this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2026
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[–] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 45 points 3 months ago (3 children)

After living for years in Munich we finally visited the Hofbräuhaus, that up to then I had been omitting like the plaque, it being the very prototype of the touristic German stereotype, Lederhosen and all.

And what should I say, we had a suprising amount of fun, not the least because we met some US tourists who were there to just meet some of us natives and have fun :-)

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 25 points 3 months ago

The key to somewhere like that is to enjoy it for what it is, overlooking the "over-the-top" (or simply embracing it).

Medieval Times in the US is that way. We all know it's not even close to any kind of real - it's a stage play with dinner. Fun for the kids.

[–] tanisnikana@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago (1 children)

You gotta finish your g, buddy. Plaque and plague are two super different things.

Although if you’re a dentist or you like flossing, I get it.

[–] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 3 months ago

I blame the handwriting recognition here, my "I"s are also often "l"s, and my "O"s "0"s...

[–] gigastasio@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I looked this up out of curiosity and discovered that there’s a Hofbräuhaus in my town, and several throughout the US. Might have to visit…wouldn’t be the same as going to Munich but might still be fun.

[–] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 3 months ago

Yes, I meant the word "prototype" quite literal - there probably are 100s of Hofbräuhäuser all over the world.
(Saw a report about one in China some time ago.)
Each trying to emulate a slightly different hilariously wrong image of German culture.
But honestly, who cares.
Go and have some fun, the slight cringeness is part of it! :-)

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[–] Widdershins@lemmy.world 28 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Train-O-Rama in Ohio has been permanently closed for a for a while now but I'm glad to have gone. It was a building full of model train sets. It felt like it existed more for the love of the game than to make money.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I visited that once, years ago. I wasn't into trains, but we were in the neighborhood, so we checked it out, and it was kinda cool. Sorry it's gone.

[–] Widdershins@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

What's that saying? It's better to have loved and gone than to never have gone at all.

[–] nikosey@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago (4 children)

The House on the Rock in Wisconsin was a lot funner than I thought it would be. I happened to visit when there was hardly anyone there, so that helped greatly. There's a huge room with a full size whale statue in the middle. And a suspended triangular room with a window on the floor overlooking treetops. Plus all sorts of other random stuff.

[–] TheOneAndOnly@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Came here to post this. Early in our relationship, my girlfriend "dragged" me into this place, promising I wouldn't regret it. 3 hours later, we walked out in a daze. It is almost impossible to describe to anyone. Just talking about the things you see in there in no way does justice to the experience of being inside. You mention the whale... But neglect that said whale is fighting a giant octopus? And that all of this is surrounded by a 3 story ramp lined with hundreds of huge model ships? Or the giant carousel? Or the plinth room that juts from the front of the place high above the trees you can feel bouncing as you approach the end? Those are just a few of the highlights. There's absolutely no way to understand what you're walking into... It just needs to be experienced.

[–] Widdershins@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

I'm not really into guns but the gun collection they have there is cooler than any other gun collection in the world. One gun is a prosthetic leg.

[–] roger.wood@feddit.online 2 points 3 months ago

One of my favorite memories. That place is so weird.

[–] redhorsejacket@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

A work colleague was telling me about this place not too long ago. It sounds fun! And eclectic to say the least lol

[–] kubok@fedia.io 15 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I actually loved Mont St. Michel.

[–] eta@feddit.org 6 points 3 months ago (2 children)

i actually thought about that one aswell. Though I'm not sure if it really is a tourist trap like others since it's actually a special place.

[–] kubok@fedia.io 4 points 3 months ago

Agreed about it being a special place. That's why it popped into my head in the first place. But the many bus loads of people being loaded ever day makes it a tourist trap. The higher parts are more tranquil though.

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[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 14 points 3 months ago

Not really that cheesy, but Johnson Space Center south of Houston. I spent an entire day there, and visiting the restored Mission Control from the lunar landings was amazing.

[–] Iconoclast@feddit.uk 11 points 3 months ago

The pyramids of Giza were pretty cool

[–] stringere@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 months ago (6 children)

The fudge factory in Uranus, Missouri has a lot of great t-shirts and magnets. Just make sure you turn the right way when exiting the highway because Uranus is one way and Dixon is the other.

There was a place in South Dakota, somewhere near Mount Rushmore, where optical illusions made it look like a ball rolled uphill and chairs could stand on edge. Can't remember thr name of it, though.

If you're driving a road trip in the Dakotas or thereabouts, do not bother with Wall Drug.

[–] jam12705@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)
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[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Just make sure you turn the right way when exiting the highway because Uranus is one way and Dixon is the other.

Dixon has the most amazing cider bar. I hear your mother loved it.

#####sorry...couldn't help myself...

[–] Frostbeard@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

“If it’s clear and yellow, you’ve got juice there fellow! If it’s tangy and brown, you’re in cider town.”

[–] gmtom@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

I went to the mystery shack in Gravity Falls, Oregon and definitely didn't get ripped off. It was a great time

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Wall Drug is so notorious I've heard people complaining about it in Canada. And not even the bit north of it.

