Family Vacations Off the Beaten Path
Visit these obscure but rewarding destinations on your next family getaway.
By Marcy Black
prev
1 of
-
The Road Less Traveled
When life throws an opportunity your way — a chance to see something outlandish, amusing, or literally off the charts — you'd better grab it. Fortunately, Joshua Foer has made it easy for adventurous travelers to figure out where to go next. He spent two months driving around the country seeking out unusual and fascinating places. "It was an incredible trip," he says, "but these places are, by their nature, hard to find."To share his discoveries, Foer teamed with Dylan Thuras to create the Atlas Obscura, a user-generated online guide to little-known destinations. Following are 10 family-friendly spots featured in the Atlas Obscura that will appeal to you and your grandkids. -
Courtesy of Atlas ObscuraGlacial Potholes
Geologists call them "kettles," but they look like holes in rock made by giants on pogo sticks. Glacial potholes are created by melting glaciers as stones swirl around in whirlpools, drilling through softer rock. They range from six inches to 39 feet across. The good people of Shelburne Falls, Mass., have built a special platform from which to view their local kettles. -
Courtesy of Atlas ObscuraThe Mapparium
The next time you're in Boston, don't forget to journey to the center of the earth. The Mary Baker Eddy Library encloses the Mapparium, a giant, stained-glass globe you can walk through via a glass bridge. From the inside, you'll notice that Africa is much bigger than you might have thought, and you'll see how much political boundaries have changed since the attraction was built in the 1930s. -
Courtesy of Atlas ObscuraThe World's Largest Ball of Twine
Who'd have thought there would be controversy over the world's biggest ball of twine? Several claim to be the largest, but the Atlas Obscura considers Francis Johnson's effort to be the most monumental by a single person. The Minnesota farmer rolled twine for 39 years and left a 12-foot-wide, 17,400-pound ball when he died in 1989. You'll find the ball in its own gazebo when you roll into the town of Darwin, west of Minneapolis. -
Courtesy of Atlas ObscuraNutty Narrows Bridge
Office workers couldn't resist feeding the squirrels in Longview, Wash., near Vancouver. Trouble was, the squirrels had to cross a busy road to get their treats, leading to many a crushed rodent. The solution: a 60-foot aerial overpass made from aluminum and fire hoses. (The original bridge has had to be replaced over the years.) A 10-foot-tall wooden squirrel statue stands nearby. -
Courtesy of Atlas ObscuraHouse on the Rock
When famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright rejected his work, Alex Jordan decided to show what he could do by building a huge Japanese-style house on a rocky outcropping in Spring Green, Wis., not far from Wright's own home. The original house, which opened to the public in 1959, has since been expanded into a complex that holds the world's largest indoor carousel, a room full of pipe organs, and a range of collections including dolls, music machines, model airplanes, armor, and relics of the Titanic. -
Courtesy of Atlas ObscuraThe Great Stalacpipe Organ
The world's largest musical instrument resonates through the Luray Caverns of Virginia. A Pentagon scientist, Leland Sprinkle, designed the organ, which extends across 3.5 underground acres. It creates an otherworldly sound by using rubber mallets to tap stalactites hanging from the cave's ceiling. -
Courtesy of Atlas ObscuraBishop Castle
At last report, Jim Bishop was still collecting roadside rock to add to his castle in Pueblo, Colorado, so here's your chance to see a work in progress, and the man responsible. Bishop's stone castle is 16 stories high, so far, complete with soaring wrought-iron walkways and a fire-breathing steel dragon. -
Courtesy of Atlas ObscuraLunch Box Museum
The Lunch Box Museum in Columbus, Ga., contains about 3,500 metal lunch boxes and their matching thermoses. Parents and grandparents can recall how these lunch box design once defined their character. If you haven't saved yours to show the kids, you're likely to find it here. -
Courtesy of cm195902Carhenge
At a family reunion on their farm in Alliance, Neb., experimental artist Jim Reinders enlisted his family to help him replicate England's Stonehenge, but with automobiles instead of stones. The clan deployed 38 vehicles in the project — a lot of cars, a pickup, and an ambulance. They were sunk in the ground upright or lofted atop and welded in place, then sprayed with gray paint. The 96-foot-wide circle is best seen during the site's annual Summer Solstice celebration. -
Courtesy of Atlas ObscuraAbita Mystery House
Like many roadside attractions, the Abita Mystery House in Abita Springs, La., north of New Orleans, is the work of one man: painter John Preble, who never found a piece of junk he couldn't put to good use. The house is also known as the UCM (as in, "you see 'em") Museum, for Unusual Collections and Mini-town. You'll find an Airstream trailer hit by a flying saucer, a tiled House of Shards, a comb collection, and much more. -
Book Your Trip Here, and Save!
Food & Leisure Menu
Hot Topics
Compatibility Horoscope
How well do you get along with your grandchild and other family members? Want to know if your personalities mesh?
Find out here.
Comments
My husband and I are grandparents who live in Ocean City, MD while all our grandkIds are in Menlo Park, CA and Bend OR. This site would be perfect to set up a coast-to-coast house sitting, plant and pet care in return for a grandparent place to stay arrangement with other grandparents who live in the grandkIds' home area. Any suggestions?
Great places to add to any bucket list. But you missed Leila's Hair Museum in Independence, the only place of its kind in America and possibly the world. With thousands of pieces of artwork, hair "wreaths", jewelry and hair of famous folks like Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, George Washington, JFK, Michael Jackson and John Lennon, a visit to the Hair Museum is truly unforgettable.