House on the Rock

Now I have been to my fair share of  Roadside Attractions:  Strange museums, oddball sights and weird landmarks.  In my travels I have been to one place that I feel is simply the greatest roadside attraction in all of America:  The House on the Rock.

Not My Image

Found in Spring Green, WI, The history of the house is muddled in legend, but no less fascinating.  The house is the brainchild of eccentric millionaire by the name of Alex Jordan Jr.  Legend has it that Alex Jordan idolized architect Frank Loyd Wright, who is also from the area.  Jordan dreamed of being a famous architect like his hero and was able to arrange a meeting with his Wright.  Upon showing Wright his blueprints, Wright brushed him off and told him he couldn't design a chicken coop.  Devastated by being spurned by his hero Jordan created the House on the Rock as a middle finger to Wright.  The creation of the House on the Rock would not only lead to Jordan becoming a famous architect, but so much more.

Jordan was surprised at people's curiosity towards his creation.  He was a reclusive and had primarily constructed the house as a personal sanctuary.  He begin charging for private tours.  The House would quickly become a top tourist attraction.  Over the years it became so much more.  Using money from the tours Jordan began to expand on exhibits on his compound.  The attraction quickly spilled out into different buildings.  Jordan was the ultimate collector.  It is said that Jordan actually collected collections.  These collections can still be seen to this day.

The beginning of the tour is of course the house itself.  You enter through a claustrophobic hallway, with low ceilings covered in red carpet.

The house is not air conditioned and is somewhat suffocating.  However, it is an absolutely swinging bachelor pad.

Including such amenities as a three story tall book shelf.

The most unusual feature of the House is the "Infinity Room".  The infinity room is a plank shaped room that walks out from the house several hundred feat above the forest.  The room itself has no supports other then its connection to the house.  The entire room shifts like a diving board under the weight of a single person.

Moving out of the main house you head into the "Streets of Yesterday", a recreated cobble stone main street that is steeped in nostalgia.  Of course if you look close, you will notice a few chilling Easter eggs.

It is in the streets of yesterday that you first encounter one of my favorite features of the House on the Rock:  coin operated clockwork dioramas.

This wonderful little display is known as "The Death of a Drunkard"

And here is its sequel, "Death of a Miser"

Here is "The Sultan and the Necromancer"

And the "Monkey and the Bear"

Also amongst this "Collection of Collections" is a collection of strange weapons, that would make any steampunk enthusiast drool, including this badass set of gun gunswords.

For when stabbing someone just isn't enough.

Then there is this ridiculously overpowered flintlock pistol.....

And this pistol hidden in a wooden leg....

Now we move into the "Heritage of the Sea" room.  We are greeted by an animatronic octopus playing "Octopus's Garden" on a number of instruments.

What makes it truly unique and impressive is that the Octopus is really playing the instruments.  As you can see the drums are really pounded and the guitar has devices hooked to that actually hold down the strings and strum it.

The centerpiece of the nautical exhibit is a massive fiberglass whale, larger then any actual whale, locked in a death struggle with a Kraken.

A hapless fishermen is caught in the crossfire.

The rest of the room is packed with assorted nautical memorabilia....

The House on the Rock is perfect for people like me with a short attention span.  There is something new and amazing around ever corner.  A new set of collections, or an oddball artifact.  The whole place can be absolutely overstimulating.  There is literally not a dull corner.

Not even a trip to the bathroom could save you from the madness that lurks in the House on the Rock.  A trip to the men's restroom features a wide variety of taxidermy including a cougar lurking over the urinal.

And a Jackalope....

If you are woman, or wish to sneak into the women's room, you can see the strange flower-headed people that live in there........

At roughly the halfway point you come across one of the Houses most famous attractions:  The World's Largest Carousel. 

There are no horses on the carousel.  Instead it is populated by strange and bizarre creatures.

Above head is an army of mannequins dressed as angels with their breasts showing....

Into the Monster's mouth the Journey continues......

It is at this point that the House on the Rock starts becoming less of an attraction and more of a fever dream.  The madness starts to bend your mind and you start to remember only bits an pieces.  You wonder through such strange areas as "The Organ Room" which the entire room is made out of a giant organ that you walk through like an Escher painting.

One memorable area is "The Circus Room". 

An absolutely massive miniature circus is laid out in exquisite detail. 

There are also some live sized circus performers as well....

And there is this super duper creepy giant moving clown head....

The circus area ends with a massive animatronic orchestra. 

Much like the Octopus in the nautical area, the mannequins actually play their instruments.  Mechanical fingers operate string instruments while air is blown into wind instruments to make them play.  Each figure is detailed and unique.  I even think I found Abe Lincoln.

In case the first carousel wasn't crazy enough, we enter a room with a three story DOLL carousel....

Check it out....

As our tour through the House on the Rock winds down, who is there to see us out?  The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, no less....

I really cannot endorse this place enough.  If you can only go to one Roadside attraction in your life, go here.  Our tour here took four full hours and we probably could have spent another four.  This is the only time in my life I have ever filled up my entire camera memory card.  There is just so much to see, I can not fully express it.  These pictures are merely a sample, there are whole sections I did not even mention.  This is a once and a lifetime sort of visit.

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
And don't forget to check out my Flickr Photostream and my Youtube Page.  You can also follow me on instagram. 

Jimmy Carter, Rejected by the Nation, Beloved by the South

When lists are made of the "worst presidents in US history", sadly a man by the name of Jimmy Carter gets mentioned.  His presidency was a rocky one.  The economy sucked, there was an energy crisis, and he was entangled in a hostage crisis.  To add insult to injury he was even captured on camera being attacked by a rabbit.

