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 Attraction - March Madness 2026. Featuring Megan (Olio in Iowa)
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A haunted clown motel next to a cemetery. A gas station exhibit simply called “The Thing.” A Stonehenge replica built from old American cars. Then, somehow, a gigantic mailbox you can walk into takes the crown. That’s the kind of chaos we love, and it’s why our annual Roadside Attractions March Madness is back.
We’re joined by returning guest Megan Bannister of Oleo In Iowa, a roadside attraction expert who chases hidden gems, world’s largest things, and small-town oddities for a living. Together we run a bracket seeded with help from ChatGPT, debate what truly counts as a roadside attraction, and make tough calls when beauty, history, and pure weirdness collide. Along the way we hit favorites like Carhenge in Nebraska, Salvation Mountain in California, the Clown Motel in Nevada, Dr Evermor’s Forevertron in Wisconsin, and the surprisingly emotional lore of a giant pencil sharpening party.
If you’re planning a USA road trip, a Route 66 detour, or you just want a better list of quirky roadside stops worth pulling over for, you’ll leave with fresh ideas and strong opinions. Subscribe for more travel stories, share this with a road trip buddy, and leave a review with the weirdest roadside attraction you’ve ever visited.
Megan - https://olioiniowa.com/
What Counts As A Roadside Attraction
SPEAKER_02Roadside attractions are quirky, often bizarre, and uniquely themed landmarks or small, independent, and usually free attractions located along highways and rural routes. Do you love to travel?
SPEAKER_01Do you love road trips?
SPEAKER_02Do you love finding hidden treasures in towns all over the USA?
SPEAKER_01Hi, I'm Joshua. And I'm Craig. Welcome to Treasures at Town. It's the podcast that explores unique and charming towns kind of throughout the United States.
SPEAKER_02Guide of 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_01On today's episode, it is March Madness.
SPEAKER_02It's back. Do we do the music now?
SPEAKER_01I've already done the music, Josh, before you even worried about it. I did the music before I did March Madness. I have these in my mind for editing. I see.
SPEAKER_02Very, very good. And if you're just listening to our podcast for the very first time, we are doing not just March Madness. It has nothing to do with basketball, but everything about one of our favorite things, and that is roadside attractions, March Madness. This is the third time we've done it.
SPEAKER_01Josh, should we uh should we we bring in our guest straight away, or are we gonna do our little
Meet The Hosts And Guest Megan
SPEAKER_01up uh upgrades and delays first?
SPEAKER_02We can we can include her in the upgrade and delays. How about that? Absolutely, absolutely. Well, Josh, bring bring her in. Who have we who are we speaking to tonight? Yes, so we have a special guest with us to join us for the March Madness, somebody we've had on the show not once, but twice. The only guest, Craig, that we've had on two times in a row. She was so interesting to talk to that we had to stretch it out for two episodes. It is Megan Bannister, Oleo in Iowa. Hello, Megan. Welcome back to the show.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much. I'm honored to be here for yeah, a third time technically.
SPEAKER_02Yes. And we could not think of a better person. Like you were, I'll just say, Megan, you were our number one choice. Number one.
SPEAKER_00I'm so excited.
SPEAKER_02We're like, you know who we should get to do do this with us? Megan. Oleo and I.
SPEAKER_00Definitely the first bracket I've ever been seated first in. So thanks to hear that.
SPEAKER_01Look at that. She's coming out already, uh, you know, running for this, uh, for this one. So, Megan, you've actually got your your bracket ready or your bracket year five ready to go as well.
SPEAKER_04I do.
SPEAKER_01Nice, nice, nice. Josh, do we do we want to include the Megan now in? Megan, we
Upgrades And Delays From The Road
SPEAKER_01this is off the cuff now for you. What we do with Josh and I, we do our upgrades and delays for the like the last two weeks before um after the last episode and before this one. So uh, like any travel uh plans as well, that you have upgrades such as into first class, or sometimes you have delays, etc. as well. Um, so any any sort of upgrades or delays for you in the last couple of weeks?
SPEAKER_00Oh, um, an upgrade. So I just got back from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which was my first time there, and also my first time in North Carolina, and that was really fun. I learned all about uh their Moravian culture and kind of history and ties to America's 250, and got to see some really cool uh roadside attractions that we're gonna talk about, one of them potentially. And uh also got to meet the creator of the Artemat, if you've ever seen those, like the repurposed cigarette vending machines that bend little art. Um I've been a big fan. They they have, I think, like more than 200 of them around the world. Um, and so got to meet him, so that was really cool. And then delays we've been renovating a bathroom since October at my house. And it's it was an unplanned renovation, which is always the best kind.
SPEAKER_01And this time of the year for renovation isn't really fun either, especially.
SPEAKER_00It's so fun. Yep. Uh, and we luckily we have another bathroom, but it is like our our tiny basement bathroom, so not ideal. Uh and it has just kind of been dragging on, but I think we're getting really close. I'm gonna paint this weekend, so I'm excited about that.
SPEAKER_01Nice, Josh. What about yourself, mate? Uh, any any delays or upgrades for you?
SPEAKER_02Oh, you I you know this, but I had a real delay.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, real one.
SPEAKER_02An actual real delay. It was more like a cancellation than a delay to 22-hour delay, 22 hour. Yeah, 22 hour. Yeah, that's funny. When they roll it over to the next day, if it's less than 24 hours, is it a delay and not a cancellation? Anyway, so yeah, I might there was there was an up uh upside to it though, because the original flight was a red eye, and I got to miss work the next day because I couldn't get home. So I didn't have to take a red eye home, which was nice. Um, so yeah, thanks. I'm not gonna say the airline because someday, Craig, they might want to sponsor this show, a travel show. So I'll take it. Um, my upgrade, I just found out about an hour ago, Craig, that this podcast officially now has 50,000 downloads. Yes. So let's do the MFM3. Yeah, I just saw that come through. 50,000. I did the math. We have roughly what 70 episodes. So that's roughly 780 downloads an episode. Now, those are just downloads. I don't know if those are all, you know, they've all been listened to. Probably not, but still in the podcasting world, I think that's above well, I wouldn't say it's above average of like popular, but of all podcasts, we're probably above average.
SPEAKER_01That's right. I mean, we know we know Joe Rogan or Kill Tony, but you know, that's that's it is what it is. You gotta take what you can get, Josh. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02Uh but you, Craig, what are your upgrades and delays?
SPEAKER_01Uh well, I suppose I'm trying I tried to think of mine as well. All I can think about is that with my delay, Josh, again, this is going back to my little my little homesteading era as well. And uh, and the delay is that I still have a rat issue in the chicken coops. So I'm catching rats every single night in my little uh rat nadle 5,000. So uh, but that means I have to um uh dispatch of them every single morning too before breakfast. So that's not very fun. But anyway, so that's that would be a delay. Um my upgrade though, Josh, I think I said it uh no, I didn't say it on this podcast, but I have not one, two, or three, but four more baby chicks now are actually in in the uh in the brooder. Um they're right next to me as we speak, and uh thankfully for my little setup that I have, you probably won't be able to hear them. So the little chirps they do too. So and these ones, these chicks, they're rare. Um, they're they're a different type of breed, and they do uh green eggs, so they lay green, bright green eggs.
SPEAKER_02For St. Patty's Day, how great, how appropriate.
SPEAKER_01No, no, they do because we we want to do a whole like the the rainbow egg cart uh for each other. You see, so well, no, just in general for just in general. Just in general, for sales later on in the in the year.
SPEAKER_02So I saw a picture too that did you get your first very first egg? Yes, yes, that's the other thing as well.
SPEAKER_01Big upgrade. Yeah, that's that was um that was a very big upgrade, actually. We got six, um, Megan, we got six um six little chicks or chickens, and um they've they've all grown up now. Well, one of them is really grown up. She's turned into a lady, the other five are still in the waiting. Um, but yeah, she popped out her very first one. We can see her walking around all funny. And I thought, what's she do? Because they're they free range. Um, what's she up to? She's trying to find a place to sort of lay the egg, and next minute she found a place and she was disappeared. But then we heard her for a for a split second. RAAK! And we went, what was that? So we ran out and had a look, and yeah, there was the egg. So very small. They're only very tiny eggs, the first couple. So but there she's getting bigger eggs now, which is good.
SPEAKER_02So the Megan, this podcast is partial travel and now partial uh chicken chicken raising.
SPEAKER_00I love it.
SPEAKER_01Oh and Megan knows any money, Megan. You know about chicken math, don't you?
SPEAKER_00I do. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01See, there you go. It's a real thing. I had to teach and and and and teach Josh and show Josh what chicken math actually was. But anyway. All right, Josh. Shall we move into the definition first and foremost of a roadside attraction for those who don't actually know? And for try, let's try and reign Josh in this year as well. So he's the winner of the Megan. If you didn't know, he's the winner of the last two years of Marshall.
SPEAKER_02Which means all of them. And don't I we all have to swear upon our roadside attractions that we will pick what we really believe is the best one, right? Right? I always do. We're not gonna just do it because last year, and we both did this. We there were times where it was one of mine versus one of yours, and I picked yours, even if it was mine. So yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01I'm I'm always an honest guy, and even the patrons know how how honest I am, and I'm a man of the patrons. And uh, Josh, I even sent you a little a little uh what do you call it? Uh yeah, AI caricature of myself that I didn't make, but one of our patrons made uh today as well.
SPEAKER_02Well, we know that you don't like AI art, so that was probably very uh very disgusting to you.
SPEAKER_01It was bittersweet. I was like, you know, that's pretty cool, and thank you for doing that, but I really don't like AI stuff. So anyway, Josh, definitions, mate.
Rules And Seeding The Bracket
SPEAKER_02Here is our definition of a roadside attraction. A roadside attraction are quirky, often bizarre, and uniquely themed landmarks or small, independent, and usually, usually, free attractions located along a highway and rural routes. So that is our loosely based uh definition of a roadside attraction. And before we get into this, the reason we have Megan here is that she is a roadside attraction expert. Yes, she's written books about all of them in the state of Iowa. She but she goes way beyond there, she travels all over, she's been down in your area, I think, many times, Gulf Shores area many times. And so, Megan, we're expecting big things from you, maybe the world's largest things. But we're excited you're on this show. And uh thank you for coming on and breaking our ties.
SPEAKER_00Yes, thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01Now, Josh, uh, if people haven't listened to a Marsh Bandis before, there is 20 teams in total. Now I've got five, Josh, you've got five, Megan's got five, and five from the patrons after last uh last episode as well. So that that brings it to the 20. Now I see on my show on our show notes the um you've got like a bracket already set up and handwritten up as well. Uh tell everyone how you did the bracket and the seeding for this as well.
SPEAKER_02Yes, it was really last year we did it with the patrons, so the patrons got to vote for their favorites, and that's how we seeded them. But this time I fed Chat GPT our definition for a roadside attraction. I put all of them in there and I asked them to seed them one to 20. One being what it thinks is the most like a roadside attraction and what it thinks is least like a roadside attraction. Now it was really interesting because oh, and also here's another prompt I gave it. I I said that in the first round, we should not have us play ourselves. So there couldn't be like two of me at the in the first round, or two of you. So we're in the first round, we're always facing a different person, which that probably affected the seating a little bit too. So it wasn't fully what Chat GPT thought was the best and the worst, it's roughly what it is, but just to make sure we weren't playing ourselves. So, and this is how it works, yeah. This is how it works. We're gonna we're gonna talk about each the first round is always the longest because we have to talk through all of all of the roadside attack attractions. So buckle in people. Um, and then as the as the tournament goes, the bracket style tournament goes, it gets it gets faster and faster towards the end, towards the the final champion. And so what what how this works is we're going to um present shortly in a brief way our roadside attraction, why we think it's awesome, and then there can be discussion with the two other people, and then then the person, the last person whose roadside attraction is kind of gets the kind of the final word. Okay, so the but the key is to try to try to keep it succinct because the this first round does get very, very long. And then we vote. We vote, yeah. The three is the one the one with the most votes moves forward.
