If you travel with me, as my friends and family know well, you should expect to be driven up to a few hundred miles away from the guidebook attractions in pursuit of an oversized roadside oddity or a quirky experience.
You can imagine my excitement (and my travel companions’ dismay) the day I stumbled upon a book that would serve as my treasure map to all the wacky gems hidden across the US. Eccentric America has since been the first item I pack whenever I travel within the bounds of this crazy country.
On the back of this book (the old version) is a picture of an adorable but giant family of farmers–mother, father, and lollipop-eating son–constructed out of massive quantities of metal. Unfortunately, there is no caption under this picture, and after flipping though the book time and time again, I couldn’t figure out where I might find my metal family.
Two cross-country road trips and 50 or 60 quirky side trips later, I still had no idea where my family was standing. I was driving through the beautiful rolling hills of North Dakota, best friend and Eccentric America in tow, when I veered the car off of I-94 (which you may claim is already off the beaten path) and headed south towards a gimmicky attraction called the Enchanted Highway.
The Enchanted Highway lies between Gladstone and Regent in North Dakota just past 100 1/2 Avenue. I find the strict adherence to numbering avenues according to mileage from what appears to be the center of the state especially charming in light of the fact that the Enchanted Highway has no other name or number assigned to it (at least according to Google Maps).
I had just about lulled myself to sleep counting hay bales when we passed a group of giant grasshoppers. I jolted awake with excitement, grabbed my camera, and fixed my eyes on the road ahead. Before I knew it, we had sped past a school of metallic fish, a bucking horse, and a couple of bronze deer hopping effortlessly over a twisting fence.
Already giddy with excitement, I turned my head up the road and felt my jaw literally drop as I laid eyes on a familiar sight that I had long ago given up on finding. A boy with a 6 foot wide lollipop standing proudly next to his pitchfork wielding father and watering can toting mother were there to greet me at the end of the Enchanted Highway.
All at once, I had the joy of driving past another one of America’s inexplicable and odd landmarks, the small world sense of being right at home thousands of miles from my own apartment, the excitement of finding something you didn’t remember you’d lost (much like pulling that $20 bill out of the dryer), and the satisfaction of living in a world where sometimes even adults still do things just for fun.
This was one of the best travel moments of my life, and that means a heck of a lot coming from me. At last, in a corner of North Dakota, I had found my family, and they sure looked happy to see me.
Aww, I like this story.
Thanks John. I sure enjoyed the experience. North Dakota has a surprising amount to offer.
I didn’t really need more convincing to go to ND someday (pesky #47/48), but this doesn’t hurt. I’ll wait for pitchfork dad to shovel the snow first though.
Yeah, this isn’t a drive I’d recommend in the winter for sure. There’s a snowmobile-riding giant turtle in ND who’s a little more equipped for the season.
Wow! That’s awesome that you actually stumbled upon the lollipop family sculpture! I’ve been thru S. Dakota before, but I’d never heard of this. Something to look for next time.
Oh and congrats, you’re going to be in the GenY Travel Blog Carnival! (which I have the honor of hosting next week at byteful.com)
Fantastic! I think the family is perfect for a carnival
What a neat article. I had no ilinkng.
Thanks Deacon. It was a neat trip as well. Glad you liked the article.