Treasures of our Town
Embark on an exhilarating voyage through the heart of America's captivating towns and cities with the enthralling travel podcast, "Treasures of our Town." Join your experienced hosts, Craig (Seemyshell) and Joshua (Geocaching Vlogger), as they unveil the hidden gems and extraordinary treasures that lie beyond the surface.
Delve into a world of cultural exploration as our hosts guide you through historical sites, natural splendours, and extraordinary local experiences. All their travels are guided by their love of outdoor games like Geocaching and Munzee. Whether you're a seasoned globetrotter or a curious beginner, our captivating city tours and off-the-beaten-path destinations will ignite your wanderlust and leave you inspired.
Are you ready for an unforgettable adventure? Tune in now and prepare to immerse yourself in the allure of "Treasures of our Town." Let us ignite your curiosity, fuel your desire for exploration, and set your spirit free as we unravel the secrets that make each town a true treasure trove.
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Website - www.treasuresofourtown.buzzsprout.com
Email - treasuresofourtownpodcast@gmail.com
Treasures of our Town
Roadside Attractions : March Madness Patron Picks
Join us as we embark on a delightful journey through America’s most unique roadside attractions, culminating in a playful March Madness showdown! Our exploration reveals how these quirky landmarks represent more than mere stops along the way; they capture the spirit of adventure inherent in all road trips. Excitement builds as listeners help us select the best attractions to compete in this year’s tournament.
• Overview of notable roadside attractions discussed
• Personal travel stories connected to various landmarks
• Insights from our community and patron suggestions
• Highlights of fun competition and selections for March Madness
• Teaser for the exciting guest appearance in our next episode
Call to action: If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe, rate, and review us on your favorite podcasting app!
Shownotes
Now we have to decide between the Edison light bulb and the whirligig park. It's one or the other. It's Josh versus Craig.
Speaker 2:Do you love to travel? Do you love road trips? Do you love finding hidden treasures in towns all over the USA? Hi, I'm Joshua.
Speaker 1:And I'm Craig. Welcome to Treasures of Our Town. It's the podcast that explores unique and charming towns scattered throughout the United States.
Speaker 2:Guided by our love for location-based games like geocaching, join us as we venture to some of the country's most intriguing destinations, uncovering hidden gems and local secrets along the way.
Speaker 1:Oh, and today's episode is very intriguing, josh. It is a prequel, yes, a prequel. What's a?
Speaker 2:prequel, josh Prequel to what? Oh, let's have the March Madness begin, or early. Well, it is March, now March the 3rd, it is March, and for the NCAA basketball tournaments there are play-in games. Do you know that? Oh, no, no, tell me about it. They have the 64 teams. That's the official tournament, but there are some teams that have to play in to see if they can actually get into the 64. Wow, so we're going to do a little play-in games with our March Madness roadside attractions featuring locations guided by our patrons.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's our patrons. So tell everyone, Josh, what do we do? Are we going to do the delays or what? Or do you want to tell everyone what we did first for the patrons? I?
Speaker 2:think we should do the delays first. Yeah, let's do the delay and upgrades. Back to us, back to us.
Speaker 1:What about yourself, mate? What have you been up to this week? What's happening, mate? What have you been up to this week? What's happening with you?
Speaker 2:Well, I've been traveling all week for work in the lovely city of Madison, wisconsin, which is. There could be worse places to be. Madison is a college town, a lot of action. It is the capital of the state of Wisconsin. It is the capital of the state of Wisconsin. I got to stay downtown, but you know how it is Traveling all week, being away from home for work not necessarily for fun, although my job is fun, but it wasn't geocaching fun. No, I did go geocaching, so that was my delay. But my upgrade, I'm just going to go right in my upgrade because it is connected.
Speaker 2:Just straight into it, going to go right in my upgrade because it is connected straight into it. Um, our company, uh, the person that books our hotels. She picked a new hotel called hotel indigo indigo indigo hotel and it is an ihg hotels, which is the same uh brand that does like holiday and holiday oh, yes, yes, I know the ones but hotel indigo was uh. They kind of of take the area where you are and they kind of theme the hotel around what is around you.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so this building that Hotel Indigo was in was an old paint distributor or old paint creator? Oh, and it created paint. So the whole motif of the hotel was like artist themed. Oh my, and it created paint. So the whole motif of the whole hotel was like artists themed. And it was really cool. The rooms were really awesome. The the beds were super nice. I slept like a baby and I enjoyed it so much that I didn't even go out that much. I got DoorDash. Uh, survivor began this week.
Speaker 1:So I started watching Survivor. I missed that. Wow, oh, it's good, it's a good cast Is oh, I'm gonna.
Speaker 2:It's a good cast this time. You know, sometimes when they start survivor, I'm like, oh, here we go, half of these people are gonna want to quit. Yeah, this is a solid cast. I think you're gonna enjoy it. Um, I don't know if you've ever experienced this craig, but you're at a hotel have you ever been in a hotel? And then you can like scan a QR code on the TV and then stream your own Netflix or Hulu directly to the TV.
Speaker 1:That makes sense, that makes sense, wow, wow.
Speaker 2:From your phone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's clever. That's clever, yeah, I mean, there are ones where you can log in to the Netflix on the TV, like a Fire Stick, for instance. But, josh, I'll be honest, I hate doing that, because what if I forget to log out, you know, and at the same time, I don't want to put my details in and my password, because my password could work with the same password as my all other passwords that I use, you know. So, yeah, I wouldn't want to do that, whereas this allows you to literally just it's just an extra screen for your phone, so it's not even logged in at all.
Speaker 2:I like that Exactly, so I love hotels that have that, and this hotel, indigo, did have that. It just made me want to stay in and watch Survivor, get DoorDash it was great, yeah. And another upgrade, because you know, when you're in a new place, you want to find the geocaches, the high-favorited geocaches, the high favorite of geocaches, and craig, I got to find. I sent you a picture, you did. I got to find a roadside attraction that I've been eyeing for many years. I've even seen it in books, yeah. And I got to visit pinky the elephant oh, look at you which was a gigantic elephant that's pink, that wears glasses it.