SPEAKER_01And hence the reason why that's another reason why you're here, Megan's also it's three votes, so it cannot be tied between Josh and Ron. So the three is it, and the patrons aren't here to sort of vote themselves. So there we go. All right, Josh.
Play In Matchups And Early Upsets
SPEAKER_01The first one we have up. Who is it?
SPEAKER_02Yes, the first one, the first play-in game is if you're playing along, is seed 16 versus seed 17. This is Megan versus myself. And uh Megan, your 16 is, I want to make sure I read it correctly because I abbreviated them here, the last shell oil clamshell station. Okay. And mine is the big tin man in Hart, Michigan. And yours is in Winston-Salem, which where you just were. So this is this must be fresh in your mind, Megan. Um ladies, ladies first, go ahead and tell us a little bit about the last shell oil clamshell station.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yeah, this one is kind of a mouthful, but I feel like it requires the clamshell um because it does have a very, it's one of the unique architecture buildings. And so it is actually, uh, for anyone listening, a giant yellow clamshell, like the shell logo, um, with kind of fun red accents. And in the 30s, there were a series of these that were built around Winston-Salem and kind of nearby areas in the triad there. Uh, and this is the only one remaining in the whole country. So nationally significant. It also was the first um service station to be considered a national uh historic landmark on the national register. So that one is kind of fun. Uh, and just like a really cool kind of weird photo op uh in the middle of a neighborhood that yeah.
SPEAKER_02It would be a perfect place for a little mermaid cosplayer to stand in front of.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Yeah, there's also a really terrifying like mannequin of an old service station guy inside of it. So if you need a little jump scare, it's got that too.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. If you're looking at pictures of it, it's literally a shell of a gas station. And it was a real gas gas station. It is it is pretty, pretty cool.
SPEAKER_01And I do see the uh the jump scare man too uh in the in the photos as well, there too, Megan. So wearing it like a pink, a pinkish sort of uh outfit, pink red outfit with a black bow tie and black suspenders, too.
SPEAKER_00Very cool, very fancy.
SPEAKER_02All right, so mine is the big tin man in Heart, Michigan. I have not been to this location, and it is exactly what you think it is. It is a giant tin man from the Wizard of Oz holding his heart next to a body of water, and it's fairly new. I think it was just put up in 2022. So I I saw this. I Craig, you know I'm a I'm a big fan of the Wizard of Oz. I'm very jealous that you went to Wizard of Oz at the sphere. I'm jealous that you've been to the Wizard of Oz Museum in Kansas. Um but uh oh Tim and I and we're you know we were in Los Angeles and we I saw one of the real pair of Ruby slippers at the very Academy Award Museum. Anyway, side note, but we're talking about the Big Tin Man. It is a big tin man, I believe it's taking it, it's taking a knee, it's T bowing it up. You remember when people said Tebow it up? Maybe you don't, Craig, because you're Australian. You do, I'm proud of you. Yeah, he's an Australian. I'm surprised he knows about that American foot reference. He's he's on one knee, but from the ground up on one knee. He is 12 feet tall. And it's guys, it's in Heart, Michigan. Okay. That is cute. Adorable. And they said they put it by water because the he he um rusted there. That's why he's that's why he's not moving. That's why he's not moving.
SPEAKER_01And he does have he does have a heart in his hand putting it on his chest as well. So uh I see there on the photos too for it, too. So there you go.
SPEAKER_02All right. So I don't think I need to say I I kind of explained this differently. I explained it like there were four people here. We don't have to talk about again about it. Now is the time to vote.
SPEAKER_01That's right. So, first and foremost, uh Josh and Megan, you two vote first because you I may not be needed for this. That's all I'm saying. And I kind of hope I'm not.
SPEAKER_02Are you I Craig? I think you should talk I before before we vote, Craig, you need to talk about what you kind of are kind of thinking. You don't have to vote right now, but I think you you could influence our decisions too.
SPEAKER_01Well, absolutely. I mean, but in saying that too, I'm I'm really uh I'll be honest with you, I'm on the fence with this one. Uh I've got splinters in my backside. That's that's how much I am. Because you got old versus new, you've got historic versus you know, something that's uh been put in there. You've got things like um uh with the with the shell, you know what I mean? Uh it's it's representing two different things, and you've got this one here, and it's also in the heart of Michigan, and we all know with Tin Man who needed a heart, the whole lot. So I'm I'm really as I said, I I'm not going for either either either at the moment. I'm very, very torn between these two. First off, the bat. Thanks about that, Josh. Thanks.
SPEAKER_02All right. I will I'll just say I'm gonna uh I do love the historical nature of the shell gas station, and I love that it's the only one left, but uh it's it's pulling my heart strings. I gotta I gotta go with the big tin man.
SPEAKER_01And what about you, Megan?
SPEAKER_00I think I think I'm getting swayed for the big tin man too. He's very cute. I love I love a big guy. That really thank goodness I wasn't needed.
SPEAKER_01So there you go, Josh. You move forward with the big 10 man. But uh after Josh spoke for the second time and me thinking about it more, I was actually gonna go with the clamshell. So there you go. Yeah, I know, right? Because I was going for the history part of it. I know, you know, the old oil and gas station side of things, too. So all right, Josh, who have we got up next? So the big ten man goes through. Who have we got next?
SPEAKER_02This one is gonna be Craig versus the patrons. Oh, who's gonna represent the patrons? Maybe I should be the voice of the patrons this year, Craig.
SPEAKER_01Well, only when it's against me, or I'll be a voice of the patrons against you. Who have we got all right?
SPEAKER_02We got the large picnic basket, world's largest picnic basket, which I think is also a building. I don't want to spoil it, versus Craig. Hell Michigan.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, thanks. Yeah, thanks very much for that. Wow. Wow, I got absolutely no hope now. Um I did not see these. That's okay. World's largest picnic basket. I first and foremost, I must say I have been here. I I drove past it. I didn't go here to the purpose of going here. I did a normal, real, real, full blown roadside attraction where I was driving through the area and I saw this thing in the in the distance. I went, what is that? And uh had to come off the uh off the off the highway itself to actually have a look at it. It is the world's largest picnic basket. It is an actual building, and people still work inside this building. So you can imagine going to work and literally we walk inside a picnic basket. It's the former Longer Longeberger basket building. It's in Newark, Ohio. See, Megan already knows where this one is. It's seven stories of office structure completed in 1997 that mimics the company's medium market basket, they call it, measuring 192 feet long and 126 feet wide at the base. And it stands as an iconic 160 uh replica of the original. So 160 times the replica of the original. Um, and so yes, I've been there, I had got photos with it, and uh that is the world's largest picnic basket. Now, Josh. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Well, the patrons pick. We talked about it on the last episode because we narrowed it down, is the city of Hell, Michigan. Or I shouldn't call it a city. It was more like a town, very small town with a couple buildings and a bar. Um, but we talked about Hell Michigan. This is actually you can go to hell. Um, what are let's see if I can remember some of the features of it. There's a there's a church there where you can get married in hell, so it can only go up from there. There's a gift shop where you can and a post office, so you can send a letter from Hell, Michigan, and they will singe it. They will burn the bottom of it. Um, you can become the mayor of hell for $100, and you get a little certificate where you own a one by one inch plot of land, and so you can sell, say you own a piece of hell.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_02Do I have to say anything else? There's a hell bar there. There's uh it's an ice cream shop, I believe. Hell Michigan. There's a lot of features here. I I I think I think the patrons chose well.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Any questions, uh, Megan, before we move on? Any questions? Have have you been to either of these?
SPEAKER_00Uh so the the world's largest picnic basket has been on my list for a minute. Uh as uh I have family members who are big Longa Burger collectors. So uh and the story of that company is super fascinating too, if you love like a kind of scheme uh corporate story. Um but that one has been on my list. I have not been to hell, but now I'm thinking I probably need to go because I had no idea there was so many things to do. I had no idea there was so much to do there. So um, but yeah, it's that's a tricky uh my my one question would be is if an entire town of attractions can be eligible up against a singular individual attraction.
SPEAKER_02I know we have discussion about that. We had a discussion about that. And if you Megan, if you watch the video of Hell, Michigan, it's literally like the size of a park.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's not a big, it's not a big thing.
SPEAKER_02So it feels like if hell feels like one thing, it doesn't feel like uh that's fair, lots of things.
SPEAKER_01I would say, I would say, Megan, as well, that uh, you know, yes, it that is true. And I I agree with what you were saying in regards to it the whole town, you know what I mean? Can the whole town be a roadside attraction? But knowing the size because I've been to the picnic basket, the whole town could fit inside the picnic basket. That's true. That's it. But again, it's one of those things. Do you want that quirkiness of hell or do you want to do um one of the world's largest things, you know? So that sort of thing, too. I personally, I'm gonna straight put it out there. I'm actually gonna go against the patrons this time and go picnic basket.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go to hell. I'm going for hell. Um just uh the interactive nature of being able to get a postcard sent and possibly be the mayor. I love that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_00That is fine. I think I'm gonna have to stick with the the giant theme and go with the the picnic basket on this one. Oh apologies to I know an upset early.
SPEAKER_02I think that's an upset. Yeah, but just hell. What what was the what was the the rankings of them, Josh? The seedings. They were 15 and 18. Hell was ranked 18, so it was considered less. So it's technically not an upset. It's not upset, but Craig at the at the patrons we were like, we were talking like this could win it. Pal, Michigan could win it all. Could win it all? Oh man, that is an upset. That's that's how it that's what's so fun about March Man, it's upsets.
SPEAKER_01This is true. This is true. All right, right, Josh, write that in. The large picnic basket, the world's largest picnic, world's largest picnic basket through. Uh next up, Josh, who have we got?
SPEAKER_02Oh, Craig, it's me versus you. This is gonna get really hairy. It's number 13.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02The Lake of the Isles giant pencil in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Versus the the giant legs.
SPEAKER_01Oh you said it was gonna get hairy. You're not rotating.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I didn't mean that. All right. I I assume Megan uh Megan, have you been to these? What is it? It's not called giant legs, it's called reminiscing or something.
SPEAKER_01It's it's called reminiscing, yeah. The extra name is called reminiscing.
SPEAKER_00So I have not been to the giant legs. I'm looking at a photo of them now.