As the story goes, anyway, they've put signage up teasing it over and over again for quite a distance, but then you get there and it's just a drug store.

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

but then you get there and it’s just a drug store

Alright, I'm calling BS on this one.

It's a huge 'drug store' with multiple restaurants, an arcade, and even an animatronic dinosaur. But what I found interesting there is that they actually have huge sections of walls devoted to historical photographs, dating all the way back to the old west era. There's some interesting stuff there if you take the time.

(And, of course, Badlands NP is a 10-minute or so drive from there, across the interstate, and that is definitely worth a visit!)

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

So it's a really nice, on steroids kind of drug store? (And TBF what I heard probably dates back decades)

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Yeah, take a look.

And in particular, I found their collections of historical photos to be actually kind of interesting (and the only part of the experience that isn't completely dumb and vapid):

If I remember right, this is actually just a hallway that leads to one of the bathrooms, but if you're interested in the history of the old west, you could spend hours just looking at that.


Overall, Wall Drug definitely is not worth it as the destination of your trip. If Wall Drug is the main attraction you're headed for, you're going to be sorely disappointed. But, I do think it's definitely a worthwhile stop if you're passing by there on the way to somewhere else.

Like I said, it's very conveniently close to Badlands NP. If you're coming from the east, it's also on the way to the Black Hills (worth visiting for a few days), Wind Cave and Jewel Cave (the 3rd and 4th longest cave systems in the world, respectively -- don't miss those, though if you have to pick, Jewel Cave is definitely the more impressive for a quick visit -- oh, and there are other, privately operated caves in the area; skip those, none of them are nearly as cool as Wind and Jewel), and Mount Rushmore (pretty meh -- best to just look at it from the road as you go by and instead spend time hiking the Black Hills around it). If you're coming from the east toward those (better) attractions, then I'd definitely recommend:

1 - Stay overnight in the town around Wall Drug, visit the drug store if you have time before bed.

2 - Spend a full day exploring Badlands NP (more if you're really into it, but a day is enough to see most of it casually).

3 - Stay that night in Wall again.

4 - Drive to Rapid City and the Black Hills the next day.

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[–] Quilotoa@lemmy.ca 8 points 3 months ago

We went to the Novosibersk (Siberia) winter festival in the main square thinking it would be lame, but it was actually really cool.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 7 points 3 months ago

World's biggest Apple in Colbourne, Ontario. Has any apple or apple accessories you need, but I did fuck with them and told them there was a bigger apple in Osaka, Japan.

[–] Eat_Your_Paisley@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] dan1101@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

We actually got in line for a tour in a language we don't speak because the line was so much shorter. Still a magnificent house/mansion/castle in a beautiful setting.

[–] Bwaz@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

The Corn Palace (in... Kansas, I think) was so cheesy it was cool.

[–] bitchkat@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Mitchell, South Dakota

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[–] JennaR8r@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yes. And I loved it so much I never left. I live here now. But I'm not gonna tell you where I live 😉

[–] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

You could have said what the place is without mentioning you live there

[–] JennaR8r@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

True. I got so excited about it, I botched the assignment 😞

[–] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)
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[–] nightlily@leminal.space 4 points 3 months ago

I went to the Farina Cologne shop (the factory that developed the first Cologne) in Köln where they do tours with the guide in period costume pretending to be the founder. I wasn’t expecting much but it was genuinely fascinating and the guide was very charming and witty.

[–] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I stopped at a rest stop in Arizona with "The Thing", because I needed a bathroom, and took a look at the gift shop. I bought a t-shirt because of how friggin awesome it was. Alien cowboy riding a dinosaur. I have no clue what the actual thing was.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 months ago
[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

This is like the opposite of the question:

Three months ago we were traveling with the kids and we needed to stop for gas and bathrooms. We had a choice between Love's and Bigfoot. We picked the Bigfoot because maybe it would be kitschy and fun.

It was not. There was a life-size monkey statue holding Coors and... a powerful smell.

Do. Not. Recommend.

[–] sol6_vi@lemmy.makearmy.io 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Drove across the country with my wife son and newborn daughter. I'll never forget staring up at the crotch of some giant green clothed leaf man many stories tall...

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[–] wavebeam@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I am extremely biased on this, but “The Enchanted Forest” in Oregon on I-5 looks like a tourist trap. And it is. But it is also pretty neat! The founder just recently died, but he built it by hand and it’s still a family run business. Tickets for rides are egregious, but the “storybook trail” that it’s known for isn’t bad! Also, don’t eat the food.

[–] AlecSadler@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 months ago

Hi from Oregon. Enchanted Forest is cheeky but it definitely holds a special place in my heart.

[–] curiousaur@reddthat.com 2 points 3 months ago

All of those physical illusion spots are pretty cool. In California its the mystery spot and confusion hill.

[–] Jela@lemmy.today 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Rock City Gardens near Chattanooga would be my recommendation. Super cool cave system, canyon and trail with waterfalls and scenic views. We decided to stop there on a whim after seeing billboards advertising it from hundreds of miles away. It was a welcome break from a long drive!

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