A while back, we talked about “Weird America,” the list of 12 strangest roadside attractions compiled by MSN website. As you recall, Dinosaur Park in Rapid City made the list.
Readers of this blog added a few more oddities, including Cadillac Ranch in Texas and a Mount Rushmore carved from a big lock of cheese in Wisconsin.
This week, AutoWeek has released what I consider to be the definitive list of whacky roadside attractions. In a recent online story, AutoWeek showed us some true “Roadside Oddities.”
South Dakota’s own Mitchell Corn Palace and Wall Drug made the AutoWeek list of “Roadside Oddities.” And it listed an oddity in our own back yard that I’ve never seen — or at least not noticed.
It’s a 6-ton concrete prairie dog who stands guard outside the Badlands Ranch Store at Interstate 90’s Exit 131, the main exit to Badlands National Park. According to the Badlands Ranch Store website, the concrete critter has been there since 1971. (So much for my vast powers of observation. I’ve gassed up there several times. How can you
not notice a 6-ton prairie dog?)
The rest of the AutoWeek list includeds some familiar oddities. The Cadiallac Ranch is listed. So is Carhenge in Alliance, Neb. But we’re talking some truly over-the-top stuff here.
– A bed-and-breakfast shaped like a giant beagle. (Pets are welcome.)
– The world’s largest tire, chicken, peanut, potato chip, strawberry, bull, ball of twine, etc.
– The Rainforest Car Wash in Lavayette, Ind. Your car is sprayed by giant plastic elephants.
– The Leaning Tower of Texas. It’s a water tower that was designed to look as it is about to fall over. (So they say.)
If I had enough time and gas money, I think it would be a kick to visit and photograph every single oddity on the list in a single summer. Maybe I could be named the world’s oddist tourist.
Again, I ask, did AutoWeek miss any good ones?
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What about the giant pheasant in Huron?
Ah yes, I forgot the giant pheasant at Huron. Seems like Winner has a couple of them, too.
Speaking of giant critters, the big buffalo in Mitchell always catches my eye when I drive through town. I think it’s the same buffalo that used to be blue, and used to be in Aberdeen.
When I was growing up in Aberdak, the Blue Buffalo stood outside the Blue Buffalo restaurant on Sixth Avenue. I think it’s now a Perkins. I remember that vandals regularly used spray paint to redecorate the buffalo’s private parts.
But even better will be the Largest Chair in the World - being built in the Black Hills of South Dakota. On 385 up near the Sugar Shack. I was getting a building permit to finish my garage, when a gentlemen registered to build his Chair. Think he said it’s going to be 60 foot high. Wonder if the Prairie Dog needs a place to sit? I asked why, he replied —– Because!