SPEAKER_02Oh, okay. Wait till you hear the story. Yeah, I'm I'm excited. He you met the artist, right?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I'll start off. That's the case then. These are giant legs from Ricky Pierce, is the artist and the creator of all this stuff too. Um, Ricky Pierce, first and foremost, I will say he's a uh an older gentleman, very quirky, very out there. Um, wears a similar hat to what I do as well. I do have, I interviewed him uh when I was there, and it's on a TikTok. I've got a TikTok of him as well. We speak like two different languages because he's he's in North Carolina, so that's where it's located, Henderson, North Carolina. Um, I had to do this one because there was a geocache there itself, but what it is is this. First and foremost, he has a backhoe and he digs out from the ground the actual art pieces themselves, like out of the ground, out of clay. Um he then puts uh concrete in and puts a rebar and more concrete, etc. And so he makes these art pieces from digging holes in the ground. He then gets the cranes and picks them up, whatever the art pieces may be. Now he's got artworks in many different areas, like you know, um different universities and colleges create him for artwork. But this particular artwork is very unique because it's right out of front of his house. He, when I interviewed him, I'm trying to keep it family friendly. Uh, these legs themselves, they they they they are separated. One goes one way, one goes the other way. They are just legs, there's no bodies, nothing else as well. They he created them after seeing a a pull-out, what do you call it? Those uh pull-out photos in a magazine Cenafold of um of uh what was her name? Marilyn Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe. So these legs are based off Marilyn Monroe and how he felt when he saw this pull out of Marilyn Monroe. So the legs are there and it's got reminiscing uh across the top. Um, I'm not gonna say any really any more than that because this is a family-friendly show. Um all I'll say is You can look at the pictures. You can have a look at the pictures, uh, it's all there as well. And he has got a magnificent tree, uh you know, perfectly presented right in between. Um, so that's all I'll say about that. But he is an actual in common terms of this, he is a backhoe artist. Across the road, he's got the these giant um stiletto heels as well. So he does he does love he does love feminine items. I'll say that. Uh but yeah, giant legs from Ricky Peace, also known as reminiscing. So that's okay that's him. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Um, mine is the Lake of the Isles pencil. So this pencil is in somebody's front yard in uh in front of the Lake of the Isles in in Minneapolis proper, in front of this beautiful, beautiful home. And what it is, it is it is what you think it is. It is a 20-foot pencil just in somebody's yard, slightly tilted. It is from a 108-year-old oak tree that was damaged by a storm. And so they carved it. I mean, you can see how tall it is. I mean, it's 20 feet tall. So imagine that's like a big part of the chunk, and it was sculpted. Um, and a real artist was commissioned to sculpt this and and create this thing. Okay. Um, the thing that's the best about it is that it is living, they call it living art. Um, every year, I believe it's in June, they have a huge party. You guys, I was there this last year. Like thousands, I'd say there were thousands, like maybe 5,000 people there, where they watch the pencil get sharpened. That's it's a real pen, it's wood. And go up, yeah, they dress up like pencils. It was the best, you guys, it was the best party that I had been to all in 2025.
SPEAKER_00People were so excited, and it's the big crowd, it's not just it's a people, too.
SPEAKER_02No, it's like a stadium. We're talking stadium amount of people, and the sharpener is real too, and the shavenings. You can see the video, the shavings fall down, the kids catch the shavings from the bottom. It's it's cool. And so I and they have speeches during the the sharpening, and the artist always comes, and it was actually a little bit touchy because his interpretation of the art is like we he's like, we are like the pencil. He says, Life is hard, life is tough through the year. Our pencil gets gets duller and duller, but and every year it just reminds us that we have to keep sharp and we have to better ourselves every day. He like gave an inspiration about the pencil, and there's people dressed like pencils, handing out pencils to the kids. Oh my gosh, I'm so glad I remembered and thought of this one. I have a video video on my YouTube channel of it. So the Lake of the Isles pencil, very wholesome and less wholesome.
SPEAKER_01And this is this is the best part about this matchup itself, Josh. And I'll say that um first and foremost, I am absolutely still sticking with the giant legs, only because I've never been to the pencil and I can't really uh go there. But also, one day that pencil's gonna be no more because it gets sharpened every single year. So one day that pencil will not be as great as it always was. These legs are made of concrete and rebutton, they're gonna be there for years and years and years to come for you forever and ever. And all it'll take for is for him to get a wig whacker out and do the bush every now and then to make sure that they can be seen. So um, yeah, it's very different. But in saying that too, you know, this one's made of concrete, which is the the artificial um you know man-made material. Yours is made of a real, you know, real uh tree as well. So these two here, you cannot really, apart from them both being large and in charge, you can't get anything more polar or opposite, you know what I mean? So I do like that. I'm still sticking with the both sculptures. Yeah. Um I I kind of I'm kind of ready for the loss, but I'm still sticking with the giant legs.
SPEAKER_02Uh is there anything else I want to say to I I don't think I need to defend the pencil anymore. It is so special in our community. That's it. So I'm voting for mine, the pencil.
SPEAKER_00Sorry. I think I think I'm with the pencil, unfortunately, because I haven't been to the legs, but they're now on my list for when I get back to North Carolina because what a what a treat.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And just just uh for everyone out there as well, if you do go to the legs and you know, if you don't want to meet a sort of a you know, a bit of a strange, quirky guy sort of, just uh you know, just get a quick photo and off you go. Make sure you go and grab the cash and that's it. Because this this gentleman, I will say gentleman, he does have um quite a large property, he was telling me. And there's you know, there's houses forever on this property, and each of those houses has one of his wives in it. So I'll just leave it at that. Anyway, on to the next one, Josh.
SPEAKER_02All right. We are going patrons versus me. Number 14, the patrons, is the I wrote I read abbreviate the digs of ENS. What is that? The digs of ENS. Yeah, what what was that?
SPEAKER_00I it was uh is it the dignity earth and sky statue? Yes, in Chamberlain's correct.
SPEAKER_02I can I can attest South Dakota. I can attest to it. Which is close to Megan, I'm sure Megan's been there. Have you been there?
SPEAKER_00I have been to that one, yeah. It's beautiful.
SPEAKER_02I've driven by, but I haven't stopped. All right, so let's maybe we can have Megan. Um Craig, you've been there too. Right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Maybe we'll have you talk about it for the patrons, and then I could talk about mine, which it's interesting because the one oh, I'm sorry, I didn't tell you the what it's up against. The Jolly Green Giant in Blue Earth Minnesota. Oh, that's a good one. Right down the road. They're right down the road from so why don't you talk about the dignity of earth and sky statue?
SPEAKER_01Okay, so you want me to go first? Um for the first time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Megan, she's Megan's seen it.
SPEAKER_01Megan's seen it as well. Yeah. Um, so the dignity, earth and sky statue. This is from the patrons of Chamberlain, South Dakota. I have been there. This is another one of those ones where I didn't know it existed until I was driving, uh I was driving from um west to east. I was eastbound, and I saw it on the hill, and uh had to turn in and have a look at it. And um, yeah, it is it is large, it is beautiful, it is new-ish as well. Um, it is a woman, uh, a native woman, and she's got like a um a native shawl around her. Um basically the whole premise is that she's because it's on a mountain or hill, and she's overlooking the town, and she's giving them blessings, etc., for the town as well. So it does have really nice uh blue, clear, and light blue um like glass panels in the quilt area that's around her shoulders, and it does shine through at a particular time as well. That light shines through and it makes these magnificent blue lights, etc., on the uh on the green grass as well. So that's the one in South Dakota. Megan, do you have any more information on that one?
SPEAKER_00Uh not really. That's how we found it too. We were headed instead of west to east, we were headed east to west. And uh just kind of happened upon it at like a rest area, which is I'm like, more more rest areas like that need really beautiful public art in that way. Because yeah, I'm I'm sure there were even more people that pulled off to to see it, like we both did. But yeah, it really, it really is beautiful, and you can see it from a good amount away. It's yeah, sizable.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. It was it was at a cost too of one million dollars, but it was that one million was actually a gift from uh from Norman Annabel Mackay of Rapid City and the people of South Dakota. So there you go. This one million gift done too for it. So there 2016 it was uh the installation. Josh.
SPEAKER_02All right. This one is close to my heart and close to my hometown as well. Let's go, I don't know, two hours directly east, right on I-90 from this the statue you just talked about. And let's go to the Jolly Green Giant in Blue Earth, Minnesota. I know you've I know you've been here, Craig. I we I think all of the three of us has had been here. We have to. Yes. All right, this is the Jolly Green Giant. It is a 55 foot tall. It is tall. 50. Think about the the tin man was only 10 feet, like 12 feet, right? On his knee. This is 55 feet. Um, he has get this, he has a four-foot smile. Oh, he's 8,000 pounds. He wears size 78 shoes. He wears a leaf toga. Have you ever worn a leaf toga, Craig?
SPEAKER_01Yes, I have. You have on stage at that too. A leaf toga? Yes, a leaf toga.
SPEAKER_02Oh boy.
SPEAKER_01I know.
SPEAKER_02So in 1970s, Blue Earth, just like a lot of these small towns, we're trying to commemorate uh their area and also get something on the interstate that would draw people into their town, just like just like the Tin Man, it's the same story. And so a radio disc jockey in the late 70s raised $60,000 just within hours. Um, and he that's the power of radio, I guess. And they built the Jolly Green Giant. You might be wondering why is the Jolly Green Giant there? Well, the um Jolly Green Giant bean uh vegetable canning company, they had a facility in in Blue Earth, Minnesota. They do not know more, but um, and there's also a museum there um right next to it. Um he in the 80s they put him, they sometimes dress him up. They put him sometimes, they put him in a vest and bandana for and uh and uh for sturges because all the the motorcycle riders ride by them. The ladies of the town um knitted a gigantic scarf, and it literally you Megan, you know how windy it gets down there. It literally blows in the wind, this beautiful scarf. Um, and now there are there's jolly the Jolly Green Giants' little friend Sprout is all over town, so all over through the city of Blue Earth, you can discover all these little tiny sprout statues, too. And I have one more personal story, okay? As a child uh of 10 years old, I lived in La Crosse, Wisconsin, which is a little bit farther east. And in the middle of the school year, you guys, I had to move in the middle of fourth grade, I had to move to a new town, and I was so upset about it. And I was so like, oh, what is this new place gonna be? And the place where my my family moved moved was Fairmont, Minnesota, which is right, which is um 16 miles away from the Jolly Green Giant. And I remember driving there, never even been to Fairmont in my life, and I saw this glowing green thing, and I was and I just remember vividly when I thought I saw it, I was like, I thought it was so cool that I was like, oh, this probably isn't such a bad place to live. So it has nostalgia for me.
SPEAKER_01There you go. So, Megan, do you have any uh any questions in regards to those two?
SPEAKER_00Um I don't think so. You've been to both, so I have been to both, I know, and they are roughly the same size, which is kind of fun. Yes, they very, very different energies energy.
SPEAKER_02That's true. Yeah, um, I'll vote for mine. Um, I'm gonna say this. I'm really disappointed the Chamberlain statue is this early on during this one because it is so beautiful. But for nostalgic reasons and just the quirkiness and the definition of a roadside attraction, uh, you can't, I don't think you can get any closer to the jolly green giant.
SPEAKER_01And I'll be voting for the uh the one in South Dakota because of the similar reasons, Josh, too. Uh, but the main reason for me as well is that this one is literally roadside attraction at that. And I personally think, I personally believe two reasons. Um, number one is I think uh she's more attractive than what the Jolly Green Giant is because she's actually real. Uh and also the nostalgia behind you say the nostalgia for the jolly green giant. I say nostalgia because of what this represents as well in South Dakota as well. So, you know, with the the natives and stuff too. So that's uh that's my opinion on it too. So I will be voting for uh for South Dakota.
SPEAKER_00Oh man, I keep being the tiebreaker. I think I'm gonna spread the spread the roadside love and go South Dakota, even though I love the Jolly Green Giant. And his little the sprouts are so cute if you haven't been through Blue Earth to see the little tiny tiny sprouts.
SPEAKER_01They're literally sprouting up everywhere. So exactly. So Josh, Josh, that would that I think that's a little bit of an upset for you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm disappointed, but I do look, I do, I do like that statue of Chamberlain's. It was a worthy, it was a worthy opponent.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. The patrons already, Josh, they can hear it in your voice. You're like, that's okay. I really wanted a jolly green giant.
SPEAKER_02All right. Those those were the four playing games. Now we're in the the real tournament,
Bigger Bracket Battles Get Weird
SPEAKER_02okay? So we're going, we're going patrons versus Megan, the world's largest mailbox. I can't believe we haven't picked that one before previous years, versus uh the patrons, Solomon's Castle in Florida.
SPEAKER_01Oh, Megan, go first for us.