Speaker 2:it sadly was not a virtual, but of course there was a geocache there and I made a video and you can watch it on my YouTube channel. There's my plug for the geocache blogger for this week.
Speaker 1:Look at you. I have seen that exact roadside attraction. People like Minnesota Boy, for instance, chronically tired mom as well. Anissa, she's been there too. So I that that pink elephant often on different social media sites like instagram, etc. On on geocache's site. So, yeah, it does look very intriguing, josh, so I'll be sure to watch your video. Meanwhile, that plug for me I've got a new video this week as well. So, um, mine, though. So I can't my okay, I'll go back to my delay first after, because I've got to do the upgrade first. So my upgrade is this Over the course of the last couple of weeks, I've been traveling, obviously, across the lower half, and it's chasing a 70.
Speaker 1:And today, as we speak as well, glorious, glorious weather. But as I travel across, I meet new people, and I met a lovely couple Shane and Garnet their name are, and now guess what? Brand new patrons as well of ours, shane and Garnet. So thank you, shane and Garnet, for your patronage as well. But they invited me over for the weekend and I went caching with them the weekend. Garnet made me a I can never say it right a crawfish, etouffee, etouffee.
Speaker 2:Etouffee.
Speaker 1:Etouffee, etouffee, etouffee, etouffee, that's how you say it. So crawfish etouffee I've never had it before. Josh, I'm in love with Southern food. Oh my goodness Wow.
Speaker 2:Yes, louisiana Southern food. It has a special. It's special, it's not just Southern, but it's Louisiana Southern and it's Bayou Southern. Yes, it's some tasty stuff down there. Wow, I'm glad you got to try that.
Speaker 1:I had a Bayou crab cake as well, because after I left I was traveling across and Garnet reached out to me and said where are you now? And I told her where I was lafayette and she said oh you're. You're only sort of 20 minutes drive north or south. I had to drive south to get to this place called the? Um, the jungle gardens, and it's on. It's on an island, what's it called? I can't think of the island's name now as well, but um, it's on an island and it's right across the road from the Tabasco sauce place where they actually create all Tabasco sauce. So I went to this jungle gardens. They put out Garnet had put out a five-stage adventure lab throughout the whole gardens, absolutely stunning, beautiful, picturesque.
Speaker 1:I mean it's wintertime and I'm still, and so I had to do a video. I was going to do it. I was just going to do a tiktok, josh, I was. I mean, I got there, I went. I can't do a tiktok on this. This is more so. It's like 11 minute video as well. I couldn't even shorten it down. I didn't want to shorten it down. It's so much to see.
Speaker 1:Five stage adventure lab. Now we speak about our adventure labs as well. On on this show quite often, and we both, um, are very, very astute when it comes to, like you know, our point scoring of adventure labs. We don't give every single one a five star. It's very rare, in fact. I think I've given out maybe maybe 10 five stars in my entire adventure lab sort of time frame. Um, this one is one of those 10 that I've given out. I gave out a five star for this one because it's exactly what we like, and that is, taking you to a place where you wouldn't ordinarily go. The Adventure Lab itself was unique and also quite easy, like it wasn't hard or convoluted the questions themselves, but it brought you to those little spots and the five of them around the park took you to five different locations.
Speaker 1:You see a Buddha, you see, you know what do you call it? The sugar canes, not sugar cane, but the bamboo cane as well. Then you see these things called a garden, like a reverse garden, and what they do is they dig out the gardens themselves, so the water pools in there rather than rushing across, and it doesn't sort of degenerate the garden. So, yeah, it's amazing stuff, amazing stuff. So, anyway, big shout out. Shane and Garnett, thank you so much for my time over the last couple of weeks. So that's my upgrade, my delay, my delay. It rolls into this and that is I couldn't pronounce etouffee on the video go watch the video and you see it and I'm going, I'm like it what.
Speaker 1:I don't even know what I said. Now I can't remember what I said. But I didn't say etouffee. I said something ratatouille, ratatouille. I said ratatouille or something. That's what. I had ratatouille in my head for some reason. But anyway, that's my delays. I couldn't actually spit it out in my and, josh, let's be honest If that's my delay.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:I don't have, I really have a delay. Let's be honest.
Speaker 2:I know I was going to say exactly the same thing. That is the most minor delay I made. I made one minor mistake this week. That was my delay.
Speaker 1:It's like saying, oh yeah, I stubbed my toe on the first class seat, that I sat in on the first row of the airplane when I got free upgrades. That's what it's like Exactly.
Speaker 2:Exactly All right. Well, I did watch that video. I'll say, and you're right, it is beautiful. I love those trees down there. Oh yeah, there's almost like weeping willow. I don't think they're weeping willow, but there's these really cool trees that kind of hang down. And you're right, it is winter and it was cool to see. Do the play-in games of roadside attraction march madness. Now, before we continue any further, yep, yep, we need to say that last year, when we did roadside attraction march madness yeah, it was our number one yes, it was Number one.
Speaker 2:It was Most listened to show. So of course we had to do it again and just give people a preview of what it is. If you didn't listen to it last year, well you should go back and listen to it. But basically we nominate, each of us get five roadside attractions that we need to nominate and we put them in a bracket-style competition and we have three people because we need somebody to break the tie. Basically, correct, correct. And we talk about each of these roadside attractions as they head against each other, one versus another one, and then we decide which is the best roadside attraction for that particular year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all the way down. So we get one against the other, and either winner moves on, winner moves on, winner moves on until we get two, and then we find that particular year. So, josh, what is the definition, though, of a roadside attraction? Because I'll tell you now, I have had some patrons come up to me and go. Can you kind of clarify the the definition more, because some people think the definition of a roadside attraction is not a destination. It's got to be literally just an attraction that, as you're coming up, as you're driving past, you see a sign and go oh, that looks cool, that looks interesting, I'll stop here on the roadside. Like you know, I won't actually go there for the purpose of seeing that particular destination, so that's a destination. So what is the definition, though? Is it an RSA definition? What's that mean?
