America's wackiest roadside attractions (16Pics)

This bizarre petrol station on the Yakima Valley Highway in Zillah, Washington was built in 1922 as a reminder of the Teapot Dome scandal, an infamous government bribery incident. Sadly, it's no longer in use, but still receives plenty of visits (not to mention incredulous looks) each year.

In the 1950s, an entrepreneur named Alan Schafer set up a beer stand just below North Carolina, and the "dry" county of Robeson, to attract his alcohol-deprived neighbours. Before long, South of the Border had developed into a kitsch Mexican-themed rest stop and tourist attraction. This cheeky chappie is known as Pedro.

We can't think of a much stranger retail experience than spending a day browsing the wares of the Unclaimed Baggage Centre in Scottsboro, Alabama. Just a hop, skip and a jump off Route 72, the shop sells off lost or abandoned airline baggage for bargain prices.

On Route 441 in Orlando, Florida is Gatorland, "the alligator capital of the world". This unusual theme park is home to thousands of alligators and crocs, as well as a zip line that lets guests soar above them. Gulp.

If you're going to build a copy of Stonehenge, why not do it with cars? This puzzling structure, made entirely from vintage American automobiles, has drawn over 80,000 tourists cruising the Sandhills Scenic Byway since it opened in Alliance, Nebraska, in the late 1980s.

The bigger, the better seems to be the motto of most roadside attractions. If you're travelling down Interstate 15, keep an eye peeled for "the world's tallest thermometer" (in reality: the world's tallest thermometer sign) when you near Baker, California.

...and if that doesn't float your boat, how about the world's biggest rocking chair? You'll find it on the historic Route 66, a few miles west from Cuba, Missouri, next to a general store.

One of America's corniest roadside attractions (forgive the joke) is the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, not far from Interstate 90. Every year, the building is covered with murals made from tens of thousands of ears of corn, to celebrate the rich, corn-yielding lands of the region.

For over six decades, people have flocked to the Florida town of Weeki Wachee, near the crossroads of Route 19 and State Road 50, to watch women dressed as mermaids frolic in a giant aquarium. The attraction was built by a former navy man, with the "mermaids" taught to use air hoses to breathe underwater.

Built to capitalise on the waves of tourists coming to see nearby Mount Rushmore, Dinosaur Park is a collection of sculptures overlooking Rapid City in South Dakota. Originally, they were grey in colour, but have been painted a lurid green since the 1950s.

One of the world's more curious romantic gifts must be Pickle Barrel House, a unique home in Grand Marais, Michigan, built by cartoonist William Donahey for his wife in the 1920s. Now open as a museum, you'll find it near the intersection of Highway M-77 and County Road H-58.

Truck stops aren't the most exciting of places, but Iowa 80, on Interstate 80 in Walcott, Iowa, has become a tourist mecca simply by being the word's biggest. 450 staff work at the enormous complex, which offers a dentistry service, chiropractic clinic, and a "trucking museum".

On the old Route 66 is the Blue Whale of Catoosa, Oklahoma, built in the 1970s by a local zoologist as a surprise anniversary present for his whale-loving wife. Although swimming is no longer allowed in the pond, it's still a popular picnic area.

Some people might find a restaurant fronted by a 40-foot-tall sculpture of an ox skull rather offputting, but the Longhorn Grill in Amado, Arizona, has reaped the benefits of its unusual entrance: it can be seen from miles away by people cruising down Interstate 19.

If you're driving near Seattle, why not pop in to take a look at the largest hat and cowboy boots in America? These sturdy accessories were built in the 1950s as part of a Western-themed petrol station in the Georgetown neighbourhood, but can now be found in nearby Oxbow Park.

Statues of folk hero Paul Bunyan and his trusty ox Babe the Blue are endemic in America, but the most famous stand in the Minnesota city of Bemidji. Erected in the 1930s, the figures are supposedly the most photographed statues in the the country after Mount Rushmore.