Random Roadside Attractions

I have a fondness for weird roadside attractions from around the USA, and once in a while I've been lucky enough to find slides for a few that I've never heard of. Researching can be half the fun.

From December, 1964 we get this look at... well, what the heck is it? A giant piece of folk art, but what else? I was pretty baffled until I saw the red sign between the two sitting prospectors (who look like friends of Handsome Brady and Whiskey Bill from Knott's Berry Farm) - the sign says OLD SOUTH BAR-B-Q RANCH. Aha! The Old South BBQ was located in Clewiston, Florida, along US Route 27. 

Here's a vintage postcard! One website had some personal recollections from people who went here: "Boy, this was the place. Every time we would go fishing on Lake Okeechobee we would stop at the Ranch for lunch on our way home. IT WAS THE BEST! ... We used to climb on the fiberglass horses and cows and play on their outside decor forever and the food was great too."

"This place had all of that plus an outside ambience beyond description. The roadside signs started 50 miles north of Clewiston on HWY 27. I knew that we were almost home when we started seeing the signs."

"The outside was full of fiberglass 'old west' characters, wagon wheels, and punny signs adorning the building and parking lot. The inside was full of old west decor and bric-a-brac, and the waitresses wore Dale Evans-style cowgirl costumes with toy holsters."

I'm unclear as to when this place first opened (perhaps it was tied to the 100th anniversary of the start of the Civil War in 1860?), but it was there until at least sometime in the 1980s, finally closing after 1987, from what I have gleaned. You can read a bit about it on the Roadside America website.

What the heck? I guess sitting in a toylike cart  behind a burro qualifies as tourist fun! And what in the world is the "Desert of Maine"? From Wikipedia: The Desert of Maine is a natural curiosity and privately owned tourist attraction whose main feature is a 20-acre expanse of barren glacial sand in the town of Freeport, Maine, United States. The area was de‑vegetated by poor farming practices in the 19th century.

Say, this vintage postcard is somethin' else! Did you know that the burro had a name? PEDRO THE BURRO! From the back of this postcard: Desert of Maine is the greatest natural phenomenon of its kind known. The desert itself covers approximately 500 acres and is still growing, with possibilities of extending into several thousand more in the next 25 to 30 years. It is a spot no tourist should fail to visit. Only five minutes from Main Highway, Route 1, or Route 95 Freeport, Maine. Wikipedia says the place is 20 acres, the postcard says 500. Perhaps much of it was sold off to developers and is no longer "desert"?

I hope you have enjoyed today's weird Roadside Attractions.