Speaker 2:Roadside attraction. Rsa means roadside attraction.
Speaker 1:I thought it was responsible service of alcohol, but anyway.
Speaker 2:Well, and I'll just say this too because you said yeah, yeah, there's a destination, but but if you're a fan of roadside attractions, you will make a roadside attraction your destination. So it is very subjective, it is right. It is because you could say last year's winner which I'm not going to actually say last year's winner, because I want people to go back and listen to it yeah, I don't want to have a big spoiler, but you could argue last year's was a destination, and yes it was.
Speaker 2:But I guarantee when you see that sign on the road of that place, that's also a roadside attraction. So it just depends how you approach it right, yes, yes, yes. So our definition and this is taken directly from Google, yep, it's very simple and, again, very subjective. But a roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road that is intended to draw tourists. They are often advertised with billboards.
Speaker 1:Okay, so intended to draw tourists, whether that's tourists who didn't know about it and draw them from the road, or tourists who did know about it and are going to it for that purpose. So, yeah, makes sense, makes sense, sense. Um, also, before we start as well, we, we messaged um our patrons and we said to them, and we said every patron, we have send us your ideas for roadside attractions. And so we did. We got quite a few, which was really nice. Um, nancy tivia, uh, she, she messaged quite a few different ones as well, so she's very invested, which is really awesome.
Speaker 1:But she did mention josh. She mentioned lucy the elephant in New Jersey. Now, one of the rules we have, as you said, we can't have the same as what we had last year, even if it didn't go through the first round. It can't play again this year at all. Now, I had Lucy the elephant from New Jersey last year and it got knocked out. It didn't get to the top, you know, finals or whatever. So that's fine, that's fine's fine. You remember the one, don't you, josh? It's the one where you can actually look out the window under its butt, like yes oh, yes, that's the one.
Speaker 1:That's the one, um. So we can't repeat the last ones, but tibia sent us. This message goes just an fyi craig and josh. New jersey's lucy the elephant has officially been named america's number one best roadside attraction by usa today, wow. So lucy's instagram page says thank you so much to everyone who shared about the contest and who voted. We couldn't have done this without you. That was may 16th of 2024, so that was after our roadside attraction um march last year of 2024 wow see, so well it got number one somewhere.
Speaker 1:So I'm just happy that mine actually won something somewhere.
Speaker 2:It was a very good choice. And maybe, Craig, maybe after we do a couple of these, maybe we have roadside attraction all-stars edition. Yes, that sounds good, I like it and we can bring back the ones that didn't win and put them up against each other, because, I don't know, I don't think we're going to run out of roadside attractions. I mean, our country is pretty quirky, pretty weird. There's a lot of weird stuff out there.
Speaker 1:I know I'm surprised, Josh. I haven't even looked at our lists yet, like our ones, like yours and mine and our special guests as well. We do have a special guest coming up to next episode, so the three of us. I haven't looked at those show notes yet, so I'm going to have to look at that after we do this recording today.
Speaker 2:I'm inspired. I haven't even submitted mine yet. I'm inspired. Well, I've got to submit mine before you so if I'm in there first, then I get first dibs, all right, Josh, yes, the first person we are going to go to our patrons. Now. I'm just going to say this this is the first time we've done this, so we had like what?
Speaker 1:six submissions, seven submissions, Seven submissions in total.
Speaker 2:Seven submissions and so five of those seven are going to make it, and a lot of those people the patrons, didn't go in there and necessarily vote on them. You had to heart them. So we're going to pick the five out of these seven on this show right now. Again, this is a play in game. A big argument might be happening. We have nobody to break the tie.
Speaker 1:If we're tied, we might have to do rock paper scissors or something I don't know which would look really good on an audio podcast. Just saying.
Speaker 1:Oh, very good, Very good Of course I like it, I like it. So the first one is sandy wade. Uh, she submitted her name is belly dancer too. Uh, on the geocaching world as well. So she submitted this one called the. It's the world's largest painted. Is it? Check egg in wilson. Check, check, check, like check one, two check egg in Wilson, kansas. Have you heard of this one, josh, at all?
Speaker 2:I have not heard of it. I went to the YouTube, by the way, I went to YouTube for all of these because I wanted to take a look at them. I wanted to get a firsthand account. And, yes, it's a gigantic, beautifully painted check egg. And what we mean by check egg it's just like a decorative sort of beautiful sort of egg. It almost looks like an Argyle sweater.
Speaker 1:They're from Czechoslovakia, aren't they? Yes, the Czechoslovakia were the ones who started doing these painted eggs, and that's where it's come from, from there, so yeah, yes, and this egg.
Speaker 2:it is beautiful and it is in smack dab. I looked on the map. It is smack dab in the middle of kansas. It is certainly on the way to mingo and colby kansas. So if you're heading that way for mingo madness in may, you should stop. You should stop in wilson kansas it. It was beautiful. It's very large too. It is very large. Did you take a look at it, craig?
Speaker 1:I did. I did Absolutely. I took a look at it because she sent the Atlas Obscure link as well, which is really awesome, and she also wrote as well. After finding a couple of geocaches in town. A worker in a nearby restaurant in an inn saw me taking a picture of the restaurant and invited me in for a tour. The place was used for filming Paper Moon with Ryan and Tatum O'Neill and it's set up like a museum. The man was definitely proud of his town. She wrote too, and the large egg is beautiful. So all of our patrons, josh, they're loving the proud of their town business too. They love that catchphrase.
Speaker 2:You know it's a rare thing these days. It's a damn rare thing these days you got it. You got it in quick, we got it in early, you got it.
Speaker 1:So you didn't forget.
Speaker 2:So you didn't forget so this checklist slovakian egg. It's 20 feet tall, it's big, you see people next to it and it takes, like you know, three or four people um high, um, it is right off of i-70. So here's another thing it has going for it it is right off of a main artery and it's it's there to celebrate the czech heritage of the area. Yeah, um. So I think it's beautiful, it looks great. There's a oh, I'm looking at pictures. There's a little like it's underneath a protective like canopy. Yeah, this is a good submission. Well done, belly Dancer 2.
