Roadside Distractions: 15 Reasons to Pull Off the Highway - Freeze-Frame Radio

garougal · Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult

Roadside Distractions: 15 Reasons to Pull Off the Highway

garougal · Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult

The Longaberger Company corporate office, Newark, Ohio (Courtesy of The Longaberger Company)

Worlds largest basket-shaped building (Newark, Ohio): The Longaberger Co. is best-known for its handcrafted baskets. Still, unless youre ready for it, its a shock to come upon the companys home office, which is a giant replica of one of the companys wares. The building, which is open to visitors, has offices set around a seven-story, 30,000-square-foot atrium. Daylight streams in from an overhead skylight and from 84 windows in the baskets walls. There are also two basket handles that together weigh about 150 tons and are attached with copper and wooden rivets that look just like those on a real Longaberger basket. The building even has giant, 725-pound Longaberger gold-leaf-painted tags attached to its sides.

If you go: The Longaberger Co.s basket-shaped building is at 1500 E. Main St. in Newark, Ohio, near Interstate 70. For more information, visit http://www.longaberger.com.

Couple views giant busts at David Adickes SculpturWorx Studio, Houston (© Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau)

Giant sculptures (Houston): Artist David Adickes is best-known for his oversized sculptures, including a 67-foot-tall statue of Sam Houston in Huntsville, Texas, and the 20-foot-tall busts of U.S. presidents at Presidents Park in Black Hills, S.D., and in Williamsburg, Va. (A bust of President Barack Obama will arrive at the South Dakota park by July 4.) Many of the sculptors yet-to-be-placed works and works in progress sit outdoors at his studio/warehouse in downtown Houston, where visitors are welcome to wander through and take pictures.

If you go: David Adickes SculpturWorx Studio is at 2500 Summer St. in downtown Houston. For more information, visit http://www.visithoustontexas.com/media/ghcvb_press_kit/Art_Galleries

Harvey the Rabbit statue, Aloha, Ore. (© Allison George/Washington County Visitors Association)

Harvey the Rabbit statue (Aloha, Ore.): Years ago, someone brought a 26-foot-tall, wind-damaged statue of a blue-jacketed Texaco gas station attendant to the fiberglass department at Ed Harveys boat shop. The repair estimate topped $2,000, so the owner abandoned the statue. Thats when Harvey, who was a big fan of the 1950 movie Harvey, starring a giant imaginary rabbit of the same name (as well as Jimmy Stewart), decided to put a rabbit head on the fiberglass man and post him in front of the store. The giant bunny-man was an instant hit. And he still is: His giant outstretched hand has held a Christmas tree, a Thanksgiving turkey, a Halloween pumpkin and even an old freezer decorated to look like a box of Girl Scout cookies.

If you go: Harvey the Rabbit stands outside Harvey Marine at 21250 S.W. Tualatin Valley Highway in Aloha, Ore., near Portland and Interstate 5. For more information, visit http://www.harvey-marine.com.

garougal · Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult

Guinness Book of World Records Most People Dressed as Superman event at Superman statue, Metropolis, Ill. (© The Metropolis Planet)

Supermans hometown (Metropolis, Ill.): As Clark Kent, comic book superhero Superman lived and worked in the fictional town of Metropolis. You wont need a disguise to visit the real town of Metropolis, Ill., where theres a Super Museum filled with more than 20,000 Superman-related items, a newspaper called The Metropolis Planet, a 15-foot-tall bronze Superman statue guarding the courthouse and, each June, a Superman Celebration that features celebrities, Superman Jeopardy and a Superman costume contest.

If you go: Metropolis is in southern Illinois, near Interstate 24. For more information, visit http://www.metropolischamber.com.

The Cardiff Giant, Cooperstown, N.Y. (© The Farmers Museum Cooperstown, New York)

The Cardiff Giant (Cooperstown, N.Y.): Most people go to Cooperstown to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Curiosity seekers who venture beyond baseball will encounter a rare and unusual treat: the stupendous stone statue known as the Cardiff Giant. In 1869, when this 10-foot tall fossilized man was found buried on a farm near Cardiff, N.Y., it caused quite a furor. Was it an ancient statue, a petrified giant or a hoax? Find out for yourself: Since 1947, the Cardiff Giant has been at rest at the Farmers Museum in Cooperstown.

If you go: The Farmers Museum is at 5775 State Highway 80 in Cooperstown, N.Y. For more information about the museum and the Cardiff Giant, visit http://www.farmersmuseum.org.

Rocket nose-cone on display at the Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas (© Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation)

Atomic Testing Museum (Las Vegas): The exhibits here do a bang-up job of documenting the history of nuclear testing from 1951, when tests were first conducted at the Nevada Test Site in the desert north of Las Vegas, to the present. Visitors can see Geiger counters and other radiation testing devices, watch a Disney film explaining what happens during a nuclear reaction, learn about the challenges of disposing of nuclear waste and experience a simulated, but safe, above-ground test.

