Interactive Saturday: The Search for the Weirdest Amusement Park

Yesterday's jaunt through Alpine Village got me to thinking of all the odd roadside attractions I've seen in my life. Epcot/Six Flags/White Water style franchises board me even as a child. The weirder, more mom-and-pop the better. A highlight of a trip my family made to Mount Rushmore (which is pretty tacky on its own merits or the lack there of) in the 1960s was a side trip to the Flintstones' Bedrock City in Custer, South Dakota.

Since we visited during off season, my parents were disappointed that my sister and I didn't have any other kids to explore the place with and play with. That was the whole joy of the experience for us and the pleasure of touring Mr. Granitebilt's house without having to hear the chatter of semi-literate middle schoolers.

My visit to the Alpine Village a very deja vu quality, and this morning it reminded me that we used to visit the Hummel Holiday Village on Route 66 in Oklahoma City with its Pine Shop and dozens of Hummel and German crystal peddlers. Unlike the Alpine Village, it was actually built on a small hill with lots of rocks and pine trees, that in the snowy winter actually looked a tad like Germany.

So do you have a favorite bizarre roadside attraction? Or is there one on this side that most appeals to you? I really need to visit that one in Vietnam the next time I go.

UPDATE: And since it keeps coming up in comments, here is a virtual tour of South of the Border (a.k.a. Pedroland) on I-95 in South Carolina. It's worth sticking through to the end to see the chicken into being whipped.