Speaker 1:I like it. I like it. Belly Dancer 2. Good job, good job, josh. We'll wait until we're all finished and then we'll talk about which ones we want to add. I think I think that's a good way. The next one is submitted by Clyde Brevere and his J-Ck name is uh, canis minor, and he says it's the superman statue in metropolis, metropolis illinois, metropolis, illinois. Legally, the home of superman stands on a giant s logo, a platform to take great photos. 15 foot tall action comics mural. First superman comic, the first superman museum is across the street. Bronze lewis lane statue as well. It is not. It is not a virtual superman lab. Cash is there also, and then there's a video that he sent as well but he said he sent an email to josh because I met.
Speaker 2:I met canis as uh wow, craig, you just went through all of my notes oh, is that your notes?
Speaker 1:yes, oh, they're yours.
Speaker 2:Well then, you can read that you Well then you can read the email then.
Speaker 1:Sorry, mate, I didn't ever realize. No, that's okay.
Speaker 2:I have a lot to say about this because I am a big Superman fan. But should I read the whole email? It's kind of long. Some of the stuff that he shared was some stuff that we just basically summarized.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that you summarized.
Speaker 2:but I said I'm going to summarize it right now. Okay, yeah, go for it. So, basically, this is a giant Superman statue and Candace Minor. He's been there four times. Oh, wow, it's right along I-57. It's on the southern southern point, the bottom of Illinois, and he's like how can you not be a fan of Superman?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I did look at myself some videos of it. There will be a link in the description below. Some videos of it There'll be a link in the description below.
Speaker 2:But yes, the mural on the other side of the street of the Superman statue, which the Superman statue literally stands in front of the courthouse for the city he just like right in front of it and then right across the street, there's a Superman museum and on the wall there was this beautiful mural of the very first action comic, of the very first time Superman was in a comic book, and that's on the wall. So, yeah, this is really cool. In town also there's a Lois Lane statue and a bronze sculpture. This is cool because my brother and I, growing up, we were huge superman fans, so much in fact my and when I say superman, I'm talking about christopher reeve 1980s superman. He's my superman. Is he your superman?
Speaker 1:yeah, absolutely, absolutely my superman. I don't see, even when he was in a wheelchair, he's still my superman yeah, that's by the way.
Speaker 2:I've heard that is a really good documentary about christopher reeve. Yeah, I have to see that but yes, um it, it's, it's really fantastic. They have, of course, they have a superman celebration every year, and this year were you ever uh, did you ever watch the show smallville?
Speaker 1:yes, oh gosh.
Speaker 2:So kristin keurig, the the lana lang, she's gonna be there. She's gonna be there this year, and then um brandon routh, who played superman in superman returns, he's gonna be there. So this is the superman place and you know, like you know, somewhere along the line they had a meeting and they were like we're metropolis, we gotta be the superman place. Exactly, they actually voted. They voted in the 1970s to officially make this superman's home like there was an official vote.
Speaker 2:Yep, um to make, to make it happen. So I can't believe I've never been there again. My brother and I were huge fans, so much. In fact. My brother has one tattoo and it is a super the superman logo on his arm so this is a great submission. Do you have any else to add?
Speaker 1:uh. No, the only thing I'll add as well, and that is, as I said before, I did meet him in in bamarama, in the uh, the block party that we had in alabama itself, and he said as well, he says, craig, it was great to meet you and thank you for the recommendation. In regards to the fair hope ipa beer beer, he was wondering about which beer to actually select and I said, oh, you've got to do the Fairhope IPA, it's delicious and yeah. So he liked that. And he wrote as well Josh, you missed out. So that's all.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's all. He doesn't have to tell me that I know.
Speaker 1:After the last episode you had FOMO big time. I liked it Finally. Finally, someone else has got FOMO, not me.
Speaker 2:I know right. So here's the downside, though. This is a shame, craig. This is a shame. The geocachers of southern Illinois should be ashamed of themselves, because this is not even a virtual. What Could you imagine a better virtual? This should be a virtual. Could you imagine a better virtual? This is, this should be a virtual. It should be, it's true, but well, maybe nobody got a credit down there it is, I mean, metropolis. It is a small town, not in the, not in the movie or tv show. No, no, in illinois it is. So somebody created an adventure lab, uh, five stage adventure lab with a bonus cash. So I'm sure the statue is involved. Yes, with the adventure lab. Has to be. Yeah, but let's sure the statue is involved.
Speaker 1:Yes, with the adventure lab has to be yeah, but let's be honest as well, josh. We spoke about in regards to the virtual submissions as well, and and if you have a virtual submission and you don't know what to do with it, go and do a roadside attraction. Everyone loves a roadside attraction, everyone loves getting pointed to it. Like I love that little black dot on the my geocaching map and I go oh, I, oh, I'm more inclined to look at the black dot on the map being the virtual than the green ones being a traditional. So I'm always after those virtual types over the traditional types. So I don't know, it's one of my top five of my types that I enjoy finding, josh. So if you've got one, go to attraction. They're special.
Speaker 2:They're special. But the problem is, craig, um, virtual rewards 4.0 is over. If you didn't put a virtual out, it's expired, so you're gonna have to wait. We're gonna have to wait for 0.5, 5.0 if, to see if we can get superman. If I get one, which I probably won't- yeah um, I might have to make superman, oh look at you coming back already. That's cool, they're not a lot of. I look they're not a lot of caches in Metropolis. It is that small. Yeah, there's not a lot.
Speaker 1:Really, really, yeah, and yet, and yet the word Metropolis sounds big because of the movie and the series and everything. The Metropolis, you know it sounds huge. It's not like Batman, for instance, you know where the big the bat shines up on top of all the you know skyline and stuff too. All right, the next one, josh, came through from Nancy, also known as Tivia28. And the next few actually came through from her as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she gave us a lot.
