top american roadside attractions

At a little over two hours from Baltimore or Washington, D.C., the Land of Giants (also known as the Farnham Colossi) is perfect for a purposefully strange day trip. When Mr. and Mrs. Farnham, a former Washington lawyer and a city girl from New York, wanted a change of pace, they moved to West Virginia. Thanks to a satellite dish and the Internet, they were able to order collectible statues. Lots of them. And not just any statues 20 ft. tall ones. Santa Claus; a guy with grocery bags; a surfer sipping a giant Coke. If that doesnt say summer, we dont know what does.

The Midwestern version of the Italian classic is only half as tall (94 ft. to Pisas 177 ft.) and half as leaning (7.4 ft. off of vertical vs. the Italians 15 ft. lean), but the Leaning Tower of Niles makes an outstanding snapshot if you cant fly halfway around the world. Built in 1934, Niles leaning tower once stood in front of a YMCA but is now the center of a park. Couple a visit to the tower with a swing by the first franchised McDonalds in nearby Des Plaines, and you can even catch a flight out of OHare airport, only a 15 min. drive away.

London Bridge was falling down, so it got relocated to Lake Havasu City, Ariz. No, really. It is the very London Bridge built in 1831 that once sat astride the Thames across the pond. But by the mid 20th century, it could no longer handle the load of Londons traffic and got auctioned off to an Arizona oil baron he spent $2,460,000 on the bridge and then an extra $7 million to have it dismantled and reconstructed in Lake Havasu City in 1971. Guinness World Records calls it the worlds largest antique. So you can drive over or stroll along a 950 ft. long piece of history, complete with a Tudor backdrop. Its like being in two places at once.

For 500 lucky employees of Longaberger Basket Co., every day is a picnic. Between 1995 and 1997, the Ohio based company spent $30 million to build a new home office modeled after one of its baskets. According to the companys website, the structure is 160 times longer, wider and taller than its Medium Market Basket. The seven story replica, which sits on 25 acres of land, even features 150 ton handles and two 725 lb. gold leaf painted tags. Not surprisingly, it is considered the worlds largest basket. Recognizing the sightseeing appeal, Longaberger offers tour and vacation packages.

A pair of giant white horns pierce the sky alongside Interstate 19, calling drivers back to the days of the Wild West. The horns are part of a larger longhorn skull, which serves as the entrance to the Longhorn Grill in Amado, Ariz. Slightly south of Tucson, the skull was built sometime in the early 1970s, but locals are strangely mysterious about its origins. Its attached to an adobe building that is occupied by a bar and restaurant, reached by walking through the nasal cavity of the skull. Right across the street is the Cow Palace Restaurant. Cue tumbleweeds.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Americas largest underground lake is tucked away underneath Tennessee. First, you embark on a tour of giant caves 140 feet below ground, and then hop on a glass bottom boat to float across The Lost Sea . Rare collections of cave formations and 20,000 year old jaguar tracks await you. (The ancient cats bones have been preserved at New York Citys Museum of Natural History.) Another plus; the temperature is always 58 degrees, so whether you want to escape from a sweltering summer day, or a chilly winter, this is an ideal pit stop.

Ever hear about the wave of animal shaped buildings that swept the nation in the 1800s? No? Thats probably because it never happened. But it wasnt for a lack of effort from Victorian speculator James V. Lafferty, who hit upon the idea of driving up interest in beachfront property he owned by constructing Lucy, a building shaped like an elephant. Though zoomorphic architecture failed to take off, Lucy became a popular tourist attraction, her belly serving variously as a restaurant, summer home and speakeasy. Though she fell into disrepair in the 1960s, Lucy was soon saved from the wrecking ball, moved onto public land and designated a National Historic Landmark. For visitors, shes one elephant theyll never forget.

On two small hillsides abutting County Road 86 in Alabama stand thousands of wooden crosses and a smattering of old washing machines, fridges, and other pieces of scrap metal. They all hold messages of despair. Hell is hot. You Will Die. Stuff like that. William C. Rice, who died in 2004, built this garden as a testament to his salvation by Christ in the late 1970s. While frightening in its fervor, the collection is an example of folk art at its most primitive.

During a drive through the redwood forests of Santa Cruz, California, tourists often stop to witness firsthand the effects of suspending their own disbelief. The Mystery Spot is 150 ft. in diameter and features a slanted shed that visitors wander through and witness strange variations of gravity, such as an object rolling up a plank rather than down it. The Spots web site speculates that aliens planted metal cones in the ground, scrambling the areas terrestrial physics. After taking a guided tour, visitors can puzzle over whether this is truly paranormal or an optical illusion, and then trek on through the Redwoods.

Just an exit away off the Ventura Freeway sits the oldest Bobs Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California. Built in 1949, the diner features 1950s coffee shop architecture, an oversized roof and curved windows. Its glowing neon sign stands 70 feet tall. Now a State Historical Point of Interest, the restaurant features car hop service on Saturday and Sunday nights and a classic car show in the parking lot every Friday night. The Burbank restaurant also has a plaque in one booth commemorating a visit by The Beatles in 1965 while on tour; regulars call the table The Beatle Booth.