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All-American Photo Ops: Where Kitsch is Cool

They say that getting there is half the fun. And although traveling the country’s highways comes with some stretches of boredom, great road trips are punctuated by stops at singular attractions that are uniquely American.

The tradition of the roadside attraction is nearly as old as the automobile itself, and every state in the union offers great places for travelers to stop and take one-of-a-kind pictures. For groups, these stops present a number of opportunities, providing places for bathroom stops, meals, gift shops and unforgettable group photos to document the trip.

Some of America’s most famous roadside attractions have grown to become multifaceted business empires that draw in throngs of tourists. Others remain iconic in their homegrown feel and originality.

From kitschy to cool and everything in between, here are 10 of our favorite photo ops, found both on highways and in city centers, throughout the United States.

Paul Bunyan Statue

Bangor, Maine

Paul Bunyan might be one of the most famous fictitious Americans of all time, and travelers can find sculptures of the mythical giant in places across the country. Bangor, Maine, claims one of the most famous — a 31-foot-high statue built in 1959 to celebrate the city’s 125th anniversary.

Locals like to claim Bangor as Bunyan’s birthplace, and promoters say that the Bangor Bunyan is the largest in the country. Built with steel and fiberglass, it is also among the most beautiful, and it scored a moment in the pop-culture spotlight when it was highlighted in the film version of Stephen King’s “It.”

www.visitbangormaine.com

Lucy the Elephant

Margate, New Jersey

If you grew up on the East Coast and vacationed in Atlantic City, New Jersey, you may recall visiting Lucy the Elephant, a large statue located just outside town in the beachside village of Margate. Lucy is the highlight of a public park and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Built in 1881 by a real-estate speculator looking to lure people to the area, this six-story elephant statue now serves as one of the most famous symbols of the Jersey Shore. Visitors can take historical and architectural tours with volunteer guides, browse the on-site museum, climb to the top of the statue and take group photos in front.

www.lucytheelephant.org

Louisville Slugger Museum

Louisville, Kentucky

One of the most famous names in sports, the Louisville Slugger baseball bat has been manufactured in Louisville, Kentucky, since the 1880s. The bats are still produced at a factory downtown, and the historic building that houses the factory is also the site of the Louisville Slugger Museum.

Groups love touring the museum, where they can learn about the history of baseball and watch as craftspeople turn bats on lathes. And nobody should leave the museum without taking a photo with “the Big Bat,” a 120-foot-tall steel model of a Louisville Slugger bat that leans against the side of the museum building. The bat is an exact scale replica of the Louisville Slugger used by Babe Ruth.

www.sluggermuseum.com

World’s Tallest Concrete Gnome

Ames, Iowa

Many lawns and gardens across the country feature decorative gnomes, but none is quite as big as the one in Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University in Ames. Billed as the World’s Largest Concrete Gnome, this sculpture was installed in 2010 as part of the garden’s “Celebration of Garden Ornamentation” exhibit.

Known to locals as Elwood, the gnome measures 15 feet from the bottom of his feet to the tip of his pointy hat and cost $8,000 to construct. The statue is free to view and makes an excellent photo op for groups with an interest in gardening.

www.visitames.com

Cadillac Ranch

Amarillo, Texas

It’s a ways off the beaten path, but fans of funky art will find Cadillac Ranch worth the trip. Located just off Interstate 40 near Amarillo, Texas, the “ranch” is a public art project assembled in 1974 by an artist collective known as Ant Farm. The work consists of 10 beat-up Cadillac cars from 1949 through 1963 buried nose-first in a cow pasture, with their back ends sticking up out of the ground.

There’s no official entrance to the display, which sits on private land. Though the Caddies are visible from the highway, visitors must walk about a quarter-mile to the site off a frontage road for an up-close look. Once there, they are encouraged to take photos and even leave their own graffiti on the cars.

www.visitamarillo.com

Carhenge

Alliance, Nebraska

Was it a temple? A burial site? A massive calendar? Nobody knows for sure what purpose England’s ancient Stonehenge served, but the purpose of Carhenge, just outside of Alliance, Nebraska, is not so mysterious.

Built by a local artist in the 1980s, Carhenge is a full-scale replica of Stonehenge made with 39 vintage American automobiles. The artist, Jim Reinders, studied the design of Stonehenge while living in England and created the Carhenge sculpture as a memorial to his father on the family farm. There are now several other automobile sculptures at the site, as well as a gift shop.

www.carhenge.com

Dinosaur Park

Rapid City, South Dakota

There’s no shortage of great spots for memorable photos in the Black Hills region of South Dakota, including Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and Custer State Park. But for something a bit more kitschy, consider paying a visit to Dinosaur Park.

Constructed in 1936 by the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce, Dinosaur Park features giant concrete sculptures that represent what Depression-era scientists and artists imagined dinosaurs to look like. The five dinosaurs — an apatosaurus, a triceratops, a stegosaurus, a brontosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus rex — are painted bright green and sit in a hilltop park overlooking Rapid City. There is also a gift shop on-site.

www.visitrapidcity.com

Neon Museum

Las Vegas

Since 1996, the Neon Museum has been where some of Las Vegas’ most memorable marquees have been sent to retire. Longtime Vegas visitors will recognize iconic signs from Caesars Palace, Binion’s Horseshoe, the Golden Nugget, the Stardust and other famous casinos.

The best-known element of the Neon Museum’s two-acre campus is the Neon Boneyard, which features more than 200 historic neon signs. Walking through this outdoor park, visitors learn the stories of the neon signs and trace the development of neon design and technology through the decades. The museum also includes a visitors center inside the former lobby of the historic La Concha motel.

www.neonmuseum.org

Blue Bear

Denver

Most cities’ convention centers aren’t well known for their public art. But then again, Denver isn’t most cities. Since 2005, a 40-foot-tall blue bear peering in from an outside window has become a hallmark of the Colorado Convention Center.

Officially named “I See What You Mean,” the bear statue was created by a local artist who wanted to integrate a bit of Colorado’s natural environment into the city’s center. The fiberglass sculpture was originally meant to be black, but convention center officials liked the blue color of the clay in the first model of the sculpture so much that they asked the artist to keep the blue color for the final product.

www.denver.org

Alien Zone

Roswell, New Mexico

Few destinations embrace their quirky sides quite like Roswell, New Mexico, where long-standing rumors of crashed spaceships and alien autopsies have created a culture of UFO-themed decor. If your group enjoys a good tall tale, take them to the Area 51 Museum at Alien Zone Café and Gift Shop for a funny photo or two.

Built in the late 1990s by a commercial artist, the Area 51 museum features about 20 life-size dioramas, where visitors can snap pictures in front of a UFO crash site or a cartoonish alien autopsy scene complete with bloody plastic meat cleavers. Other parts of the museum take a darker look at the supposed interactions that took place between aliens and government officials.

www.alienzoneroswellnm.com