Speaker 1:She gave us a lot, which is awesome. Wait a minute.
Speaker 2:Was it her suggestion to have some of the patrons pick some of the roadside attractions? I think it was her idea.
Speaker 1:It was, yeah, this was actually her idea. She came to me at Bamarama and said, craig, I've got an idea for you for roadside attractions. I said, what's that? And she said she told me, you know, why don't you get the patrons to either pick? Or she said all the patrons could choose the rankings of them as well. Oh, like the seeding, the seeding of them, seed them. That still may happen, Josh, because we've got time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we might do that, we might do that as well. So good work, nancy, and thank you so much for all this information. All right, the first one, josh, you can read out the first one the Whirly Gig Park.
Speaker 2:What's the Whirly Gig Park? So there is an artist by the name of Wallace Simpson, and I watched a video all about him and he became an unlikely artist in his 60s, where, you know, he was just a regular guy but he specialized in making windmills, like specialized, like really cool windmills, oh, meals, oh, and you know like, not like windmills, like ones at a farm, like not simple windmills, but ones that were like artistic, you know, like those ones that are really crazy that you put in your yard, oh, the ones that sort of go in every direction and, like you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, another one, and there's like birds flying around or there's a flower and it like goes in all different directions I'm gesturing, you can't, you can't see it, but I'm just like we can hear it.
Speaker 2:We can hear it yes, I think the word whirly gig is the best way to describe what these are. Wow, I suggest again go to the show. Note notes we put it. I put a video in there, craig. I don't know if you saw it, but there's a park that has some of his finest work and is all like the whole park is filled with all these different windmills and it's just like it's just a sight to see. It's like it's a spectacle, because when it's windy these things are all going all over the place. It was really cool, like Nancy that is. I don't know, it might be a destination, it might not be a roadside destination.
Speaker 1:It might be a destination that one. Is there a sign about it? Is there a sign about it? Is there a sign as you drive past the road? And North Carolina, though? Can you imagine a park like that if it needs wind, you know, in Oklahoma or somewhere where, like, it's literally flat and just full of wind, or even Wyoming, windy, wyoming as well, that wouldn't stop working, but North Carolina is not as windy as other places, I do believe. Yes, carolina is not as windy as other places, I do believe, but, yes, yes, very, very cool. So thank you for that, nancy. Yeah, we're going to have to vote on these very soon, josh, just to let you know.
Speaker 2:Oh, and I didn't tell you the town it's in Wilson, North Carolina. Oh, Wilson.
Speaker 1:Wilson, North Carolina.
Speaker 2:Another Wilson.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know right, I've been to this next one that she mentioned, Josh.
Speaker 2:Oh, and that is. You got to talk about this one.
Speaker 1:I've got to talk about this one. It's in New Jersey and it's the world's second not the first, but the second largest light bulb. It's in Edison, new Jersey. Now, of course, it's a memorial to the man himself, thomas Edison. There's a Thomas Edison tower there. It's in a little park area. It was built in 1938.
Speaker 1:And when I first got there because I did it in 2018, it's a virtual as well I did it in 2018. And when I first got there, I read that it was his science lab itself. But it's not. It's just a monument to his science lab. So it's not actually his science lab, which I thought it was to begin with, because, as I said, it marked the site of Edison's greatest triumphs, particularly the invention of the recorded sound of the light bulb, and it was unveiled to the public in December 31st 1879. So the tower, josh, 118 foot tall tower with this light bulb the light bulb itself is 14 foot tall and weighs eight tons, just for the light bulb. It is illuminated at night, so you can see it at night as well. So that's really cool. And the actual workshop where the inventions were made was stolen by henry ford and then moved to michigan along with edison's last breath in a bottle? Wow, I didn't even know that. Did you know about that one?
Speaker 1:wow, that's that's very interesting, that one in 2021, the monument uh was surpassed by highlight, a public art project for the Cox Business Convention Center in Oklahoma, created by the artist. And then the bowl portion of the Highlight is, as I said before, 17 foot tall and 10 foot in diameter. So it is really really huge. So, yes, I have been there, yes, I enjoyed it. I didn't spend as long there as what I could have. It wasn't say. Again, there was no signs really to it.
Speaker 1:Josh, along the highway where I was traveling, I used geocaching as a term to get there, you know, because I planned my trip across the States and I'd had highlighted which caches I wanted to get, which virtual zone I wanted to get the dates, for instance, the older caches, the, you know, ones that dates I didn't have the high favorite points, for instance, the older caches, the ones that didn't have the high favoritism points, all that sort of stuff that we love to do as geocaching. And so the reason why I was there to begin with was because of geocaching and it was a virtual cache, a highly favoritism virtual. So roadside attraction. Again, I don't know, maybe, maybe not, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Well, describe this to me. So it's a tower.
Speaker 1:The light bulb is in the tower right up the top of the tower?
Speaker 2:yes, on the top of it. Can you go up? Can you go up the tower? No, you can't go up you can't go up the tower.
Speaker 1:There is a light, there is another light bulb stills. There's a smaller one that's actually just on like a big concrete pad, uh down the bottom, and that's where you can get a photo with the actual light itself down there. But the one that actually lights up is right at the top of the tower.
Speaker 2:Is it lit up at all times or just at night?
Speaker 1:I think it was just at night. I don't recall it being lit up during the day. Interesting, okay, yeah, it's one of those ones. It's one of those ones, so we'll soon see, nancy. You've selected a few of them here, so we'll see which ones are going to get pulled from the list. Josh, what's number three that, nancy?
Speaker 2:said as well. This one is funny. I had to look it up, I had to see the picture of it. It is exactly what it's called Gorilla holding a VW Beetle in Leincaster Vermont.
Speaker 2:I don't know Leicester, I think it's like lycester vermont lycester, yeah, yes yeah, and basically in 1987 this guy built a gorilla and on top of the gorilla, I believe, is a full-size volkswagen bug and I believe I looked it up, I believe it was there. It's like to draw attention to, uh, I think, a car dealership that is there, I believe, um, which you know, that that's a description of a roadside attraction.