SPEAKER_00So uh for anyone who's not familiar, the world's largest mailbox is in a town in southern Illinois called Casey, spelled like Casey, but they will correct you. Um and it is a town full of world's largest things. So they have 12 Guinness certified world's largest things and about 20 to 25 other just giant things around town. So their Mexican restaurant has a giant taco and their barbershop has the world's largest barber pole. Um, and this was really all thanks to uh one of their local business leaders who really saw the town's industry going away. They had some big manufacturing that left, and the interstate kind of moved to reroute around the town. And so he started um basically funding these projects. And so the first one was the world's artist wind chime. And then people started coming and he started adding them. Um, so they have, you know, the world's artist rocking chair and the worlds are just teeter-totter. And so it was really hard to pick one. Um, but I ended up picking the world's artist mailbox because a lot of the things in town are actually functional. And so the world's arjust mailbox, you can actually go up inside. It's like a second-story uh platform. It says that it is 5,743.41 cubic feet inside of it. Um, so a fairly big mailbox. But then you can also they have a uh mail slot and you can mail a letter from the world's largest mailbox, and it comes with it has a special postage cancellation that says that it was mailed from the world's largest mailbox. Um and when it's not too windy, when you drop a letter in, the big flag also comes up, which is really fun. So, and I love that they put uh the the little drop box for all the mail is at the bottom so their mail carrier doesn't have to go upstairs to get all the mail every time, which I'm sure they appreciate too.
SPEAKER_01Uh Megan, I'm not sure if you uh you listen or not, but the patron show uh they actually had the uh America's smallest post office was um in in that as well. So you can imagine the world's smallest post office going up against the uh America's largest uh mailbox.
SPEAKER_00Mailbox? Where is the smallest post office these days?
SPEAKER_01In Florida, which is near this uh this next one, which is Solomon's Castle.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Oh, okay. Do you want to talk about Solomon's Castle? Voice of the patrons.
SPEAKER_01All I'll say with Solomon's Castle, I have actually looked into it a little bit more. The difference though is that the the uh the the mailbox itself was done by the whole town and the the whole town of Casey has really embraced the world's largest everything, you know, like the gavel and the pencil. There is a pencil there too, I do believe.
SPEAKER_04There is a big pencil.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's a big pencil there too. So all those things have all encompassed through the actual town. So the town's tourism board has done a great job for it. This one here, very much like beer can house, for instance, Josh in Texas, it was done by one guy. This is tucked away in the Florida woods, and it's one man's dream. He's actually turned it into a reality. So he's made his own house into his own castle, and he has um it looks like it's painted, but it looks actually like um he's done it with uh aluminum, aluminium, aluminum foil around the whole thing, too. So Solomon is his name, Solomon's Castle, it is. He actually has it open as well. It's uh now open uh Tuesday through to Sundays from 10 till 4, so it's not open all the time, but you can actually get photos in and around it at any point in time as well. So that's what it is. You can see it, he's been featured on the BBC, PBS, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, you know, all these things as well. He's been in different locations, and that's where he is. So Solomon's Castle, Josh. Anything further that I've missed out on?
SPEAKER_02No, you've explained it quite well. I'm ready to vote.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, go ahead. Megan, what do you vote for?
SPEAKER_00I think I'm gonna have to stick with I think I'm gonna have to stick with the town of Casey and the world's largest mailbox. Solomon's Castle is such a cool one, but yeah, tough heck.
SPEAKER_02I've been to the mailbox, I've put a postcard in there for my grandma. The flag did go up. It's functional, it's real, it's big, it's the mailbox for me.
SPEAKER_01There you go. Patrons, I would have said uh Solomon's Castle, but you know, especially one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The patron who actually submitted Solomon's Castle too, he's the one that did the AI photo of me today, Megan, too. So that's quite funny. So it's actually very funny that uh that I got his Josh. So there you go. Voice of the patrons is still around. Next up, Josh, who have we got?
SPEAKER_02All right, we've got uh Megan versus Craig. Oh Craig, we have Number uh seated number five, pretty high seated versus twelve. Uh five is the thing. And Megan's is 12, Albert the Bull in Audubon, Iowa.
SPEAKER_01Oh. Would you like to go first, Megan, or would you like me?
SPEAKER_00Uh I can go first. So Albert the Bull is as advertised, the World's Largest Bull. Um, kind of like the world's largest cow in North Dakota, a really, really big uh bull. And they built him in the 1960s in the town of Audubon, um, which has a really prominent cattle industry. And so every year they celebrate uh the what they call the T-Bone Trail, which was the cattle uh railroad that took all of the cattle on boxcars to Chicago. Um, and so they have a town festival called T-Bone Days every year. And in the 60s, they built Albert the Bull to pay tribute to their cattle history. And so he uh just had his 60th birthday a couple years ago. They made him a giant bow tie and a giant birthday hat, which is very cute. Uh, but he for uh a bull in rural Iowa has really gotten around. He's been in a Beethoven, but a Beethoven movie. Uh he was a clue on Jeopardy, and uh somebody told me recently that he actually a t-shirt of his had a cameo in one of the Twilight movies. I guess she has a t-shirt quilt that had an Albert the Bull t-shirt in it. So he's he's a big Hollywood name. Who knew?
SPEAKER_02Quite a celebrity, I guess.
SPEAKER_01Craig. Okay, uh, next up is the thing. The thing is attached to the thing museum. Now, I you know my thoughts about museums, but wait, wait, hear me out. This one is in Arizona. This one is along Interstate 10. That's right, it's actually along the Interstate 10 between El Paso, Texas, and Tucson, Arizona. It is an actual gas station, a shell gas station at the same time as a museum, and it hosts the thing. What is known, what is the thing? That's the whole thing about what the thing is. The thing is known to be a mummified mother and child of some degree or some form. If you have a look at the photos of this as well, it uh it may be some sort of alien sort of life form, which is another reason for it. It is mummified, it is behind glass doors inside the actual gas station itself. This one here, very much like um different locations where you see signs leading up to it. You'll see signs leading up to this from 10 miles before this actual thing. So you know it's coming up when you're there. Um, and it was done by uh owned by a uh prince as well back in the 20th century who quickly based it as a tourist attraction um as a strange object, and then it's been taken over now by Boland Travel Centers Incorporated. So there you go. The thing, the thing you want you want roadside. This is roadside, you want quirky. This is as quirky as you can get. You want uh you want people to go there just for the sake of seeing the thing. This is what you do. So that's the thing in uh in Arizona.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_01Megan, do you have uh have any questions?
SPEAKER_00Uh this one's a new one for me. I had not heard of this one before.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I'm uh the squinting is me looking at the photos to yeah. I I do love a fake, uh unusual fake mummy, though.
SPEAKER_01Is it fake? That's the thing you do.
SPEAKER_00Is it fake? Is the question, yeah.
SPEAKER_02It kind of reminds me of the runestone um, yeah, right.
SPEAKER_00We have in Port Dodge, we have the Cardiff Giant that's like a fake mummified giant that they carved. Like it has that energy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'll start off by saying I am definitely uh the thing. Um uh yeah, punctuate. I I love the thing, so I am I am for the thing. Megan, what are you for?
SPEAKER_00I'm I'm willing to I love Albert the Bull, but I'm willing to to go with the thing on this one. Oh I feel like I've really been picking all the world's largest things, yeah. And so I'm trying to diversify because otherwise they're gonna all end up in in the top together, and that feels even harder.
SPEAKER_01Same, same.
SPEAKER_02Josh, we you would have the bull Albert because that was my great-grandmother was from. I went there all it was it's just nostalgia. The bull, you didn't even say Megan, the bull talks too.
SPEAKER_00He does talk, he only works sometimes, but he does move. And he has a penny press machine now.
SPEAKER_01Josh, you're gonna have remember before when we started this, we said, like, you know, you can't have feelings involved in your choices. Um, you're having a lot of feelings in your choices, mate.
SPEAKER_04It's all subjective. A lot of nostalgia picks.
SPEAKER_01All right, mate. What do we have up next? Here we go.
SPEAKER_02All right, let's see. What is next? We've got ooh, we've got the patrons versus Megan. Oh, nice. This is a tough battle. I don't know much about yours, Megan, but I've not been to either of these. So anyway, the patrons, number seven is the clown motel. Done that. Versus number 10, the Tinker Town Museum.
SPEAKER_01Oh, oh, Megan, do you want to go first again?
SPEAKER_00I can, yeah. So this is a uh a Route 66 icon in Sandia Park, New Mexico, so just outside of Albuquerque, I believe. Um, and it opened in the early 80s uh and is created by a man who is an artist and a woodcarver named Ross Ward. Um, and he is kind of uh, I would put him in like the folk art category. Um, he creates all of these miniatures and dioramas. Um, he has a lot of like animatronic moving, kind of the little quarter bands, and it really is like a whole compound of bottle buildings and rooms of uh his creations. There's like a Western blacksmith shop, there's uh a three-ring circus, and you hold the little buttons in on all the dioramas and they move. And there's just yeah, it is tons of hand-painted signs, tons of really, really cool, uh intricate things that he made over kind of the the lifetime of his work. So really, really neat if you're in uh if you're doing a Route 66 road trip for the Centennial. I had to had to pick a Route 66 one.
SPEAKER_01Josh, do you want to do the uh the clown motel?
SPEAKER_02I've not been there. You have. You could probably speak to it better than I, but we did talk about it. The clown motel is obviously a clown theme motel, apparently somewhat haunted. You can actually rent out the the the whatever the little units that can tell you when there's activity happening. It's it's right, it's spooky. It's a big collection. You go in there, a huge collection of little figurine clowns everywhere. There's theme, there's an Elvis clown room, there's an it thing one, there's one that actually had a murder happen in it, a real murder. Um, that's where most of the activity is happening, um, paranormal activity, and then there's a cemetery behind it. I believe the history of it is that um there was some sort of accident, like mining accident, and one of the people that died had this huge clown figurine collection, and that's where they put it. It's creepy, but it's really interesting, very colorful.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. Um, I will say one more thing in regards to that. Yeah, the uh the cemetery is right next door to it, and you can see the cemetery from your room, like from the actual uh uh and at night as well, back there in Nevada, it's dark, it's spooky, it is like weird. If you are afraid of clowns, because there's I know there are people out there that actually do have a phobia of clowns, um, do not go into even you you can't stay here. You can't you can't even go into the reception area. I mean, technically you can, but you know, if you want to face your fears, for instance, as well. But the as you walk into the door, you'll hear that like the laughing happens, the freakiness happens, like it's it is it is everything, and it's there's there's cobwebs and stuff as well in on the actual clowns that are in this sort of uh reception slash you know museum area, too.
SPEAKER_02So I've seen the rooms as far as the hotel rooms go, too. It's like it's not really bad, but it's not really good. Megan keeps shaking her head, she is just like I am not a fan of clowns.
SPEAKER_01No, this one is one that I'm like, you're your Tinkertown, then you'll vote for this one.
SPEAKER_00I think I'm voting for Tinkertown just from the the heebie jeebies that can't that clowns give me alone.
SPEAKER_01And then I'm like having to sleep with them while they're yeah, and not just yeah, and you hear that laughing fuel. I'm I'm gonna say this before I've I looked into both. I love Tinkertown. I looked at it and I looked at the gallery. I really want to visit it. I'm like, yes, we've got places like similar to this in Australia as well, where they're they're all miniatures, but they're normally outdoors in Australia, and they do different things, like you know, uh like as you said, like a train station. They also do like uh a cricket game and matches and soccer games stuff like that too, which is really awesome. But but Tinker Town's closed for the winter, it's not opening up until April 3rd.
SPEAKER_00That is true. Yeah, it is it is enough in the the mountains there.
SPEAKER_02We had this conversation last year. Remember about the president heads that you could only knock against it, which I thought those things were awesome.
SPEAKER_01But that's yeah, but but uh Megan, for that reason and that reason alone, I have to go to the clown motel.
SPEAKER_00And that's fair. Yeah, could be haunted by clowns anytime.
