Wienermobile Crashes Into House

The driver of one of the six Wienermobiles crashed into a house in Racine, WI Friday morning. She was apparently trying to turn around in the driveway and thought she had it in reverse when it was still in drive. Nobody was home at the time.

Read the entire story here.

I'm not sure how you can crash that far into a garage when you are trying to back up. How fast do you need to go? She must have really put some mustard on that. I bet she just got grilled by her boss. That's a call I wouldn't relish.

For the record, we saw the Wienermobile earlier this month stuck in traffic on Highway 10 near Hawley, MN.

Popcorn Capital Reclaims Popcorn Ball Record

The town of Sac City, Iowa has set the record for the world's largest popcorn ball... again. Sac County is the self-proclaimed "Popcorn Capital of the World". Each year it produces approximately 4.8 million pounds of popcorn. And, since you can't hardly be the capital of something without having a giant thing to acknowledge that (see: The Corn Capital), Sac City built the world's largest popcorn ball back in 1995. That original record ball weighed 2,225 pounds. It was later topped by the Iowa Boy Scouts, so Sac City blew up the original ball at the Iowa State Fair and built a new record setter in 2004 weighing 3,100 pounds. In the competitive world of giant popcorn balls, you just knew that wasn't going to last. A popcorn company in Illinois bested Sac City's 2004 effort with a ball weighing just over 3,400 pounds. Well that just made Sac City angry... and you wouldn't like them when they're angry.

On February 28th, Noble Popcorn, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, built a new popcorn ball weighing 5,060 pounds. That's approximately 48% larger. It is 7.5 feet tall and 29 feet around. Later it will be kept in the display barn that the 3,100 pound ball currently is, then, if it doesn't fall apart, the old popcorn ball will go on a tour around the state.

For more:
Des Moines Register, which has video and a photo gallery.
Roadside America

International Spotlight: Pineapples

Photo by BelizeSquare

This giant pineapple is 16 meters tall and is located at The Big Pineapple, which is a tourist attraction and working farm near Nambour, Queensland, Australia. They have tours, rides, shops, restaurants, and exhibits. I believe you can go inside the pineapple and get a view from the top. There is some history behind the attraction on Wikipedia.

There is another giant pineapple not too far away in Gympie at a vacant gas station. It looks to rival The Big Pineapple in size. I don't know the size of this one, though.


The Gympie pineapple circa 2005. Photo by drewish.

Bathurst, South Africa claims to have the "biggest Pineapple in the World!" This one measures 16.7 meters high and has 3 floors, complete with a gift shop, and an observation deck.


Bathurst pineapple. Photo by philrickerby.

This awesome building exists somewhere in Thailand between Cha-am and Phuket. That's all I've been able to find out.


Photo by Master Matt

Lastly, but not leastly, here is a less huge pineapple in the Philippines.

Giant Ice Cream Cone

August 16th, 2008 - Wadena, MN



From Menahga we headed south on Highway 71 through Wadena and found the ice cream cone. We had tried to find it once before, but with no luck. We had kind of given up on it after it appeared that it had been disregarded and rundown. But, the folks at World's Largest Things spotted it on a recent trip. It has been fixed up and it looks really good.

The cone stands 14-feet tall and is made out of concrete. It is believed to have been originally built in 1973. It now stands at a private residence on the east side of Highway 71 south of Wadena, it's actually probably closer to Hewitt. It's located close to the big wind turbine, if you need a landmark. The residence also has a number of small windmills and other yard ornaments and sculptures. It seems that they sell windmills as well.

Since it was a private residence, we just pulled off the road quick, snapped a couple pictures, and bolted. Ok, we didn't bolt, but we did leave shortly in a timely manner.

After our success, we headed back into Wadena and ate at the Pizza Ranch. It was tasty. I hadn't had Pizza Ranch since college.

Big Update

The Wadena Ice Cream Cone is alive and well. It's at a new location and had some work done to it and it looks fantastic. The cone is located south of Wadena on Hwy 71, somewhere between Wadena and Hewitt. Thanks to World's Largest Things (more links on the left) for spotting it and sharing.