If you go: The Atomic Testing Museum is at 755 E. Flamingo Road in Las Vegas. For more information, visit http://www.atomictestingmuseum.org.

Haines Shoe House, Hellam, Pa. (© York County CVB/PA Tourism)

Haines Shoe House (Hellam, Pa.): Col. Mahlon Haines, an eccentric businessman known as the Shoe Wizard, created a 40-store shoe empire, and in 1948 had this shoe-shaped house built as an advertisement for his business. Modeled after a high-topped work shoe, the 48-foot-long, 25-foot-high structure has three bedrooms, two baths, a living room, kitchen and windows decorated with stained glass shoes. In the early days, when the big shoe was a guesthouse, Haines gave away complimentary weekend stays to elderly couples as well as to newlyweds for memorable, if unusual, honeymoon stays. Over the years, the big shoe has also served as an ice cream shop, a store and a private home. These days, its open for tours.

If you go: The Haines Shoe House is at 197 Shoe House Road in Hellam, Pa., near Interstate 83. For more information, call 717-840-8339.

garougal · Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult

Doorway at the Coral Castle, Homestead, Fla. (© Warren Flagler/Index Stock/age fotostock)

Coral Castle (Homestead, Fla.): Dont be surprised if you leave the Coral Castle feeling glad that Edward Leedskalnins fiancée ditched him just a day before their wedding in 1913. If she hadnt, this slight, heartbroken Latvian wouldnt have come to America and spent nearly 30 years single-handedly moving, carving, sculpting and transforming more than 1,100 tons of coral rock into a two-story castle tower that features a 9-ton gate, a sundial, a telescope, a bathtub and furniture including rocking chairs, beds and, fittingly, a heart-shaped table.

If you go: The Coral Castle is at 28655 S. Dixie Highway in Homestead, Fla. For more information, visit http://www.coralcastle.com.

Jackalope statue, Douglas, Wyo. (© Wyoming Travel & Tourism)

Giant jackalope statue (Douglas, Wyo.): A jackalope is a strange-looking critter with the body of a rabbit and a small set of antelope antlers on its head. Impossible to find in the wild, the jackalope was invented back in the 1930s by two brothers who had both taxidermy skills and an offbeat sense of humor. Thousands of stuffed and mounted jackalopes later, the town of Douglas, Wyo., remains Jackalope Central, boasting the worlds largest jackalope statue. Douglas Chamber of Commerce, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, even issues jackalope hunting licenses, and says they can be used only between midnight and 2 a.m. each year on June 31.

If you go: Douglas is in southeast Wyoming, east of Casper, near Interstate 25. For more information, visit http://www.jackalope.org.

Giant peanut statue, Ashburn, Ga. (© Ashburn Turner County Chamber of Commerce)

Giant peanut statue (Ashburn, Ga.): A tribute to Georgia's No. 1 cash crop, this 33-foot-tall fiberglass, brick and concrete peanut shrine, complete with bright yellow crown, is believed to be the worlds largest peanut monument (yes, there are others!). Youll find it in Ashburn, one of several towns that proclaim themselves to be the Peanut Capital of the World; surprisingly, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are not on the menu at the Last Meal Café inside Ashburns Crime and Punishment Museum. (Nearby Sylvester, home to the Peter Pan peanut butter plant, has an annual peanut festival each October, highlighted by the Goober Gala and the Miss Georgia Peanut Pageant.)

If you go: The giant peanut statue is on Sylvia Drive in Ashburn, Ga., just off Interstate 75. For more information, visit http://www.turnerchamber.com.

Boy stands near world's largest ball of twine, Cawker City, Kan. (© Orlin Wagner/AP)

Worlds largest ball of sisal twine (Cawker City, Kansas): This string bean of a town is the proud home of the worlds largest ball of sisal twine. At 9 tons, with a circumference of 40 feet, the ball is certainly big, but it wasnt always this hefty. In 1961, when Frank Stoeber gave Cawker City this spherical oddity, it weighed in at just 5,000 pounds. But thanks to the towns annual twine-a-thon, the ball just keeps on growing. Got time for more twine? The largest twine ball rolled by one man (twine ball-wise, an important distinction) is on display in Darwin, Minn.

If you go: The worlds largest ball of sisal twine is in downtown Cawker City, Kansas, on Wisconsin Street (Highway 24). For more information, visit http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/Cawker/twine.html. The worlds largest twine ball rolled by one man is two blocks south of Highway 12 in Darwin, Minn. For more information, visit http://www.darwintwineball.com. Both twine balls can be viewed 24 hours a day.