SPEAKER_01Josh is up to you.
SPEAKER_02Tinkertown Tinkertown does look really cute, especially the threaming circus. But sometimes I'm like, what would make a better YouTube video?
SPEAKER_00It's the clowns for sure. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Geocaching at the clown motel. That's my pick. It moves up. There you go.
SPEAKER_00That's fair.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you got it. But Megan, that was, yeah. That's a cool one.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, when they open for the season, if you're if you're there. I know we were trying to talk about what Route 66 was when I was narrowing down my list. And near there, there's also, I think they're supposed to be redoing it for the Centennial, but there's a chunk of Route 66 where you can drive a little bit onto like the rumble strips, and they play America the Beautiful.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yes, I've heard about that. It's very cool.
SPEAKER_00It took us like three loops to get it right.
SPEAKER_01You got because you gotta get a signal speed.
SPEAKER_00You've got to get a certain speed, and you have to be just lined up right so that your card, but it is very cool.
SPEAKER_01Very, very cool indeed. Josh, uh, one one year for March Madness, we should do a um a Route 66 special.
SPEAKER_00That'd be fun.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. All right, Josh, who we got lined up next?
SPEAKER_02All right. This one is um myself versus Craig. Oh no. Mine is the City Museum in St. Louis, Missouri.
SPEAKER_01Oh, been there.
SPEAKER_02Against the large drawers.
SPEAKER_01Being there as well.
SPEAKER_02Craig. I don't I can't remember where the large drawers were. Um I can go first for this one. Yeah, for my um, Craig, you have been to the City Museum. I have not. You've described it quite quite well, but I've seen many videos of the City Museum. And uh so it it's a former shoe factory that they converted into this really cool, hard to explain uh slides and climbing and crawling. It's like you you described, I think, Craig, as like it was like the adults in there just became like children when they went went in there. And it goes in the out into the outside, into these crawl spaces. You can see people crawling. It's it's amazing. I it's really hard to describe. They tell you to bring knee pads, that's a that's advice. Um, there's some of these slides go really fast because um some of the slides are 10 stories tall, 10 stories, not 10 feet, 10 stories. Correct. They just loops all the way down, spins down the room. So this place looks like a ton of fun. Geocoin fest was actually here. I really regret not going to it now. Um, but the city museum, St. Louis, Missouri. So cool.
SPEAKER_00They also have the world's largest underpants.
SPEAKER_02They in the museum. In the museum. Wow.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Oh, don't tell him that is like oh, I didn't know. I'm gonna have to really focus on now. All right, all right. Well, I'm gonna go back to the in another world's largest because we all love that as well. Again, this is another literally a roadside attraction, the world's largest chest of drawers. Uh, this is a 38-foot-tall dresser, complete with giant socks hanging out one of the drawers as well. It's part of um the furnace, they call it the furniture capital of the world. So the business has actually made it as well. So for there, um, why is it fun? Well, it's a giant, huge structure. There's actual you know um photo opportunities as well. This is free, Josh, as opposed to your museum. So this one is free. Uh, you can take as many photos as you want. Um, roadside weirdness, that's what this one's all about. Um, not much more I can say, apart from the fact that it is literally just a large chest of drawers. It's it's well maintained as well. So it looks good. Uh, there's no paint filling off the edges or any of that sort of stuff, too. So it's uh yeah, world's largest chest of drawers versus the museum. Do you have any questions?
SPEAKER_02I don't have any questions. I'm looking at it, it's awesome. It's huge. I want to go there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I will say, I will say for yours, Josh, though, because as I said, I've been to both um as well. I didn't even know what the museum was. And um, you can go back to one of our uh episodes last year, around this time. No, it was uh May last year, um, where we spoke about me going to St. Louis in um in Missouri. And yeah, I we didn't know what it was. Um I just went, you know, we'll spend time at the museum here. I think it was ChatGPT told me to go as well, Josh. Like I did a Josh and the Chat GPT didn't tell me where to go. Um we went there as two uh adults, and I was literally went, what is going on here? There was kids running around everywhere. It was like a a it was like a bit of a amusement indoor amusement park of sorts with no nothing moving, no, no moving parts though. So the moving parts were the children only. So there's not really much to see in terms of museum-wise. There is a few few different rooms in there for for different things like Egyptian things and whatever, but really you're there as as a as a father with you know five five-year-olds, six-year-olds, seven-year-old kids, they'd love it. They'd love it in this area. So they'd spend the entire day there too. So but when it comes to roadside attractions, it is what it is. So what are what are your thoughts, Josh?
SPEAKER_02You're right. I mean, it's you have to pay for it, it's not rural. Um however, when you drove, if you drive by it, you'll see people crawling outside in these cages, and then you'd be like, you do see an airplane, half an airplane, two in the roof and stuff, too, or helicopter, half in the roof and two. So I think, well, you guys talk first. I I Megan's Megan should vote first because she no, no, she's the she's the one that's gonna be. She might be the deciding.
SPEAKER_01What are you gonna vote, Craig? I'm the only chest of drawers for those reasons. Is that the fact that it's it's free, it's just on the roadside, it's just quick and easy and done. It's one of those world's largest. Um you know, I did love the museum, don't get me wrong, but uh, but no, worlds I enjoyed this bet this better when I was there. So I've got more feeling towards the world's chest of drawers.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Have you have you been to both of these, Megan?
SPEAKER_00Uh I haven't been to the chest of drawers. I just I didn't have a car when I was in North Carolina, so I didn't make it to it. But I have been to City Museum multiple times. Once as well, once when I was in high school. Uh, and so I remember it being less overstimulating than, and then once a couple years ago as an adult, and I was like, oh, if I had small children here, I would have my phone number written on them. Like you can just like disappear into the floor and you're gone forever. But yeah, but I I am a sucker. I do hear, I do hear Craig's very valid points about uh roadside oddities being the the name of the game here.
SPEAKER_02All right, I will vote for the drawers. I'm voting against myself.
SPEAKER_01Wow. Wow, Josh has turned over a new leaf. All the patrons are amazed at this time going. This is not the Josh that we're used to.
SPEAKER_02What would you have voted for, Megan?
SPEAKER_00I think I was I think I was leaning chest of drawers. I do love City Museum as a weird, a weird place, but I don't know that I would call it a roadside attraction necessarily.
SPEAKER_01He's happy now. All right, Josh, what's uh next up, man? What do we have next?
SPEAKER_02All right. We have the number one seed. Oh number one versus the number eight seed, who we've talked about already. Craig versus Megan. Car Henge in Nebraska. Oh, and versus the world's largest mailbox. Oh, that's a tough one.
SPEAKER_01Oh, oh, oh. Well, you've spoken about the world's largest mailbox, so we'll talk about car henge first, shall we? All right, car henge. Um, there's a few different types of henges out there when it comes to the cars, uh, etc. Like there's a Volkswagen and all that sort of thing, too. But the car henge itself, this is a full-scale replica of England's Stonehenge. There's the difference. Whereas all the others are just cars basically up in the air. This one here is a replica of England's Stonehenge, made entirely out of vintage American cars, painted grey. It's weird, phonetic, surprisingly impressive in person as well. Western Nebraska is where it is. Um, so uh that's what it basically is. Why though? It's because it's absurd. It's it is what it is, you know. Um, it is beautiful at sunset, Josh. Um, I have been here as well. There is a uh virtual jacache here, too. So um that's what it is. I think the weirdest part about this is the fact that it is a full replica of the England Stonehenge done in American American cars. So very different to the others. I think the others as well. There's one in California, maybe, where you can actually graffiti the cars, and everyone has brings around paint cans and it just literally smells like paint the whole time. This one here, there's none of that. Um, this one's all grey itself, and the oddity is the fact that it is Stonehenge, but out of American cars.
SPEAKER_02So that's Car Henge. I just made a mistake. It's not the mailbox. Megan, you're off the hook. Oh. But but the mailbox could face the it will face the winner of this. Oh, so Car Henge versus the big Tin Man. Oh, wow. Wow, okay. Oh, this is I haven't been to either of these. The Tin Man is mine.
SPEAKER_00I think I mean Car Henge, I feel I haven't been to either of these. Car Henge has been on my list for a minute. But the thing I was gonna say is that I feel like part of the appeal of Car Henge is that it truly is in the middle of nowhere in western Nebraska. It's not near anything, it is the the destination onto itself. Yeah, which is maybe the the key for some of these roadside.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it breaks my heart. It breaks my heart if the Tin Man doesn't make it.
SPEAKER_01Um Josh, you gotta take the I haven't been to either of these.
SPEAKER_02I love the Wizard of Oz. Um, but I'm voting against myself again. I'm going to Car Henge. Wow.
SPEAKER_01Again, you're thinking to yourself as well, Josh, um, what would make a better YouTube video?
SPEAKER_02Uh that that'd be a tough one. I yeah, Tin Man would make a good video. It would, but you'd have to be careful. It would involve lots of me singing, which is so entertaining.
SPEAKER_01That's the case, then Car Henge video would be much better, just saying so. Boo. Very cool, Josh. All right, so what do we got now? All right.
SPEAKER_02We got another this is the last one we we need to talk about because we mentioned all of them. Okay, we're going number four versus number 13.
Elite Eight Picks And Hard Cuts
SPEAKER_02Oh, this is gonna be a battle. Are you ready for the battle? Yeah, number four is the patrons, the peachoid water tower. The peachoid water tower.
SPEAKER_01I know this one.
SPEAKER_02Versus the Lake of the Isles pencil.
SPEAKER_01Oh no.
SPEAKER_02I know.
SPEAKER_01So do you want me to talk about the Peach Wid Water Tower, Josh?
SPEAKER_02Do you we can both talk about it? It it just look at a picture of it, and that just that describes it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly. It is it is a water tower and it looks like a big peach. That's pretty much uh what it is. Yep. Um it even has the little knob that peaches have on it, too. It even has a little crease uh the peaches have on it as well. So um really cool looking thing, very photogenic, very large and in charge, as all water towers are. Um, this one here would go towards things like people who like big things. It would also go towards um people who like water towers. There's uh they call themselves WTF in terms of water tower fans. And so um, yeah, there's people out there that literally have to take a selfie with any water tower, yeah, every water tower that they can find. Um so that's what this one is in Peachoid, um uh South Carolina.
SPEAKER_02So Gaffney, South Carolina.
SPEAKER_01It's called Peachoid. Peachoid Road, Peachoid Road in Gaffney, South Carolina.
SPEAKER_02I what I like about the peachoid, gosh, it's huge. It's really huge. It's a beautiful peach. They even, I think, painted the little like the butt of the peach. Yeah, they did the leaf, too, but the like the indentation. But um I I just gotta I I'm here to represent um the pencil. They throw a party for this pencil, okay? They throw a party. Thousands of people come and party around the pencil. I bet they don't have a peachoid water tower party. I don't know. I mean, people in Gaffney send me hate mail, but the Lake of the Isles pencil, it's art. The guy had the artist had a story. There's dancing around the it's it's I'm pencil.
SPEAKER_01Okay, okay. Um uh Nancy, uh patron, uh TVA, don't hate me for this because she's the one that put the Peachoid Water Tower in. I love the Peachoid Water Tower. There is another one here in Alabama as well, not as magnificent as the Peachoid one, I'll say that. But there is one here as well. Um, it is just literally a it's it's it's a man-made object, etc. But I do love the pencil's background and the story and the history. And even though one day it'll be totally gone, it's still it's okay.
SPEAKER_02It only goes down three inches three inches a year.
SPEAKER_01I'm going for sorry, Josh. I'm going for the pencil. I'm going for the pencil.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Megan, you don't have to share what you go for.
SPEAKER_00I was gonna vote for the pencil as well. I the the whimsy and the lore of it really yeah. Once you see the people in the little pencil hats, it's hard to I know, right?