Speaker 1:There's no doubt this is a roadside attraction like this is definitely a roadside attraction, this one yeah it's for's for the sole purpose of making people stop or slow down as they drive past.
Speaker 2:Exactly, absolutely, I'd pick that one up. I looked up some YouTube videos. There weren't a lot of YouTube videos of it, they were mostly, just, like some random person did, a Google Earth video of it. Oh, really. I didn't have any videos of like any vloggers that were like here I am at the gorilla holding the. I couldn't find any, so this might be a hidden gem that not a lot of people know about. I'm guessing Nancy's probably driven by it. That's why she knows about it, yeah yeah, and which, which again roadside attraction.
Speaker 2:So gorilla holding a volkswagen beetle, look it up in leicester, leicester, leicester vermont, leicester vermont I like this one too, josh, because I had a look at it as well.
Speaker 1:So the gorilla is holding the volkswagen with one hand. His other hand is actually down below, um, and basically like palm up, and so you could actually use that as a seat if you wanted to sit on it and get photos as well with him, like selfie photos with him too. So that's pretty cool. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:I like it I like it, I like it all right, josh.
Speaker 1:Uh, the next one, for nancy again, is this one's called the real it's. It's a real one. She says this is a real one. This is earth, eartha, eartha, eartha. Have you been there? Do you know anything about it? I?
Speaker 2:haven't, but I want to now that I've seen it.
Speaker 1:I want to On YouTube. So badly, so badly, did you watch?
Speaker 2:any videos of this.
Speaker 1:I haven't yet, but I'm going to after we do this oh my gosh, but I just so. This is her description the world's largest rotating globe in Yarmouth, maine.
Speaker 2:I think it's Yarmouth Yarmouth or Yarmouth Yarmouth, not mine.
Speaker 1:Yarmouth, not mine, but Yarmouth, yarmouth, yeah, yarmouth, yarmouth, maine. Located in the lobby of a Maine-based family-owned mapping company is Eartha, the world's largest rotating globe, with a diameter of around 41 feet. When the sun is down, the glass atrium that houses the globe is lit from the inside, giving outside viewers a great view of the world, so you can still see it as well.
Speaker 2:It's so funny that she said family-owned mapping company. You know what the mapping company was? No, delorme, oh, really this was the no delorme, oh really this was the delorme building, oh, but then delorme basically went out of business and guess who owns it now? Guess who garmin?
Speaker 1:garmin, oh yeah isn't that funny.
Speaker 2:That is funny, that is.
Speaker 1:This is a geocaching destination it really is, it really is absolute destination. I love that.
Speaker 2:I love that so the rest of the notes are mine. Can I say the rest of the notes, oh?
Speaker 1:well, yep, then they're all yours. Then the rest of the yeah, I just it was?
Speaker 2:it was delorme, which is a mapping company uh those that are diehard geocaches know exactly what delorme is, because it is a geocaching challenge. Yes, um, but this thing craig. Five thousand pounds over pounds.
Speaker 1:Over 5,000 pounds. Wow, yes.
Speaker 2:Wow, it is indoors, so that's kind of cool, yep, yep. And I watched a video of somebody. It was so fascinating. That was not a geocacher, that was just like I was just. I was like it was the first video. I clicked on it and I was like, oh my gosh, this is so amazing. I clicked on it and I was like, oh my gosh, this is so amazing. And then all the way at the end of the video she goes over to this cabinet filled with coins and I'm like, wait a minute. And I looked closely at the coins. It was a huge public DeLorme geocaching, I'm sorry, geocoin collection.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, it was a geocoin collection. Look at all these coins. They're so pretty Not realizing that they're all trackable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, she's like I don't know. I kind of know about geocaching, but I don't. But these, she's like, these coins are beautiful and I put a picture in the show notes of it. Yeah, and it's so funny because she's panning through and there was one of, like, brian Roth. I'm like, looking at these, they're path tags all on the top, so they're. They're not connected to delorme, no, they're just, I think. I think they're just people that visited here that just like left their coin. Yeah, and they, they added it as a part of the collection what if josh?
Speaker 1:what if they? They people left just a random trackable hoping they'll move on and and it was just literally taken here and now it's not moving anywhere. People have logged these coins as being lost, but no, they're actually on full display for everyone to see. That's a possibility. We're going to have to check that out when we go to it, because I'm going to have to get some of these numbers.
Speaker 2:Well, I don't think that's the case, because I did a little bit more research, because there's a geocache associated with this. I think it's. It's basically called the I don't know the geocoin collection or whatever yep, and there's a list. There's a list where geocachers can actually discover all these geocoins inside this. That's cool inside this case, that. So geocachers go to gc2g1j9 and it tells all about it. It is called I'm pulling it up team garmin's coin vault. Team garmin's coin vault. Okay, and get this. Okay. This is really interesting so it's in a case.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna read right from the description yes, the wood used for the geocoin case comes from herbie, which is a 217 year old americanold American elm tree in New England. The tree, known as Herbie since 1950, stood on the east corner of Main Street in that town of Yarmouth, so it's made out of a super old tree, isn't that fascinating?
Speaker 1:That's really cool, I did see in the photo as well. You see some of the actual tree itself and you've got those really nice, really nice coins, really cool. I did see in the photo as well. You see some of the actual tree itself, um, and you got those really nice, that's really nice coin. They're not coins, but they're. They're an actual globe, um, and then they've got the ring around the globe which has the tracking number on it as well. They've got a few of those on the actual, uh, on the actual piece of wood in the center too, which is really really nice to see but in the end, this globe, it rotates, it rotates.
Speaker 2:It is a real globe, it rotates on a little axis. This was cool.
Speaker 1:This is a great submission.
Speaker 2:Is it a destination? Is it a roadside attraction? I say both.
Speaker 1:I say both.
Speaker 2:Because I think people drive by this and they see this giant globe from the road probably, and they're like we got to stop there. What is this place?