Picture by worldslargestthings

Also, I've added a giant hobo to the map. The hobo is at Hobo Park in Starbuck. It's a campground on Lake Minnewaska and next to the marina. Starbuck is also home to the World's Largest Lefse. Unfortunately, you cannot see the lefse...because they ate it, but there is a commemorative photo hanging at the old depot in Starbuck and some of the utensils used, included the giant roller.

Vining Sculpture Park

June 29th, 2008 - Vining, MN



After checking out all the pelicans, we headed out for some Big Stuff hunting. Our first target was Vining, home of artist Ken Nyberg. Nyberg creates incredible sculptures by shaping and welding pieces of scrap metal. We have seen a Nyberg piece before. He did the giant art tractor in New York Mills. Nyberg has created many sculptures for his hometown of Vining, so many that there is a park in his name, Nyberg Park. Not all of Nyberg's Vining pieces are in the park. There are a few that are scattered around this small town. Some of his sculptures are Big Stuff, some are actual size stuff, and some are both.



The Foot might be the most famous piece. It sits on the west side of town (which is very close to the east side of town). The Foot was sculpted in 10 gauge steel and was donated to the town in 1991. It took Nyberg 2 years to complete.











This elephant is really cool. It's big and actual size. It's different from his other work in that this elephant is made entirely out of lawnmower blades.





The non-Big Stuff items around Vining are a little green alien, a buck, which is kind of big, a blacksmith (Could it be a self portrait?), a speared fish, an Indian on horseback, a cowboy (not pictured), and a tribute to his daughter.





Ken Nyberg's daughter is Karen Nyberg, who is a NASA Astronaut. She has been to the International Space Station on two separate occasions.

Tip: I actually think we may have missed a couple sculptures. I think there may be a plug and cord thing and a door knob.

Giant Ice Cream Cone

March 20th, 2008 - Wadena, MN

Day 2 of our trip didn't get off to a great start. It was a little colder and windier than the previous day and we were having trouble finding a 14-foot tall ice cream cone. According to a book, there should have been a 14-foot tall ice cream cone in front of Down Home Foods in Wadena. We eventually found Down Home Foods after a few trips up and down Jefferson Street, but there was no ice cream cone. The internet tells me that the ice cream cone is abandoned behind a KFC. I trusted the book. This doesn't look good for you, books, especially after the blacksmith thing. It looks like the internet beat you again. And people keep saying I should read books. (Although, had I noticed the internet and the book differed, I would have checked both.)


Photo from Roadside Architecture

The internet also provided me a picture. It's kind of a sad looking cone, like the concrete ice cream has been melting slowly for years. We aren't too concerned about missing this one. In the grand scheme of Big Stuff, this is just a tiny blip. If we find ourselves in Wadena again, we will probably try to find it again.

The Garrison Walleye

March 19th, 2008 - Garrison, MN



Across the lake from Isle is the town of Garrison. Garrison definitely does claim to be the Walleye Capital of the World. The Garrison walleye stands in a place of honor, not just in front of some bank. This walleye is in the center of a kind of scenic overlook park type thing right on Mille Lacs. Here you can park your car and enjoy the walleye and the view of the lake. Or you can crack your window and eat your lunch in the car because it's maybe a little too cold to sit outside that long and the only place to sit would have been on a cold stone wall overlooking a frozen lake, as we did.

Garrison's walleye is bigger than the Isle walleye and at 15-feet it's shorter than the big mean walleye, which is fully extended, but it may still be larger overall.

Tip: I cannot stress this enough. Mmmmmmm.......walleye.

Big Mean Fish

March 19th, 2008 - Isle, MN



If you are in Isle visiting the giant walleye at the bank and find yourself saying "I would really like to see more giant fiberglass fish like this one but with an angrier disposition and huge teeth," then you are in luck. Just head a mile north out of Isle on 47 to Johnson's Portside Bait and Liquor, it's your one stop shop. At Johnson's Portside you can get gas, food, bait (don't confuse those last two), liquor, shirts, fishing licenses, and real estate. Ok, the real estate is next door, but they share the same building.