SPEAKER_02You you haven't gone Megan, you have to go next year. I know, I need to get there in the yeah, get up here because you have family up here, you know, Miss Family Trip.
SPEAKER_00I gotta yeah, I gotta come see folks.
SPEAKER_02Arrive early, though. It's it's it's I'd be busy. Um all right. Sorry, there is one more that we have not talked about yet. Really? Okay. Um, it is Megan's. Oh, it is mine. Number three, I think. And it is Dr. Evermore. I want to get this right. Dr. Evermore something tron. Oh, it's the Forever Tron. The Forever Tron. Dr. Evermore's Forever Tron in Wisconsin, North Freedom, Wisconsin versus the dignity of earth and sky.
SPEAKER_01Oh no. I'm looking at photos.
SPEAKER_02It's I've been I've been several times. There's a geocache hidden hidden on the premises.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's a very cool one. So this is uh in North Freedom, Wisconsin, which is going to be just south of the Wisconsin Dells. Uh so if you're headed toward House of the Rock and you like a weird thing, this actually this artist worked on some pieces for House of the Rock. Um, but it was built in 1980, uh, and it is the second largest scrap metal sculpture in the world. So the um Ace and flight along the Enchanted Highway is larger up in North Dakota. Um, but this one is uh it also has really funny, weird lore. So the artist is Tom Every, um, but he imagined this Victorian inventor from England named Dr. Evermore, uh, who had a really elaborate backstory involving like a minister and a lightning storm and traveling to outer space. Um but he created this giant sculpture called the Forevertron, which is made from all of this like industrial scrap and uh a decontaminated uh chamber from a NASA project and all sorts of uh army ammunition plant scrap metal and really kind of almost looks like a like a fairy tale tower with a bunch of turrets and spindles, and it you could really see it sparking to life with electricity. But it's very cool. Um the Forevertron itself, he also has kind of sprawling grounds of other sculptures he created, um, a lot of like kind of weird animals and birds, and there's an orchestra of birds all made out of instruments that I really love, or like cats that look like crabs and just really, really cool inventive scrap sculpture, if that kind of thing is your thing.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02I've been to this place several times. You know, if it wasn't for geocaching, I wouldn't have not known about it. There's a geocache hidden within the sculpture park area, actually in the area. It's uh well, I won't spoil it, but it's in there, so you can imagine how it would fit in very nicely because it's like it's like a metal, it's like a metal giant thing.
SPEAKER_01Um you can have a big, big MO can and still be hidden.
SPEAKER_00Like it does. There's so much to look at.
SPEAKER_02It's I love taking my coworkers. I I drive into Wisconsin a lot. I take I love take these these are the types of things you should you you know about and you take somebody, you're like, Wow, and they're like, how do you know about this? It's like in the back area of a general thing.
SPEAKER_00Like like, I don't even know what it is. There's like a giant almost looks like a fishing bobber, and a sign that says like this way, but and off of like a rural highway. But otherwise, if unless you would have put it in, you would not find it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's it's kind of hidden, and it's tricky because it's not technically it is technically roadside, but it's it would fiddle all the other descriptions. Um, and uh so the patrons, yeah. Dignity of earth and sky.
SPEAKER_01I know, I know it's so beautiful. In saying that, we've had before uh people uh you know different things going up against each other that are very similar, you know, world's largest and stuff like that, too. This one here, a polar opposite one. So this is very, very different. Uh, you've got something that like the the dignity of earth and sky, absolutely beautiful, stunning, represents everything that there there is to the area. Um, it's it's done by the town, it's you know, looked after, it's a pure roadside attraction, it's like it's huge, large and in charge. And then you got this here, which is quirkiness personified. Um bizarre. It's bizarre. It's it's one of those things where if you weren't accustomed to this sort of thing, you'd go in there and go, Oh, you get the heebie jeebies in terms of you know, is someone gonna murder me in here, like you know, with with something weird or strange, or one of these things is gonna come to life, for instance, as well. Um I do love the I do love this looking some photos as well, uh Megan. I do love there's one like a um a violin that's up in the air as well, like an electric violin that's real quirky and weird, all made out of uh you know metal parts and bits and pieces, too. So eyes are looking at you everywhere. He's looks like he's made eyes and different things everywhere, too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, lots of knobs and eyes and animals.
SPEAKER_01So that's just my my take on it, too. So are we are we ready to vote?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I will vote for Dr. Evermore as much as the dignity of Earth and Sky is so gorgeous and beautiful. Dr. Evermore is more of a roadside attraction to me.
SPEAKER_01Megan, are you going for Dr. Evermore as well?
SPEAKER_00I think so too. It's just such a a weird and kind of singular creative project.
SPEAKER_01And you know me, Josh, I'm a I'm a man of the patrons as well. But when it comes to this sort of stuff, too, between these two, I'm I'm going against uh the dignity of earth and sky, no matter how beautiful it is, and I would have gone to uh for Megan's as well, Dr. Evermore's Forevertron. Forevertron. That's a great name as well. Let's be honest.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but he has like a whole book that he wrote. It's worth looking into. The lore is fantastic.
SPEAKER_01Very, very cool indeed. Josh, what do we have up next, Mike?
SPEAKER_02There's actually one. I keep getting this wrong. I think this is it. There's actually one more we haven't talked about. Oh, sorry. And that's actually number two, which is Salvation Mountain Neeland, California. Yes. Versus the world's largest picnic basket. Oh man, come on. So Salvation Mountain. I've been to both. You've been to both. I haven't been to either. Salvation Mountain, you can speak to it, Craig. It's yours. A man-made mountain made by a man named Leonard Knight. He used his life work. It's an Adobe Clay Technicolor mountain filled with um hearts, and there's a cross on the top. It kind of reminds me, Megan, of like a hippie version of the grotto, basically. There's obviously like a religious vibe to it, but there's all over messages of love. God is love. That's the message. Um, there's windows in it, and the windows are car door are actually car doors that he put into it. How cool is that? Um, every single flower, there's flowers throughout, and I watched a video on it. Every single single flower, he would sculpt the flower and then he'd punch the middle of it so it would open the flower would open up. So the artist, his his uh fist is in all the all the flowers. Uh it is beautiful. It's it's quirky, it's big. People can crawl around on top of it, and he's created tunnels inside of it. It's pretty neat. It's really a very colorful, hippie-ish looking grotto type religious monument.
SPEAKER_01And and I I can attest to exactly that. It is a uh hippie grotto, basically, and um it does attract that type of people, like uh, you know, the the the van lifers, the car lifers, you know, those sort of it doesn't really attract the uh RV types, it's more about the the the hippie life, you know, the the dreadlocks and the the marijuana smoking, all that sort of stuff too. So that's what it is. And but now, Josh, you've put on here that you can climb on it, you can't actually climb on it anymore. The science saying you can't, because too many people were climbing on it and we're actually we're rubbing off all the paint and all that thing, too. So I had to uh upkeep it. It is upkept by the the local you know people who uh attend there. Um some people live around there as well now and have like makeshift sort of uh homes. Uh so the photo you have, Josh, is literally just that the Salvation Mountain. You haven't got anything around. Everything else is around is a little bit uh third world sort of looking. So yes.
SPEAKER_02Um yeah, and I'll also say it's in I think it's just in the middle of the desert. It is, and the people that were talking about it was like they they said there's something spiritual, something special about this area. Um, so that's what they say. There was a reason why there's a reason why Leonard picked that area.
SPEAKER_01And and and that to me, that attests as well for the people that are there as well. So they they are very friendly, you know, they're very welcoming, they're very humble, they're very, you know, they they're living life with not much, so to speak, you know. So um they're living life as as one would in a spiritual sort of way. So that's another reason why you get that feeling when you get there too. So yeah, that's all.
SPEAKER_02All right, so do you want to defend the picnic basket anymore?
SPEAKER_01No, I think it speaks for itself. I think uh it's the perfect uh example of an actual roadside attraction. This one here um is a destination. You would have to actually know where you're going to find this place. Um, and even then, as you start to go in towards this place, as I said of being there, you go into start the to go into this place and you go, Oh, should I actually be here or not?
SPEAKER_02So uh I think I mean you could drive by it. I mean, if I drove by this, I would stop.
SPEAKER_01It's pretty much as you drive towards it though, you don't you think you're driving towards it, you haven't you can't see it yet, but you go through these sort of these makeshift towns.
SPEAKER_02All right, Megan. I'm yeah, go ahead.
SPEAKER_00No, this is just a hard one. They are this is one of those ones where they're very different kind of vibes.
SPEAKER_01Josh, you it's up to you to vote next, though, because Megan can be the uh decider. Okay, sorry.
SPEAKER_02So I'll I I will vote for Salvation Mountain.
SPEAKER_00No, I am the tiebreaker.
SPEAKER_01No, you are the tiebreaker.
SPEAKER_00It's okay. I think I'm gonna have to go. Sorry to Salvation Mountain. I think I'm gonna have to go with big basket. I just I feel like there's not a lot of uh world's largest things and a lot of roadside attractions that are like functional buildings. Exactly and the fact that it was a whole whole office really, and they had they did never make it, but they planned to make a whole office park that was all baskets.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that hasn't no, I haven't seen that one too.
SPEAKER_02So get this, guys. The picnic basket beat hell and then it beat Salvation Mountain. The light, the light and the dark.
SPEAKER_01Wow, wow, wow, that's that's very interesting, Joyce. That's very, very interesting.
SPEAKER_02All right, we have narrowed down. We are at the great, we're at the great eight.
SPEAKER_01Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna read off the eight in no particular order.
SPEAKER_01No particular order, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Okay, Dr. Evermore, the large drawers, the Car Henge, Nebraska, mailbox, world's largest mail to box, the Lake of the Isles pencil, the thing, the picnic basket, and the clown hotel. One of these will be your 2025 winner. Wow. So let's go to Carhenge. Car Henge versus the world's largest mailbox. Oh, wow, wow, wow. Okay. This was the battle that I I talked about before that I did.
SPEAKER_01Yep. I'll go. I'm happy to happy to go first. Um my boat out there is Car Henge for the simple reason, the one and one and only reason that is the world's largest mailbox. Oh, it's cool, I love it, but it's the whole town of Casey who brought all things together as well. So all these large things happen. Whereas Car Henge is one singular item, so it's actually the roadside attraction itself. But I do love the mailbox, so but I'm I'm I'm a Car Henge fan for vote.
SPEAKER_02Um Megan, your yours is the mailbox, so go ahead and I know go ahead and give its last hurrah.
SPEAKER_00I I do love the mailbox, and I again I can see what Craig is saying, though, where you're going to Casey because the town itself is the destination, not for roadside whimsy, not that you maybe you're in western Nebraska.
SPEAKER_02I would argue though, that of all the big things in Casey, I do think the mailbox is the best. Is the one. Yeah, I do agree. Because it's interactive, you can send them it's an actual mailbox, you can be inside of it. Yeah, the design of it is very, very cool. Like uh that's that's pretty incredible. I'm uh yeah, so I'm going for the mailbox.
SPEAKER_01It's on you, Megan.
SPEAKER_00I know. I think I think I'm gonna have to be the mailbox.
SPEAKER_01Okay, yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_00I know. I said I wasn't gonna go with the world's largest things, and here we are.
SPEAKER_01I saw you, Josh made you. But the mailbox is hers. The mailbox is her. But she was looking at it.
SPEAKER_00I haven't been to car hinge though, so that's the tricky one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So you once you go there's lots of car things in the world. You you go there, Megan.
SPEAKER_00You go there and go, oh damn, Craig was I know. And I'll text you and say I was wrong.
