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 the remaining styrofoam trees from the haunted forest and even hang a pair of shoes off the clothesline. Best part? Goats roam the island, too.
Certain destinations have a built-in braggability factor—Paris and pretty much any tropical Caribbean beach—but when you come back from vacation and tell people you saw the world’s largest mailbox: well, you’re definitely a top-tier traveler. America’s got so many funny, kitschy, unusual landmarks (yes, we’ll roll out the word “bizarre”) and they are calling out to you to find your way to them. Anyone can get a shot of a sunset with palm trees, but when your Instagram is filled with 139 skulls from the Mütter Museum’s skull wall or shots of you hamming it up with autographed hot dog buns in Toledo, you’ve gained credibility as an intrepid voyager. Please embark right away with high spirits and get those amazed-face emojis ready.