Carter was trounced by republican icon Ronald Reagan when he sought reelection.  Carter only won 6 states in his second election, and they weren't even good ones

His post presidency was marked by great accomplishments.  He founded the humanitarian powerhouse "Habitat for Humanity" which has helped millions find homes, he has stood up for important causes and even won a Nobel peace prize.

I remember asking my father why Carter was considered a bad president.  "Good men make bad presidents." he told me.

It was 1976, a tumultuous time.  The country had a real bad taste in its mouth when it came to politics, thanks in part to this man.

Seen here murdering Warren G. Harding

 Richard Nixon, a man so strongly associated with corruption, that he is single handily responsible for the fact that every political scandal now ends with the suffix "gate".

Not only was everyone in the Nation (except Lynryd Skynyrd) bothered by Watergate, but we also had a standing president that had not even been elected.

The one of the left

 The Nation needed to heal itself.  The Nation did not need another crooked politician.  The Nation needed a man with good old fashion values, so naturally they looked to the South and found a fresh face.

A man who oozed folksy charm.  A hard working church going man.  Jimmy Carter was the man American needed (but not the man they deserved).

Jimmy steam rolled his way to the White House.  Let's take a look at the map.

Apparently, 40 years ago, the idea of red and blue states was a little different.  Its not often today that you will see the Democrat sweep the South and loose California.  Its clear the South loved this guy and why shouldn't they?  When it came to the core principles of the democratic party, Jimmy was pretty much in line.  However, Jimmy was an evangelical Southern Baptist who opposed abortion.  There were even times when Jimmy was criticized and ridiculed by the media for expressing his faith.  Some say that Carter is responsible for making evangelical Christianity mainstream.

Eventually, the country changed there mind and decided that letting a good old country boy run the country was a bad idea and replaced him with West Coast Hollywood Elitist Ronald Reagan.

 
Although he was made to leave Washington in shame, the South never feel out of love with Jimmy Carter and there is no greater example of this then his home town of Plains, GA.  Plains is essentially a city sized shrine to Jimmy Carter.

There are tons of Carter related sites to be see, such as the farm house he grew up in.

Where you can also see where Carter and all his important childhood moments took place.

Also located here is his father's general store, where he sold plastic ham to the locals.

You can also check out Jimmy's elementary school.

Where he keeps his Nobel Peace Prize.....

You can also check out Carter's former campaign headquarters where a cardboard cutout of Jimmy still tirelessly makes phone calls....

Rounding out the Carter experience is the Billy Carter gas station museum.

For those of you know don't know Billy Carter was Jimmy's younger drunken redneck brother.  Billy is possibly best known for declaring himself the Colonel Sanders of beer and creating the short lived "Billy Beer".

With the best tag line of all time.

Billy is also known for controversially visiting Libya as an ambassador.  The problem was that he did this without bothering to get permission from the White House or Jimmy.  Billy would take money from Libya, causing Jimmy to have to publicly denounce his own brother. 

Sadly, the Billy Museum was closed, so I missed out of seeing any authentic cans of Billy Beer.  Unopened cases have gone at auctions for $100.

Plains other claim to fame is its peanuts.

This town is so excited about peanuts that in the downtown area they use peanut shells instead of mulch. 

It is safe to say that those with nut allergies should not step foot in Plains, or they face instant death.

What do you get when you combine this towns two claims to fame?  This of course:

This wonderful Jimmy Carter Peanut hybrid.  This monstrosity was actually used in his Carter's campaign posters.

Seen here viciously devouring a republican Elephant.

I'm all for the flesh eating peanut replacing the donkey as the Democrats new mascot.....

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
And don't forget to check out my Flickr Photostream and my Youtube Page.  You can also follow me on instagram. 

Carpetbagger Appears on the Daily Woo

Yesterday I had the honor with meeting up with Youtube celebrity Adam the Woo.  Adam was a great guy and even let me appear in one of his videos.  We went and fed bears at the Bear pit in Pigeon Forge, TN.  This pit was somewhat different from the Bear Pits over in Cherokee.  For one they had Asian Sun Bears instead of Black Bears for some reason.  The pits were also a lot nicer, more like an actual zoo instead of a concrete pit.



It was a blast.  Everyone go check out Adam's channel, its a great mix of movie locations, abandoned sites, and roadside attractions.   He is truly living the dream, traveling the country non-stop in his van just to see awesome things.  He posts extended videos of interesting sites and then does a daily vlog like the one above.


The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
And don't forget to check out my Flickr Photostream and my Youtube Page.  You can also follow me on instagram. 

An Ode to the Lost Toilet

The lost toilet.  It is an all to common site on the rural southern roadside.

Where do they come from?  How does the most intimate and private appliance in your home wind up up out in the elements for all to see?

To me seeing a lone toilet sitting on the side of the road is always jarring.  A toilet's element is behind closed door.  It is something we all use, but something we never want others to see us engaging with.

A toilet sitting outdoors seems so naked, so exposed.

Where are these toilets coming from?  Like a bad puppy that no one loved they are abandoned in parking lots and back roads.  Yet loyally they sit, almost as if holding out hope that their past owner will be coming back for them.

One theory is the fact that the Garbage man will not take your broken toilet.  Although everyone may not realize it a toilet requires a disposal fee at your local dump.  The average disposal cost for a toilet in America is 25 dollars.

The only way around in this to smash your toilet to pieces with a hammer and slowly discard of its pieces, much like Andy disposed of his spare rock dust in the Shawshank Redemption.

Occasionally you will come across a stray toilet with an usual color, standing out like a bright flower.

You think to yourself, "I could take that home and turn it into a planter, or maybe do some other art project with it".  Then you think about how many poops have been taken in said toilet and you keep driving.

Of course every once in awhile you just may stumble across a beautiful garden of toilets.

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
And don't forget to check out my Flickr Photostream and my Youtube Page.  You can also follow me on instagram.