SPEAKER_01You can't send you can't settle from the from Car Hinge.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. What's that car? What's the car thing in the in the Nevada desert that they're all like neon? You know what I'm talking about? It's kind of like Carnage.
SPEAKER_01That one as well. Is that Carnage?
SPEAKER_00No, that's not something else. No, there's one on Route 66 too that you can spray paint.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the Route 66 ones you can spray paint. These ones, these ones uh you can't spray paint, but everyone does. Um and it's really, it's really just a just a whole heap of this one's got it's got school buses and all that sort of stuff too. Interesting. Um, and the school buses are nose in to the ground. And literally, I've c I climbed in the the passenger window of the school bus and then climbed up the windows like a ladder to the very, very top. And uh, and uh my partner Jen, she was like, you know, get down from there. I'm like, no, no, no, take a photo first. So but yeah, it's uh it's a lot more, it's a bit it's not well kept and that sort of thing, too. So it's just one of those things where just people just chuck cars in in the dirt. So all right, Josh, what do we have next?
SPEAKER_02Right. We haven't talked about this one for a while. The thing. Oh the thing place versus versus the Lake of the Isles pencil. Oh wow, wow, wow, okay. I'm just gonna say it right now. This one is very easy for me. It is the Lake of the Isles pencil. The other place is a gas station with a with a weird little fake statue.
SPEAKER_01I'm I'm I'm the thing for this. I'm the thing because this is the roadside, this is Oddity. The pencil isn't roadside unless you're going down. It is a it is on a road, it's on a road, confirmed, but it's not a highway, so it's uh you don't get that much traffic there as well in regards to the pencil. The only time you get you get actual traffic there is when they're doing the shaving. That's it. So the thing, the thing is is as I said before, it's weird, it's quirky, it's one of those things whereby if you didn't even know it existed, then no, it's free because you just go into the gas station. So there you go. That's it. So Megan, it's up to you now. Which one is you're the tie, you're the tiebreaker.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I do think in the world of weird roadside, the the likelihood to see a weird thing in a gas station, and for it to have endured for so long. I think this might be where I where I leave the big pencil, and I'm so so sorry.
SPEAKER_02There's so many gas stations with weird stuff. No.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think it's the thing this time. I'm so sorry, Josh. That's unbelievable.
SPEAKER_02That's unbelievable. And I'm really sad because now I can't deliver the certificate to the owner.
SPEAKER_01So now and it was Josh's pick too, and he's won like the last two years, well, every year, because it's been happening the last two years. So the thing. Okay the thing, the thing, Josh. You're gonna have to go to this thing now, too. When you go there, don't break the glass and and and strangle it. Okay, so that's the difference.
SPEAKER_02It's upsetting. The thing doesn't certainly never has a party. Okay. Well, hang on a second.
SPEAKER_01I'm getting over it. Just quickly have a look though. What what is the the what was the rankings of the thing versus the pencil?
SPEAKER_02The thing was five, and the pencil had a long journey from 13. It's won a lot of battles.
SPEAKER_01So so we we're going towards you know the Chat GPT route, so that's good. See, it's not an upset. All right, Joshua.
SPEAKER_02What do we have next, mate?
SPEAKER_01What do we have next?
SPEAKER_02Picnic basket versus the clown hotel. Oh the wholesome thing is now again battling uh something demonish. I like it. I like it.
SPEAKER_01Wow, wow, wow. All right, anyone want to start off with this one? We've we we know what both of them are. We we understand we've got a visual. What are your thoughts?
SPEAKER_02Uh Megan, you go first. One is they're both one is the patrons, the clown hotel's the patrons, and the picnic back is good. It's Craig's. So go.
SPEAKER_00Do we think from an accessibility standpoint? If you're not staying at the clown hotel, can you still go looky loo around?
SPEAKER_01Yes, a good amount.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And you can still go into the reception area because it's like a little museum inside too. So yeah, yeah, you still can. Yep. And it's free to do that as well. So yeah.
SPEAKER_02I think I think uh even though the picnic basket is a place where people works where they work. I the clown uh the clown hotel is more interactive, I think. I've seen videos of it. There's like an old guy who's like, I want one of these little EPS units, you can go into the room that somebody got murdered. You know, like you can actually get one of those, those, uh, I just it's it's really it's very roadside. I'm going clown hotel.
SPEAKER_01Megan.
SPEAKER_00I think despite my better judgment, I hate clowns, but I do I do think I agree that in terms of length of visit and depth of things to do, that the clown hotel is maybe maybe the one.
SPEAKER_01I will say I've been to both and I am going against myself and going to the clown matel as well. So but Josh, I go against myself as well. Yeah, unanimous that one. So absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Was that the first time you went against yourself? I went against myself several times.
SPEAKER_01Not at all. I go against myself all the time, especially when it comes against the patrons. Anyway, next up, next up, Josh. Who we got next?
SPEAKER_02All right, this is the final battle into the final four. It is Dr. Evermore and his Forevertron versus the big drawers. Oh I like that there's just a blog pause. We're just thinking.
SPEAKER_01No, not at all. I like the pauses. I like the pause. It's natural. Um, Megan, do you want to go first with yours? What are your thoughts?
SPEAKER_00I uh this one is tough to from a similar standpoint. Of like uh they both kind of have a similar roadside energy. I think they're both they both have an interesting story behind them. Like there's a reason that they're there. I think I my gut is to stick with the Forevertron just from the scale of work and effort that it took to create.
SPEAKER_01I I understand that. Um, I love it. Again, I didn't know that even existed until I sort of saw photos and you introduced it to me, Megan. So thank you for that. But I will still stick with the large drawers, and the for the simple reason is again, it's just one of those things is literally a roadside attraction. Um, where you you go, you stop, you take your photo, and you you move on. Um whereas the Dr. Evermore one, it's like you you get you could spend a few hours there if you wanted to, you know, that's what they do. So um, so there's there's the difference. So for me, but I'm still at that large drawers. So now Josh, you sort of make Josh looks anguished.
SPEAKER_02I've I've been ducked, I've been to Dr. Evermore's Forevertron several times, probably three times. I've never been in the WorldSource drawers, although I love this so I mean the socks. It's gotta be a virtual geocache, is that right? Uh no, no, uh no, I don't think it is. No, I don't think it is. Oh wow, should be.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, it's a place of business. Although Dr. Evermore's Forevertron is like kind of a place of business too, because it's like a general store.
SPEAKER_01The large drawers aren't a place of business. They're not a place of business. They're just literally at a Tina section of a roadway. Yeah. What's the history behind it? Why are they there? Yeah. Yeah. There's other furniture as well in and around the town made by that same furniture company as well. Okay. So they're not actually tribute, but yeah, it's a tribute to the the furniture.
SPEAKER_02To their furniture industry. Okay. Correct. There's a physical big geocache hidden inside the sculpture area. It's Dr. Evermore for me. Sorry, Craig.
SPEAKER_01That's okay. You don't have to apologize to me. I never apologize to you, so we've got the top four, mate. Which
Final Four Showdowns
SPEAKER_01is it who have we got in the top four? No final four. Final four.
SPEAKER_02Final four. And I'm just gonna announce it right now. All of Josh's picks, my picks, are gone. I will not win this year. We've got a new success.
SPEAKER_00That's the real upset.
SPEAKER_02So the final four are the world's Megan's, the world's largest mailbox against the thing. Oh and then the other side is the clown hotel versus Dr. Evermore and his Forever Tron.
SPEAKER_04Oh, Megan's got two in it.
SPEAKER_02Megan's got two, the patrons got one, and you got one. And I'll got one. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. So mailbox versus the thing. It's ver you two are battling it out. If you're sticking with your own, maybe you won't stick with your own. I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Do you want to know what I think? No, not yet, because you know you're you're the deciding factor. I know what you I know what you're gonna think, Josh, anyway. You're gonna go against me, but I'm still sticking with the thing. And the reason why I'm sticking with the thing is, as I said before, with the mailbox, I love it. I think it's cool. I think it's the best one in Casey, but still Casey is the home of a lot of big things, not just the mailbox. So whereas this the thing is the the stereotype, if you Google like the definition of roadside attraction, this photo will come up in that too. So that's the reason why I'm sticking with the thing, Megan.
SPEAKER_00What was the seating for these? Because I can't remember. I'm just curious now.
SPEAKER_02The thing was a five, five, and the mailbox was an eight, which I think I think so.
SPEAKER_00I haven't been to the thing, and so I feel like for that reason, well, I I think I'm gonna have to stick with the mailbox, and we're gonna make Josh be anguished again. But I don't know if it's not anything.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he knows what I'm picking. It's not I'm not picking against you, Craig. No, I'm not really believe it's a gas station with a weird little thing in it, which is a roadside attraction, but it's not the world's largest mailbox. It's gotta be the mailbox. I'm sorry, Craig. That's okay. It's not against you. No, it's just voting my heart. You're out. Now I'm out. Now it's Megan of the patrons. Should we just log off?
SPEAKER_01All right, thank you so much for watching and listening. And uh you'll never know the end. And go over Megan's podcast.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I don't know how to know.
SPEAKER_01So now we're actually Josh, we could just do patron only um uh golden nuggets for the winner. No, we can't do that, everyone. Um, we've got the clown motel now versus Dr.
SPEAKER_02Evermore and his Forever Tron. Oh, this is easy for me. So uh if you want to know the seedings, Dr. Evermore is a three. Oh, really? Clown Motel was a seven, seven versus three.
SPEAKER_01I'll put it out there. I'm clown motel all the way through in regards to this. I said I like Dr. Evermore, I think it's really cool and stuff as well. But when it comes to an actual, you know, roadside attraction, that sort of thing, I think I think the clown motel would get a lot more um eyes on it than what the Dr. Evermore does. So I'm a clown motel. Megan.
SPEAKER_00It's a tricky one. I do agree, I think, from like uh I hate clowns, I know, and I can't believe I'm I can't believe I'm gonna potentially vote for them here. But I do think in terms of like I know, but then I it's also then it's also two of mine versus each other.
SPEAKER_02And that feels like don't think think about what is the best. You did not get your stuff there alone. We voted.
SPEAKER_01Are you listening closely, patrons? Are you listening closely to Josh's voice?
SPEAKER_00I'm not I have nothing to do with that. I do think from uh like which ones have big notoriety that would be like this is a quintessential world or roadside attraction. I think the clown motel is definitely up there on those lists of things that people like see and seek out in a way that they just maybe and maybe because of this they're gonna know about Dr. Evermore now and they will seek it out and in a future it'll be up there.
SPEAKER_01And that's what the show's about as well, is to spread the love and uh to have a look at different things around different areas. So are you going for clown motel as well?
SPEAKER_00I think I'm going for clown motel, despite my dislike of clowns.
SPEAKER_01There we have it, Josh.
SPEAKER_02There we have it, Megan. You're voting against Dr. Evermore and the Forever Tron for clowns. You didn't I know for clowns. You it's funny because you didn't even vote for the clowns. Um uh you know, I haven't voted for the clowns yet.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02No, but it's clowns. We're just taking it for finals.
SPEAKER_01So we got the finals now, Josh. Who's in the finals?
The Championship Vote And Winner
SPEAKER_01Is it the mailbox versus the clowns?
SPEAKER_02The world's largest mailbox versus the clown hotel. Wow. Wow. So it's the patrons versus Megan.
SPEAKER_01And do we need to say anything in regards to each one of them at all?
SPEAKER_02Um, I think everybody should, everybody should uh plead their case.
SPEAKER_01I think. You want to plead the case? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, there's no clowns at the giant mailbox. That is really at this point its main selling point for me.
SPEAKER_01And I think the main selling point again, I will say it again, which hasn't worked yet for the third time, and that is that the mailbox, although it is great, is fantastic, it's still part of Casey, whereby Casey's got a lot of big things, like a lot. I'm talking over 10 or 15 big things. Um, so it's not just although the mailbox is the biggest of all of them, it is not the uh it's not the the clown motel, for instance.
