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’Net Junkie Shawn "Speedy" Lopes |
Off-the-wall attractions
offer a real tripSummer's nearly upon us and hordes of families and road trippers across the nation will soon venture across America's highways, taking in the sights along the way. There'll be droves of 'em at all the usual destinations: Disneyland, the Grand Canyon and the Statue of Liberty, to name a few.
Some free-thinking tourists, though, will pass on such heavily patronized attractions and instead take a gander at the world's tallest filing cabinet -- yes, filing cabinet -- which rests in a nondescript field in Burlington, Vt., 38 drawers high. Others will visit the Eiffel Tower in Paris -- or more accurately, a replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Tenn., some two hours from Nashville.
These and many more oddball diversions can be found at www.roadsideamerica.com, an interesting Web site that points visitors to a number of curious and downright bizarre attractions across the country.
Travelers passing through Kentucky may want to stop by the Knob Creek Gun Range in West Point for what's been described as "The Nation's Largest Machine-Gun Shoot," where you can legally bust a cap big-time and rent a flame thrower, too. Yee-haw! Be forewarned, though. The disclaimer on their Web site at www.machinegunshoot.com reads, "Knob Creek Range Inc. will not be held responsible for injuries to you or damage to your personal property while at Knob Creek."
Statesboro, Ga., if you hadn't already heard, is home to the Smithsonian National Tick Museum, which can be found on the campus of Georgia Southern University. It's open for one hour every Wednesday or by appointment. It's a free show, if you can believe it.
Visit the World's Only Cactus Plantation in Edwards, Miss.; a purported vampire grave in Lafayette, Colo.; or the Trash Museum of Connecticut, a museum constructed entirely from garbage where, according to a roadsideamerica.com contributor, kids are treated to a game in which they must find a rubber rat amid heaps of rubbish.
Roadsideamerica.com's search function allows you to browse for roadside attractions by state or Canadian province. A quick check of Hawaii reveals Dole Plantation's maze, the Wow Wee Maui Cafe and Oxygen bar, and "The World's Only Known Paper Airplane Museum" in Kahului.
Note: Web sites mentioned in this column were active at time of publication. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin neither endorses nor is responsible for their contents.
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’Net Junkie drops every Monday.
Contact Shawn "Speedy" Lopes at slopes@starbulletin.com.