Speaker 1:So great submission Love. No, I love it, I love it too. All right, josh. So they're all the submissions we have um from our patrons as well. So again, thank you so much to patrons for your submissions. Now I do believe, josh, we, uh, we are in agreeance on the first one, are we not?
Speaker 2:yeah, so we should. Let's go. Let's go through these, because I did my top five. Okay, so my top. Should I do number five or should I do number one?
Speaker 1:You go from one down, go from one down.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right. My number one was Eartha, the giant globe. That one was my favorite of all these submissions.
Speaker 1:My number one is Eartha as well. So Eartha makes the list. Eartha makes the list.
Speaker 2:Eartha is in. All right, my number two. It's nostalgia, it's my childhood. It's the fact that not only is there a roadside attraction, but there's also a museum attached to it like right nearby. You know I love a good museum for me. Number two Superman statue in Metropolis Illinois.
Speaker 1:Superman for me is number three. I've got Superman as number three, so that means it's in it's in, it's in, it's in, it's in For. Number two for mine is the Edison's light bulb. Only because I feel like I've been there and you wouldn't normally go there, for instance, if you didn't know about it through geocaching etc as well. Um and and yeah, because I've been there, I know what it looks like, I can visualize it well and that's why it's in my list as edison's light bulb. Is it in your?
Speaker 2:okay, this is where it's gonna get controversial edison did not make my list okay, that's, that's all right, so we'll see. We'll see what happens with Edison.
Speaker 1:We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens with Edison. So so far, eartha and Superman are in. That's what we have so far. You're number three, josh.
Speaker 2:Okay, this was unexpected, but when I watched the YouTube video and Craig, can you just I don't know if you saw it when you see it, craig, yes. When you see the video, yes, and fast forward to towards the end of this park and all the, all the whirly gigs going at once. Oh, um, it was, it was impressive. My number three is the whirly gig park.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, okay, I did, I did have a look a little bit, but again I felt that because it was a park, it was more like a destination rather than a roadside attraction, because of the park purposes only.
Speaker 2:But it's a spectacle. If you would drive by it you would be like what the heck is this? It's, it's chaotic. It's chaotic in the greatest way.
Speaker 1:So whirligig park number three for me I didn't have whirligig park on mine, so there's another little one that we put aside for the time being to talk about. Number four for me, Josh, is the Czech Egg. I do like the Czech Egg. I think the Czech Egg checks all the boxes. It is one of those ones where I think it is really a truly a roadside attraction and I enjoy it. What's your number four?
Speaker 2:Mine is also the Czech.
Speaker 1:Egg, so Czech. The egg is in, Check, check, check, Check, check. Earth is in Superman's in and check egg's in. So that leaves number five for me, Josh. Number five is the gorilla holding the Volkswagen. Yep, who knows?
Speaker 2:Courtney might really like that one. Oh did you just give something away you? Just you know what? That's okay, we're gonna announce it. We're gonna announce it on this one, we're gonna tease it we'll tease it so I didn't have a number five because I didn't remember that Lucy the Elephant was already a part.
Speaker 1:So right now.
Speaker 2:Lucy, the Elephant was your number five so I'm gonna submit Whirly Gig Park once again.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you didn't have a gorilla holding a Volkswagen on yours, okay.
Speaker 2:No, I will say, I will say gorilla holding Volkswagen.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay. So we've got. Eartha is in, superman is in, the Czech egg is in and the gorilla is in. Now we have to decide between the Edison light bulb and the gorilla is in. Now we have to decide between the edison light bulb and the whirligig park.
Speaker 2:It's one or the other. It's josh versus craig, it's.
Speaker 1:It's. It's josh talking a little bit more about whirligig park. While craig looks at some photos of the whirligig park, I'll do that for you can't look at photos.
Speaker 2:You, it needs to be video. It needs, needs to be video. I'm going to share my screen right now.
Speaker 1:Okay, I've got mine up now. I've got mine up now.
Speaker 2:Okay, find the video.
Speaker 1:I'm at the video how far through.
Speaker 2:Just go towards the end, just scroll through until you see what looks like a park.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm scrolling through now as we speak. Okay, okay, wilson, wilson, um, oh, oh, oh, right, okay, the whirligig park has has is in whirligig park. Okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had to see the video Once. I saw the video. I was like wow, because it's it's not, it's it's really unique because it's not stationary.
Speaker 1:You know what.
Speaker 2:I mean it's a statue, but they're all like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:It's cool. I can't wait. I thought more theme park sort of style, but no, it's actually in like a normal park in the middle of town. By the looks of things as well, it's like the coolest art, and the video of it does it justice a lot, because it's all drone. So it's up in the air to show you all the ins and outs. Oh, wow, okay, yes, josh, I'm not looking at any more.
Speaker 2:You win, congratulations, well done well, you would have picked whirligig if you would have saw the video I would have, I absolutely would have, um, and I wouldn't have put, uh, the light bulb in.
Speaker 1:So so there you have it. Ear, eartha is in, superman statue is in, the check egg is in, the Whirligig Park is in, and the gorilla holding the Volkswagen is in. So that's it for there. Now, josh, did you want to sort of tease about next episode, what we're doing? Who?
Speaker 2:we're doing it with. So our official March Madness roadside attraction March Madness will be two weeks from the release of this Correct and we are bringing a special guest in. Her name is Courtney Courtney and she is a friend. She's here from Minnesota. She's a part of my Munzee clan.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, she's a Munzee clan, she's a Jew. Yes, yeah, yes and yes yeah.
Speaker 2:Yes, and she's the co-host of the brewery adventure, which is a podcast all about breweries that is hosted by her and our friend, Minnesota boy. Minnesota boy, Minnesota boy.
Speaker 1:You have to say it three times now too it's, it's, it's habit now, exactly, exactly. So, josh, yes, courtney, well done, we'll see you in a couple of weeks time, as we said, geocacher, munzee, player and podcaster as well. So, uh, she's, she's like-minded josh, she has the same ideas and I will say she has done some research already. Uh, much, much, much, much, much more than you were I so far. I saw well I hope.
