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Here's some dialog from my family vacations:
"Hey dad! Can we stop at
the rattlesnake farm??? They even have a two-headed
goat! Can we, can we, can we??? Puh-leeeeze???"
Almost every major highway has its share
of odd and curious roadside attractions as well as examples
of programmatic architecture and large-than-life displays.
Route 40 is certainly no exception. If you like to pull
over and experience the unusual, here are links to some
of the finest culture found along Route 40. Click
on a state to view a list of attractions for that state.
Who says driving across the country
is boring?!
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"There was a time when
America stayed put. For the majority of them,
journeys were short and few. Consequently, their
live entertainment came to them. The circus,
the carnival, the dog-and-pony show, the wild
West extravaganza, the freak show, the medicine
wagon, the menagerie, brought to the towns and
villages on their muddy itineraries glimpses
of worlds which the sedentary folks had never
visited; not just ethnic and geographical oddities
but the worlds of romance and glamour and adventure
and style. As we became urbanized and sophisticated
and, above all, mobile -- highly, highly mobile
-- the touring attractions naturally declined.
That there is still potency in their imagery,
fascination in their naive promise of magic,
exotica and unknown quantities, is evident in
the proliferation of roadside attractions. Today,
the tawdry wonders of the world do not come
to us, we go to them."
- Tom Robbins, Another Roadside
Attraction
(A book not really about roadside attractions!)
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A special note: Throughout
the Route40.net web site I've done my best to present
information in a scholarly manner. Roadside attractions
by their very nature present a lighter side of roadside
culture. If my comments seem biased, opinionated,
uncalled for or otherwise offensive, I apologize.
To paraphrase public radio's smart guy Michael
Feldman, if you don't like what you see on these
pages, get your own web site.
More importantly, please stop by these
attractions and be sure to tell them that Route40.net
sent you. And have fun!
P.S. Here are some books you shouldn't
leave at home.
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 Little
Museums: Over 1,000 Small (And Not-So-Small)
American Showplaces, by Lynne Arany and
Archie Hobson. Henry Holt, 1998. 464 pages.
Buy
this book.
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 Eccentric
America, by Janet Friedman. Guilford,
CT: Globe Pequoit Press. 2001. 354 pages.
This is the book that I think
contains the oddest assortment of roadside attractions.
Truly eccentric! I love it!
Buy
this book.
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 America's
Strangest Museums: A Traveler's Guide to the
Most Unusual and Eccentric Collections,
by Sandra Gurvis. Citadel Press. 1996.
Buy
this book.
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 Fun
Along the Road, by John Margolies. Boston:
Bullfinch Press. 1998. 128 pages.
Very nice mini-coffee table
book. Richly illustrated.
Buy
this book.
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 Offbeat
Museums: The Collections and Curators of America's
Most Unusual Museums, by Saul Rubin.
Santa Monica Press. 1997. 237 pages.
Buy
this book.
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 Unauthorized
America: A Travel Guide to the Places the Chamber
of Commerce Won't Tell You About, by
Vince Staten. New York: Harper Collins. 1990.
307 pages.
The National Inquirer
of roadside books. Find out where Dan Rather
was mugged. Visit Elvis' drugstore. Discover
that there is a museum dedicated to vibrators.
And more!
Buy
this book.
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 The
New Roadside America: The Modern Traveler's
Guide to the Wild and Wonderful America's Tourist
Attractions, by Mike Wilins, Ken Smith
and Doug Kirby. New York: Fireside Books. 1992.
297 pages.
The best
of this genre. If you buy no other roadside
attraction book, this is the one to get. These
are the guys who are also behind www.roadsideamerica.com.
Buy
this book.
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©
2002 Frank X. Brusca. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Unless otherwise noted, all content by Frank Brusca.
Route40.net Legal
Notice.
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