The Coolest Roadside Attractions In Every State

Outside of Syracuse, New York, sits Cross Island Chapel, a tiny little chapel on a dock in the middle of a pond. The nondenominational church only seats two people. If you’re planning a wedding and feel like the guest list is getting a bit out of hand, just do like a couple did in 1990 and get married here, where there’s only room for the bride, groom, and minister.

New Mexico: World’s Largest Pistachio

Not surprisingly, this giant (and startlingly realistic) 30ft pistachio is designed to lure unsuspecting passersby into the McGinn’s Pistachio Tree Ranch and Arena Blanca Winery.

Um, the word “enchanted” may be a bit of a stretch here. The so-called Enchanted Highway is actually a collection of scrap metal sculptures placed along a 32-mile stretch of highway. The sculptures are at intervals along the two-lane highway that runs through Regent, North Dakota. Seems mildly interesting if you’re already driving down Main Street, but a special trip to this bizarre roadside attraction is probably unwarranted.

North Carolina: World’s Largest Chest of Drawers

Oh, you didn’t know that High Point was the Home Furnishings Capital of the World? Well, this 38ft dresser is here to remind you.

Somehow, the U.S. National Register of Historic Places recognizes this culturally insensitive construction. The park, located in Foyil, Oklahoma, was built by retired teacher Ed Galloway. He constructed what now claims to be the world’s largest concrete totem pole, along with a Fiddle House. The pole is decorated with some pretty offensive imagery, intending to depict the Native American creation story. We’re sure no one thought twice about it back in 1948 when the pole was created, but today it needs a bit (read: giant) of a makeover.

Ohio: Giant Horseshoe Crab

A giant crab in the middle of Ohio? Doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it? Well, turns out this well-traveled crustacean (which is 68ft long and 24ft tall) was originally built for the Baltimore Maritime Museum. Annnd now we’re getting somewhere — Maryland crabs! Weirdly, the statue also spent some time at the Creation Museum in Kentucky before becoming Freedom Worship Baptist Church’s mascot in Blanchester.

Oregon: World’s Largest Pig Hairball

You’ll find the world’s largest pig hairball comfortably nestled among hundreds of years’ worth of Catholic memorabilia inside the museum at the Mount Angel Abbey. Naturally.

“There was an old woman who lived in a shoe…” Anyone familiar with this timeless nursery rhyme (it was originally published in 1794!) is sure to invoke it when they set eyes on the Haines Shoe House in Hellam Township, Pennsylvania. Unsurprisingly, it’s located on Shoe House Road.

The house was finished in 1949 by Colonel Mahlon Nathaniel Haines and was meant to serve as an advertisement for the 40 shoe stores he owned across Maryland and Pennsylvania. Today passersby can get a tour and really dive into the shoe house’s, er, history.

Rhode Island: Fighting Sea Bee

This scary-looking bee at Rhode Island’s Seabee Museum and Memorial Park is the longtime mascot of the United States Naval Construction Forces. Get it? Sea Bee = Construction Battalion.

It’s really amazing that some of these attractions and destinations have managed to survive until 2018 when PC is the name of the game and there are a plethora of other more advanced, technologically engaging things all vying for everyone’s attention. For whatever reason, Dillon, South Carolina’s South of the Border rest-area attraction remains popular. It features restaurants, a motel, a truck stop, an arcade, and more. To each his own, we guess.