Super weird famous landmarks in the US

Just outside of Montgomery on the Alabama River, you’ll find a Tim Burton wonderland on a privately owned island. The production company behind the movie Big Fish built the fictitious town of Spectre here back in the early 2000s and decided to leave it up after filming. For a small fee, visitors to Jackson Lake Island can follow Ewan McGregor’s footsteps through the town square to the rundown church, to remaining mechanical trees from the haunted forest and even hang a pair of shoes off the clothesline. 

The middle of the Mojave Desert definitely isn’t the first place you’d look for jolly old Saint Nick—and yet, this abandoned town in Arizona is dedicated to all things Christmas. Realtor Nina Talbot and her husband founded the town in 1937 in an attempt to attract buyers to the desert. Santa Claus did become popular with tourists for a while: Families would drive into town to send letters with a festive postmark from the local post office and dine at the Christmas Tree Inn. Sadly, all the Christmas spirit wasn't enough to convince anyone to move there and the town eventually fell into disrepair. Check out the rundown red-and-white buildings and forlorn tinsel for yourself—it’s not maintained, but free to visit.

Ponder this; for there to be a bizarre natural phenomenon like this, there had to be massive amounts of animal and plant life way back when, even during the Permian Period, when all the land mass on the surface of the Earth was one continent called Pangea, some 225 million years ago. Mammal-like reptiles were already evolving, but of course it would be many, many millennia before mankind arrived to make a complete mess of everything. That means over the course of hundreds of millions of years biomass accumulated—right here—and gave us nature's own version of black gold. Paleontologists have been able to recover some 3.5 million bones from the tar pit. Walk the outdoor park to sniff the signature sulphuric smell and see pits that are still being excavated, then head into the Page Museum to check out the incredible collection of items found in the pits. 

Don’t bring the family to this Miami museum devoted to all kinds of X-rated art. Billed as the only institution that exclusively shows fine erotic art in the entire country, the World Erotic Art Museum has a renowned collection of antique sex toys, carved phalluses and nudes by Picasso and Rembrandt. Just thinking about exploring the 12,000-square-foot space is enough to make you blush. 

The Madonna Inn on the central California coast is the epitome of kitsch. Built by Alex and Phyllis Madonna in 1958, the hotel supposedly has a Swiss Alps theme, but in reality seems dedicated to all things tacky. All 110 rooms are each decorated following a unique theme—the Caveman has faux rock walls and a waterfall while the Pony room has bright red carpets and prominently features several horse statues. You certainly won’t forget a stay here.

The world’s largest plant maze is located on the Dole Pineapple Plantation on the north shore of Oahu. More than two miles of paths wind through the hedges of 14,000 colorful Hawaiian plants such as hibiscus, heliconia and pineapples, of course. The plantation proudly displays the names of the fastest finishers on a sign at the entrance to the labyrinth and the current record stands at seven minutes!

Whether you believe the tour guide’s schtick about the supposed “gravitational anomaly” at work at this roadside attraction or not, the tilted cabin that seemingly defies the laws of physics is still fun to visit. Even skeptics will have a blast exploring the curious shack where balls appear to roll uphill and chairs seem to sit on walls. Not convinced? See if you can puzzle out the reason behind this optical illusion for bonus points. 

This small town in Illinois is home to not one, not two, but eight of the world’s largest objects, including a rocking chair, knitting needles, crochet hook, wind chime and golf tee. Resident Jim Bolin installed the first piece, the wind chime, in 2011 and things snowballed from there. Bolin thought a public art installation (titled Big Things in a Small Town) might help bring in some tourists. His theory seems to be working: Though Casey is home to only 2,698 citizens, the town gets up to 500 visitors a day hoping to catch a peek at its supersized attractions.

This New England town’s dark past draws urban witches and history buffs from all over the country. Learn about the infamous Witch Trials of 1692 with a visit to the Witch House. This 17th century home was owned by James Corwin, a local merchant who presided over many of the witchcraft examinations. The self-guided tours offer a great primer on both the country’s largest witch hunt and early colonial life.

The Busy Beaver Button Co. has produced tens of millions of shiny pins and buttons since it opened in 1995. They’ll still gladly make you any design you desire, but shopping isn't the only reason to visit the Chicago store. Art lovers and culture vultures will also want to check out the eponymous museum. Scope out the collection of more than 9,000 historical pin-back buttons, including concert memorabilia and political campaign collateral.

You’ll find another of the world’s largest items inside the Mary Baker Eddy Library in Boston: The world’s largest walk-in globe. The Mapparium is a three-story spherical model of a globe built to scale out of brightly hued stained glass. Stand at one edge of the glass bridge that bisects the interior of the globe and whisper something to a friend at the other end. Since the glass walls amplify sound, they’ll be able to hear you loud and clear.

Deep in the middle of the barren Nevada desert, you’ll find Area 51, the top-secret installation that has been shrouded in mystery for decades. Little is known about what goes on inside, except that the military developed and tested spy planes at the base during the Cold War—this is the site of a US Air Force base specializing in experimental aircraft after all. The secrecy combined with strange sightings leaving Area 51 led to countless rumors of UFO sightings, alien abductions and other extraterrestrial activities over the years. Curious visitors and alien enthusiasts should check out the area for themselves.

If you're planning a coast-to-coast roadtrip and say, have decided to incorporate Route 66 for example, you still need to get either to, or from, Chicago to the Atlantic seaboard. And that still leaves lots of weird and wonderful pit stops to make along the way. One such pit stop is Tony Packo's authentic Hungarian restaurant. The reason you should go—is because every wall of the eatery's interior is covered with autographed hotdog buns. Over 1,500 autographed hot dog buns, all in display cases, from Debbie Reynolds to Burt Reynolds and Stevie Nicks to Steve Martin. Everyone you can possibly imagine has somehow, at sometime, visited this obscure restaurant and signed one.

If you’re the squeamish type, you better avoid the Mutter Museum. It’s jampacked with human specimens, stomach-churning medical objects and more bones than you could imagine. Think you can handle it? Don’t miss the slices of Albert Einstein’s brain, the Hyrtl Skull Collection of 139 human heads, the corset skeleton or the exhibit that allows you to experience the feeling of having your arm amputated. Yikes.

In the tradition of old-school curio museums, the Museum of the Weird celebrates oddities like shrunken heads, wax movie monsters and a taxidermied two-headed calf. The price of admission also includes a live sideshow act, if you want to get really freaky. It’s only fitting that such a museum would be in Austin—the city’s unofficial slogan is “Keep Austin Weird,” after all.