Posted by: Sara Huzar, Public Affairs Section Intern
Happy April Fool’s Day! In the spirit of fun, we’re highlighting nine crazy U.S. destinations you’ve probably never heard of.
1. The World’s Largest Artichoke
Castroville, California
After miles of rolling green farmlands, travelers south of San Francisco may be surprised to see a different large green attraction out their windows. Castroville, California, appropriately nicknamed the “Artichoke Center of the World” is home to a twenty-foot tall, twelve-foot wide artichoke sculpture – the largest in the world.
Artichokes constitute a $50 million dollar industry for the town, and are celebrated with an annual artichoke festival, complete with the coronation of an artichoke queen. The first queen was a young girl named Norma Jean Baker, but she’s best known by the name she later adopted: Marilyn Monroe. http://www.weirdca.com/location.php?location=39
2. Gravity Hill
Prosser, Washington
On an isolated stretch of road north of Prosser, Washington, there’s a hill where drivers can stop, put their car in neutral, and roll uphill instead of down.
There’s no proven explanation for why this happens, but many suggest that the surrounding landscape tilts one way, while the road tilts another, and the different angles trick your brain into thinking uphill is down.
Whatever the explanation, gravity hill has captured the imagination many Americans, and is one of the strangest places a traveler to the states can find. http://weirdus.com/states/washington/road_less_traveled/gravity_hill/index.php
3. The International Cryptozoological Museum
Portland, Maine
Tucked away in the town of Portland, Maine, is the world’s only museum dedicated to the niche science of cryptozoology. Cryptozoology literally means “the study of hidden life” studies mysterious animals like sasquatches, yetis, mermaids, and more.
The museum boasts attractions like hair from an Abominable Snowman, footprint casts of a Thylacine – an ancient marsupial thought to be extinct – and an entire exhibit dedicated to Lake Monsters. Whether you’re a skeptic or a believer in its legendary creatures, the museum is full of things you won’t find anywhere else. http://cryptozoologymuseum.com/
4. The World’s Tallest Filing Cabinet
Burlington, Vermont
On the southwest edge of Vermont’s state capital, rising out of a field of weeds stands a forty-foot tall tower of rusty metal filing cabinets. Artist Bren Alvarez created the structure in 2002 by welding eleven cabinets together to make the rickety-looking stack. The tower contains thirty-eight drawers, one for every year of bureaucratic work required to get the project started. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/8782
5. The World’s Largest Holstein Cow
New Salem, North Dakota
Towering over the flat fields of North Dakota, atop the only hill visible for miles stands an unusual landmark. Salem Sue, the world’s largest Holstein cow, has been a staple of the New Salem, North Dakota skyline since she was erected in 1974 as a monument to its booming dairy industry. Sue’s fiberglass frame is thirty-eight feet tall, fifty feet long, and weighs 12,000 pounds, so large that she had to be carried uphill in three separate pieces and assembled at the top.
Sue isn’t alone. North Dakota is known for its larger-than-life sculptures, including the world’s largest buffalo, the world’s largest baseball bat, and a twenty-six foot tall turtle named Tommy riding a snowmobile. http://www.newsalem-nd.com/salem-sue.html
6. Aurora Ice Museum
Fairbanks, Alaska
Always dreamt of seeing the world’s largest year round ice structure? Aurora Ice Museum certainly looks like something from a dream. Chandeliers hang from the ceiling, changing color to imitate the northern lights. Visitors walk among chess sets and jousting knights all sculpted from nearly 1,000 tons of ice and snow.
Originally, the museum was supposed to be a hotel, and it still has three ice rooms with ice beds to sleep on. No one, however, has managed to stay a whole night. http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/aurora-ice-museum
7. World’s Largest Peanut Monument
Ashburn, Georgia
Georgia is nuts about peanuts, something fans of Jimmy Carter, the only president born in that state, may have noticed. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Ashburn, Georgia boasts the World’s Largest Peanut Monument. This nut is not, in fact, dedicated to former President Carter, though his hometown does have one in his honor. Instead, it stands in memory of Nora Lawrence Smith, a pioneering female journalist who called the state home. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2071
8. Mütter Museum
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia holds a lot to tempt tourist, but one attraction you might not have heard of, is the Mütter Museum.
The Mütter Museum markets itself as a “museum of medical history,” but locals know it as the place to see some of science’s strangest sights. Inside, you can see a the conjoined liver of famous Siamese twins Chang and Eng, a collection of 139 human skulls, and preserved sections of Albert Einstein’s brain. Those who aren’t too squeamish to visit come away, as the museum puts it “disturbingly informed.” http://muttermuseum.org/
9. The Center of the Universe
Tulsa, Oklahoma
For centuries, physicists have pondered mysteries at the center of the universe. Who among them could have guessed it would be an concrete circle in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma? Locals gave this unassuming patch of the city its auspicious name because of an acoustic phenomenon. Someone who stands at the center of the circle and makes a noise will hear it echoed back to them several times louder but anyone outside the circle won’t be able to hear it at all.
Some theorize that the echo results from sound bouncing off the raised planters nearby. However, there are those that think the distorted sound is the byproduct of our dimension colliding with a parallel one. http://www.tulsaworld.com/weekend/music/what-is-tulsa-s-center-of-the-universe-landmark/article_9b843716-a654-54d4-8591-f29dc7fd5513.html
For the habitual voyager, arriving in a new country is the ultimate traveling experience. The sights and smells, the vistas of fresh landscapes, the architecture, all officially announce an adventure has begun. Diplomats may be some of the best explorers in history, from Ibn Battuta, to Machiavelli, and Benjamin Franklin. They leave their homeland in the service of their leaders, and depart with a profound understanding of other citizens and cultures.
The museum is housed in one of the many beautiful buildings that grace the cobblestoned streets in the old city. It opens on to a modern glass atrium, with ample room for a collection of modern art. Progressing up the marble staircase to the second floor, I walked through room after room adorned with paintings, drawings, and books. I learned of the Cossack history of Ukraine, and then was led step by step through the various stages of Shevchenko’s life. Shevchenko’s life story is well known in Ukraine. Born in 1814, Shevchenko grew up in poverty, was orphaned at the age of 11, and yet managed to acquire an education working as an apprentice to a teacher and deacon. His early life was dictated by the whims of his masters, yet his time in Vilnius was productive in providing him with an artist’s training. His subsequent travel with his master to the Russian capital of St. Petersburg changed his life. Shevchenko was accepted to the Imperial Academy of Arts, and was able to study painting. More importantly for the history of Ukrainian literature, he began to write poetry. He also became acquainted with other Ukrainians diaspora artists, one who bought him his freedom in 1838. In 1840, his first book of poetry, “Kobzar” was published. This was the beginning of a new chapter, one that would bring him into conflict with the Russian Imperial family and others in the ruling class whose patronage he needed to survive. Subsequently he penned poems in Ukrainian, where he was critical of the system of serfdom and of the regime of Tsar Nicholas I. Shevchenko’s last prison sentence was serving six years at a penal colony in Novopetrovsk. On his release, he returned to St. Petersburg where he continued writing until his death at the age of 47 on March 10, 1861, seven days before the emancipation of the serfs.
But what exactly did the Russian Empire fear? I looked for those verses that resonated then as now, to understand the Ukrainian identity and their heart that longs for freedom.
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