Speaker 2:I hope she's. Did you instruct her to listen to last year's show so she doesn't do any repeats?
Speaker 1:she didn didn't just listen to last year's show, josh, because she does listen as well. She listens to every episode. She's been a listener of the podcast since we began, but she also. I shared the show notes with her of the last year's show notes, so she can physically see them as well what's in and what's out, I think too. So yes, yes, yes. So congratulations and welcome on board, courtney, to the Treasures of Our Town team for the episode.
Speaker 2:Yes, so next steps we're going to get. This is going to be a 20-team tournament, which is not typical. Usually it's like 32 or 16. But we thought let's do 20. There's brackets out there that will do 20. Yep, yep, yep, and we're going to get them all together. There's brackets out there that will do 20. Yep, and we're gonna get them all together. I will, we'll do one of two things. I'm not sure what will happen. I'll either list them all and have people vote, or rank, I don't know. We'll figure it out yep, yep, their favorites, and then we'll seed them from the best.
Speaker 2:So the best will be a number one seed, the worst will be obviously the 20 seed yep so it'll be probably one versus 20 or something like that to start off with, and then, once the bracket is set, I will uh take a photo of it or, if I can do it digitally, I will post it to our patreon feed so people can take a look at it and they can follow along on the next episode.
Speaker 1:Great that'd be awesome, I'd love this, I'd love that, and our patrons would love that too. Now, speaking of patrons, josh, we've got some new patrons as well.
Speaker 1:So, as I said before, garnet Pierce from Shane and Garnet, brand new patrons. Thank you so much for joining up. Chris Munns is a brand new patron as well, and Chris Munns actually just does the free. There's a free level you can do. Yeah, there's a free level, but you don't see all the good stuff. So, yeah, yeah, so. So Chris wouldn't have had a word in this, this list, for instance. You know what I mean. There's free, free ones, you don't. So, unfortunately. But we also have Sandy Wade, belly Dancer 2, who also did a submission as well. So she is a brand new patron as well. So, thank you very much, sandy, for joining us as well. So, josh, do you have any more information for anyone before we sort of move on and close this out?
Speaker 2:Well, I just want to remind everybody that in a few weeks we together yes, it's been a while. Gosh Craig, I'm on a dry streak For having a travel podcast. I have not traveled for quite some time.
Speaker 1:And I'm on a wet streak for travel podcasts, because that's all I do now is travel.
Speaker 2:That's your life. So I will be meeting Craig in Floresville, texas, for the Texas Challenge at the, I believe, the third weekend. It's the weekend of the 15th of March so if you're anywhere near there, please join us. Come say hello, we're going to have a great time. I've never been to the Texas Challenge this year. It is a block party, and so it's going to have a great time. I've never been to the Texas Challenge this year. It is a block party, and so it's going to be a ton of fun. If you want to see us, stalk us, whatever, go for it. Find us there. Find us there.
Speaker 1:I will say as well, josh, regarding the Texas Challenge, if you are a Texas Challenger, as in, you always do it, or you're going to go and you're going to compete, et cetera. And you're going to compete, et cetera. Josh, we are looking, you and I are looking for volunteers to join or to be part of the video creation for the Texas Challenge, remember? So, yeah, if you or your team, et cetera, want to join up and let us know if you want to be on camera, et cetera, because we have some exciting stuff planned out for those of people who do want to be part of the challenge, we will not hamper your challenge at all. It will not stop you from doing the challenge in any way, shape or form. In actual fact, it's just going to enhance it, because you're going to have a permanent memory, memory of it on your youtube channel.
Speaker 2:So, yes, are we going to tell them kind of what were our ideas, or do you want to just wait?
Speaker 1:I'll just just wait, I'll just leave it in that just leave it, okay, they. They don't need to know, they just need to know.
Speaker 2:So another announcement. Oh, another one. Craig, you had some feedback from people at Bama Rama and they were like, hey, if you guys have merch, I would buy it. Yes, and so I put my artistry together and I do have a new brand, new logo that I think people are going to love. We'll have t-shirts, sweatshirts and coffee mugs. They're coming soon. The only thing is we need to do a quality check to make sure that they are great quality, and once we know they're great quality, then we will send everyone out the link and they can have their own Treasures of Our Town podcast merch, which might, by chance, have a catchphrase on it. And what catchphrase would that be Josh.
Speaker 2:Well, I don't know. If you listen to this podcast, you could probably figure it out. We'll keep it a secret until we announce it.
Speaker 1:I was leading you in so you can actually say it fully on this episode, because you haven't said it fully on this episode yet.
Speaker 2:Well, you know this design that I created. I'm just going to say I'm really proud of it. I'm really proud of this design and I'm proud of the town that I was in when I designed it, and that's a rare thing these days wow, there's josh just off the top of his head.
Speaker 1:That was a reach, but off the top of his head. That that was a reach, but off the top of his head. That's what happens when he has no notes to rely upon it just goes off the top. Josh again saying before thank you so much for the patrons and thank you for helping us out with the show as well. How else can people you know be part of the patrons, josh?
Speaker 2:Yes, we would love to have more patrons to support us. Make sure this podcast keeps happening by having patrons. It's very motivating. It's like we got to keep doing these for the people that really enjoy this. So if you'd like to join us on Patreon, simply go to patreoncom. Backslash treasures of our town.
Speaker 1:Yep, that's all you need to do. And again, thank you so much for those who do support and have been supporting for quite some time as well. But otherwise, Josh, how else can people find us or contact us if they have maybe an idea for a show they want to hear?
Speaker 2:Sure, you can reach out to us at treasuresofourtownpodcasts at gmailcom, or you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Speaker 1:So that's it for our show today. Please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcasting app and, as always, Josh.
Speaker 2:May your travels always lead you to the most unexpected and amazing hidden gems, like the Whirly Gig Park or other places. Who's going to win this year? We don't know You're going to find out for March Madness 2025 Roadside Attraction Edition. Bye, everybody, see you, bye.