SPEAKER_02You could argue though, what do you get? The clown motel is not like an object like the mailbox is.
SPEAKER_01The clown hotel is like a complex of it's a road, it's a roadside attraction. And a roadside attraction that you're attracted to that you can stay at, that you can have experiences in, that you can get the the uh the ghost buses thing, you know, the machines you can hire the machines, ghost buses machine to actually, you know, do your overnight stay and and do the ghosts. So I'm just saying, in terms of weirdness, quirkiness, I think I'm gonna read the definition one more time because I think that might be helpful. Oh, and now he decides to read the definition.
SPEAKER_02Well, it's the finals. It's the finals. We can't take this lightly. All right. Roadside attractions are quirky, often bizarre, and uniquely themed landmarks or small, independent, and usually free attractions located along highways and rural routes.
SPEAKER_01So everything there is the Clown Motel. It's free unless you want to stay. You don't you don't have to stay though. You're still free to walk around and walk inside and experience so everything there, quirky, bizarre, uniquely themed, landmark, small, independent, you know, along highways or river routes. This is in the main town, the small town that uh that is in in uh Nevada.
SPEAKER_02Uh the mailbox is quirky. Um it's bizarrely large.
SPEAKER_00It is bizarrely large. It's uniquely themed male. Yep. It's it is while not small. It is independent. It is a small town. And I will say, it is the town of Casey is very small. It's like a one-stop light kind of situation.
SPEAKER_02You can't get more you can't get more free. I mean, the to really experience the clown hotel, it would be staying at it. Um it's like a hundred dollars a night.
SPEAKER_01I know what you I know the direction you're going. I really haven't decided so correct. I'm really you're welcome, patrons. You're welcome.
SPEAKER_02I really haven't decided yet.
SPEAKER_01Really? I thought your mind, your mind was made up when you got booted out.
SPEAKER_02I you were you were you were saying all the reasons according to the definition with at the clown hotel. So I was just doing the same thing with the you know, yin yang. I guess Megan, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to man, yeah, I didn't mean to man speak. It's your Megan.
SPEAKER_00Megan, it's your I think I think it's gonna come down to you anyway, Josh, because I think while I while I voted for clowns one time, I don't know that in the final I can do it with my heart.
SPEAKER_01You voted against clowns once and then you voted for it twice.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, I think for me it's the world's largest mailbox.
SPEAKER_02Okay. There they are, this is a very good matchup. I've been totally one of them. I can only speak to that. So I am going for the mailbox. Sorry, patron. Sorry, patron.
SPEAKER_01No, he's not. He really isn't, Megan. He really isn't.
SPEAKER_02And the thing is, too, it's like Casey, Casey with the biggest mailbox, you know, like they and to put all that stuff in that town, they gotta be proud of their talent. And that's a rare thing these days. That's a damn rare thing these days.
SPEAKER_01He's still saying that to him, Megan, C. And I didn't know.
SPEAKER_02I get that in every episode.
SPEAKER_01And then the patrons listening now going, oh, of course you could do it in every episode. The clown hotel is great, though.
SPEAKER_02Hey, you know what? You know what, patrons? I voted the clown hotel for I was with it for a while. I was with I was with it till I was gonna be with it till the uh the pencil.
SPEAKER_01I was I was voting with you patrons until I didn't.
SPEAKER_02The pencil for me, the pencil versus the mailbox would have been a tough matchup, but the thing got you would have gone pencil for sure, Josh, because it was yours. I was really disappointed that the thing got in the final four. It's a gas station.
SPEAKER_01Can I can I say one thing as well, and that is uh patrons didn't know this, but the the pencil was not always in your top five, Josh. You had something else instead of the pencil. I changed it because I remembered.
SPEAKER_02I remembered the party.
SPEAKER_01So obviously, then the pencil wasn't really at the forefront of your mind when you did the other five. Yeah, see, there you go.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I don't think the one I had in its place would have gotten far.
SPEAKER_01No, I don't think so either, to be honest with you. So uh the one you had in its place was uh Meowwolf. Meow Wolf and Santa Fe, but there's many locations.
SPEAKER_02And then I did re I did replace the Jolly Green Giant too, which I can't believe. Although Jolly Green Giant had uh a good competition of the dignity, earth and sky. But I had in its before that, before I changed it, was the lady of the lake down in Alberta. The woman sitting in the water. That's a good one, too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we were just uh just uh Megan and I were talking about that before we started the the episode, Josh. So there you go.
SPEAKER_02Those can maybe be a part of next year. Who knows?
SPEAKER_01It's a possibility. Who knows what's gonna happen next year? I said before, Josh, we may do a uh a Route 66 special. Um we may even do outside the US, Josh, too, where we have to where you, Josh, have to do some research instead. So um and and we'll get our patrons to do some research too. But in speaking of patrons, Josh, too, I must say first and foremost, thank you so much to our patrons. They've been involved with the March Madness since the you know last year as well. They got heavily involved in it, and they've been great, great people this year as well to to help us with the March Madness too. So anything you want to say, Josh, in regards to patrons?
SPEAKER_02No, we appreciate our patrons, and we're gonna get to that in a second, but we need to ask Megan. Megan, tell us about what you got going on right now.
Megan’s Projects Books And Where To Follow
SPEAKER_02You have an incredible Instagram account, you've written several books. Could you just share if this is the first time anybody has has heard of you or seen you, tell us what you're what you're doing, what you're up to.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I am a uh traditional journalist, turned freelance writer and content creator. And so I have a blog called Olio in Iowa that y'all mentioned that I write about all sorts of weird and wacky road trips, hidden gems, roadside attractions, world's largest things. Um, on Instagram and TikTok, we share a world's largest thing every Wednesday with World's Largest Wednesday. Uh, I've started writing a substack now, also called Wandering the World's Largest, um, that shares kind of more in-depth history about World's Largest Things and some of the people that create them and sort of stories uh that are a little bit more in-depth than I can share in a short form video. Um and then I'm actually working on a third book right now, which is exciting. So that's kind of my big project for this year, which is going to be called Small Town Iowa. And so it'll be 50 small towns all over the state, sort of their history, founding stories, um, reasons to visit them, some kind of cool local history, and then also some cool uh things that you can plan a little weekend getaway road trip around. So that's awesome. That one will be out next year.
SPEAKER_02That's awesome. And then maybe your other two books are you have a uh um go ahead, tell us what they are.
SPEAKER_00One's about Iowa, I know that I'm uh yeah, they are both uh Iowa specific. One is called Iowa Supper Clubs, which is a history of kind of Midwest dining culture. Um, supper clubs that used to exist in Iowa, and then 10 that you can still dine at uh all over the state and kind of get that traditional supper club experience. And then the second one is called Secret Iowa, a guide to the weird, wonderful, and obscure. And that one has 84 places all over the state. Um, Albert the Bull is one of them. He's on the cover. Uh, and it has, you know, some unique museums, some roadside attractions, some local history spots just to share some hidden gems all over the Hawkeye state. So if you like a road trip, lots of good things to eat, lots of good things to see.
SPEAKER_02I still need to go to that squirrel cage jail or something.
SPEAKER_00Yes, the squirrel cage jail in Council Bluffs. I thought about bringing that one actually, just because it's so weird.
SPEAKER_02But yeah, and last year I did visit the world's largest popcorn ball too. I made a special um detour through through uh there. And I visited the grotto before I got there too. You convinced me to join the uh to visit the grotto. So uh uh so Megan, where can people find you if they're like if they're like, how do I find the hub where Megan is?
SPEAKER_00You can find me uh and links to all of those other things I talked about at oleiniowa.com, which is O-L-I-O in Iowa. Um, you can also find me on Substack at wanderingworldslargest.substack.com. Um, and then on all social medias at Oleo and Iowa.
SPEAKER_02Awesome. Megan, thanks so much for joining us. And congratulations, she won.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm so excited.
SPEAKER_01I know. Um and just before you go as well, Megan, I've I've been looking through too, you're doing a lot of work now down near my way, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, that sort of thing as well. Um, I'm just looking through now. You've you've done a lot down here too, Josh. Yeah. Josh, you you when you were down here uh with me a couple of years ago now, you know, um uh the hangout, remember the hangout? Remember uh Florabama, all that sort of thing too? Yeah, uh Megan's got all that sort of stuff too on her website. So have a look and more too, like parasailing, we're talking uh free flights, we're talking uh, you know, uh cocktail crawls, for instance, as well. I'm just flicking through here. Wow. Lots of things to do. And one thing that Megan, I just saw now, I've not seen, and I live down here in the Orange Beach area, and that is the the hot shop as well, where you can do glasses.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yep. Over uh at the Coastal Arts Center in Orange Beach, they have uh they call it the hot shop, which is their their glass blowing studio. And I want to say a couple weekdays a week, you can go in the morning, and they've got uh a team of artists and instructors that are really, really awesome, and they'll show you exactly kind of what to do and help you do it. Um you can make a couple different things, but what the last time we were down there, we my husband and I both made um glass flowers that are kind of hollow through the middle, so you can stick them in a plant and water your plants that way, and they're just really, really cool and beautiful, and you can say, Hey, I made that. They also I think have a ceramic studio down there, so a fun way to get some hands-on art.
SPEAKER_01Really cool. So if you're coming down this way, uh yeah, check out um check out Megan's uh website, have a look at different things as well. And it's not just this area either. You've got a lot of other places as well that you go to. Um yeah, check it out and uh you'll see all the different this one here is 20 off-beat things to do in the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. So very cool indeed. Thank you again for joining us and congratulations on the winner. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm honored to have been your guest and very, very delighted to be the bringer of the number one winner.
SPEAKER_01And and and I will say, you know, uh, I've never won this, so I'm not used to it. So I think too. The poor patrons, they've never won either. I'm just glad Josh didn't win for the third time in a row. So there we go. If that's uh that's satisfaction enough for myself and the patrons out there as well. So well done. Congratulations.
SPEAKER_02I can't believe we haven't had the world's largest mailbox on the previous two years. That was just a great pick making.
SPEAKER_00There was nothing from Casey's, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Low-hanging fruit. That's for sure. Listen to you now trying to diss her. I'm dissing fruit. I'm just like, oh, uh if you see the world's largest mailbox just hanging there, you gotta pick it, right? She picked it up.
SPEAKER_01Exactly.
SPEAKER_02Low-hanging mailbox. That's what I meant.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. That's fair enough.
Patreon Thanks And How To Reach Us
SPEAKER_01All right, Josh. So as I said before, patrons have been very much part of our uh what we do here in Marsh Bandits and everything else as well. Uh, how can people be a part of the inner circle, so to speak?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the patrons make the show possible with obviously their financial support on Patreon, but also they've literally made this show possible with giving us five awesome picks. And you got so close to the clown hotel winning. Um but if you want to get into the inner circle, I'm gonna call it the inner circle. Hey Scott. He's a patron, by the way. Scott's a patron. He is. Um, if you want to get into this inner circle, consider joining us at patreon.com backslash treasures of our time.
SPEAKER_01Otherwise, Josh, how can people find us or contact us for next year's March Mass?
SPEAKER_02Feel free to reach out to us, send all the hate mail. Um, it will be directed right to me at Treasures of our Tom podcast at gmail.com, or you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or our BuzzPro site.
SPEAKER_01So that's it for our show today. Please subscribe, rate, review on your favorite podcast again.
SPEAKER_02And as always, join us traveling to the most unexpected and amazing, bizarrely huge like the mailbox. Thanks around the world. See you next time. Thank you.
People on this episode
Craig - The Aussie Geocacher Seemyshell
Host
Joshua - The Geocaching Vlogger
Host
Megan Bannister
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