10 of Strangest Attractions to See in the U.S.

10 of Strangest Attractions to See in the U.S.

1. House on the Rock, Spring Green, Wisconsin

60-metre-long promenade cantilevered over a valley  photo source

Peculiar, eclectic, kooky. It’s been described as a combination of Yoda’s cottage and Barbarella’s spaceship, a bizarre collection gathered in a house highlighted by the Infinity Room, a 60-metre-long glass-and-steel promenade cantilevered over a valley.

House on the rock   photo source

2. The Enchanted Highway, between Gladstone and Regent, North Dakota

"Grasshopper's Delight" sculpture along the Enchanted Highway, approximately half-way to Regent, North Dakota. Car included for scale.  photo source

Best described as land of the giants, an assortment of oversized creatures adorns the fields along a 30-miles (50-kilometre) stretch of Interstate 94. Teacher-turned-welder Gary Greff erected a 44-feet (13.5-metre) high tin family, plus a grasshopper, pheasants, bass, geese, deer and other creatures to amuse passersby.

Sculptures of Pheasants on the Prairie    photo source

3. World’s largest ball of paint, Alexandria, Indiana

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Mike Carmichael got bored painting houses so, in 1977, he started painting a one-pound baseball to which he has added more than 17,000 coats weighing 500 kilograms. Mike was inspired by Alexandria’s “other ball” — a 90-kilogram hairball pulled from the town’s sewer system, a replica of which features in the annual Santa Claus parade.

Ball of paint  photo source

4. Leila’s Hair Museum, Independence, Missouri 

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Speaking of hair, hairdresser Leila Cohoon has been collecting it since 1949. She has a lock from Abraham Lincoln and one from Marilyn Monroe, but most is from ordinary people, turned into art and displayed in hundreds of frames and jewelry.

Masterpieces made ​​of hair  photo source 

5. Skeletons in the Closet gift shop, Los Angeles

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The LA coroner’s office has skeletons in its closet and is proud of it. Its gift shop sells toe tags, beach towels, hats and mugs, each carrying the coroner’s name and a body-outline logo. Don’t miss the body bag garment bag.

Coroner's gift shop    photo source

6. Carhenge, Alliance, Nebraska

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Carhenge is a replica of England's Stonehenge located near the city of Alliance, Nebraska on the High Plains. Instead of being built with large standing stones, as is the case with the original Stonehenge, Carhenge is formed from vintage American automobiles, all covered with gray spray paint. Built by Jim Reinders, it was dedicated at the June 1987 summer solstice. In 2006, a visitor center was constructed to service the site.

7. Toilet Seat Museum, Alamo Heights, Texas 

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Retired plumber Barney Smith has been painting thrones for more than 30 years. He decorates each seat with something unique: Volcanic ash from Mount St. Helens, a piece of the Berlin Wall and Second World War barbed wire. 

       Unique toilet seats    photo source

8. National Museum of Funeral History, Houston, Texas

Casket  covered with money  photo source

Go here to learn the story of embalming and, casket-making and to see mourning attire, jewelry made from the hair of the deceased, memorabilia from the funerals of the rich and famous.

9. Petrified Wood Park, Lemmon, South Dakota

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This elaborate and extensive Petrified Wood Park and Museum is located in the heart of Lemmon, SD right on Main Street. There are many displays dotting and entire city block great for a viewing stroll, with a small museum with lots of facts about the intriquing petrified wood found abundantly in this region. One local theory of the origins of all these specimens is that these woods were petrified by the most recent large explosion of the Yellowstone Mega-volcano. 

 Above is a sample of a petrified log on display in the Park  photo source

10. Oregon Vortex, Gold Hill, Oregon

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A weird sight since the 1930s, the Oregon Vortex and its so-called “House of Mystery” in Gold Hill, Oregon, earned its first slice of paranormal fame when it debuted on a 1999 episode of The X Files. What causes the disarming slant in the house? Why do brooms stand up on their own here? Despite Agent Mulder’s suggestion that something supernatural was brewing, skeptics swear the vortex is some kind of optical illusion or a glitch in magnetic fields. The attraction centers around one severely tilted mining shack that slid from its foundation just a few years after it was built in 1904. Paranormal or not, the vortex is a fun house of physics-defying experiments: water bottles appear to roll uphill, visitors seem to shrink or grow with every step (though everyone leaves the same height!), and everything hangs at a perplexing angle. Admission from $9.50; March–May and September–October, daily from 9am–4pm; June–August, daily from 9am–5pm.

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