale

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!

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By Doug, June 17, 2009 19:06

Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble greating the guests at Bedrock City

Right out of the funny papers and into the middle of nowhere South Dakota, Bedrock City is one part Flintstones and two parts 1960’s kitsch. The “theme park” is near Custer, South Dakota and is actually pretty close to a lot of big-ticket attractions like Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse.

But this bizarre little theme park is a fascinating attraction in its own right with fiberglass Fred and Barney statues, “stone” houses and various prehistoric things to do like the Water Buffalo Lodge and a train that circles the whole place. The theme park itself isn’t much to brag about but it’s fascinating to go and see it for what it is: a vintage tourist trap. But, if you have to pull your motor home in someplace to park anyway, you might as well make this the place to stop. Plus, at least at the time of this writing, a one-day pass is the same price as an annual pass!

If South Dakota isn’t your style, there’s another one in Williams Arizona, near the Grand Canyon. Yabba, Dabba, Doo!

Bedrock City, South Dakota
Bedrock City, Arizona