There are two big mean fish here. The first is a big mean muskie and the second is a big mean walleye. Both are 20-feet long. And mean.

Giant Walleye - 1 of Many

March 19th, 2008 - Isle, MN



This giant walleye is prominently displayed in front of a bank on Main St. in "Downtown" Isle. Isle is a small town on Mille Lacs Lake, a haven for fishermen in summer and winter. Isle once claimed the title of "Walleye Capital of the World". This giant walleye once had a sign proudly boasting said title, as seen in the following photo from June, 2000. It's unknown to me what happened to the sign. It's also unclear whether or not Isle still makes this claim. It is clear that the landscaping has changed.


Photo by Tiffibunny.

The race for the walleye capital title has more candidates than this year's presidential campaign had, it seems. There are five Minnesota towns alone that have a hat in the ring, including cross-lake rival Garrison. The battle for walleye supremacy isn't nearly as contentious as the fight for the title of "Icebox of the Nation" was. Thankfully, the good guys won that one.

Tip: Mmmmmm......walleye.

Repurposed Happy Chef

March 19th, 2008 - Princeton, MN



Our trip got started with the super awesome incredible happy surprise I mentioned. As we were driving north on 169, I spotted this Happy Chef statue along the side of the road. I turned around as soon as I could and we pulled up in front of him for a photo. We had no idea he was there and we were both very pleased to have found him. It really was a great start to the trip.

This Happy Chef was obviously one of the lucky ones. He looks very good and has a nice new paint job. He now stands in front of A-Z Restaurant Equipment Company just north of Princeton and is clearly visible from the highway.

I don't know the history of this statue, so I can't tell you which Happy Chef restaurant he belonged to or how long he's been at A-Z. If anybody knows anything about this guy, I would love to hear from you.

International Spotlight: Giant Lobster

Larry the Lobster
Kingston South East, South Australia


Photo by Johnsyweb

He is 18.2 meters tall, which is roughly 59 feet, and he is made out of fiberglass. Kingston SE is one of the best lobster fishing areas in all of Australia.

Tip: If you are visiting Kingston SE, order the lobster. I got a hunch that it's good.

International Spotlight

I realize that I haven't been posting as often. I will try to change that. It takes a little more time and effort to research for posts about "Fallen Heroes" or music than it does for posts about places we have visited, because, for the stuff we have visited, I have done most of the research beforehand. We are working on plans for a little Big Stuff trip in March, so stay tuned folks. I also would like some more variety than Fallen Heroes, music, music, Fallen Heroes, and the occasional map in my posts between visits. That brings me to my newest addition, International Spotlight.

I will be featuring various big stuffs from outside of the U.S. We aren't the only ones that love big stuff. Just look to our north. Canadians are quite big stuff crazy. While a lot of these posts may come from Canada, there are other nations as well that enjoy their big stuff like Australia, New Zealand, and Germany. So let's get it started.

Chuck the Channel Cat
Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada


Photo by ehmeelu

Chuck is a catfish, is 25 feet tall, and was built in 1986 out of fiberglass. Chuck was built in an attempt to promote tourism to the town. Selkirk is located just north of Winnipeg on the Red River. Selkirk is also home to a large ox cart. Crookston, MN claims to have the World's Largest Ox Cart. The World's Largest Catfish is also on the Red River in Whapeton, ND.



Time for a perfect cross-over post. I am going to add a song to the soundtrack list. I had meant to include it in the fish theme post, but forgot to, and it ties in perfectly with this post.

Please Come Back - by Catfish Haven

The band name alone warrants a spot on the soundtrack. Plus, they are pretty good, so I couldn't deny them. I chose this song because I'm sure the towns that build big stuff would like you to come back again for another visit. I also considered Crazy for Leaving. This is the perfect cross-over post because of the fish theme of the last music post, the catfish thing, and the fact that Catfish Haven are signed to the Simply Canadian record label (even though they are from Chicago).

You can hear both of these songs at Catfish Haven's MySpace page.

Fallen Heroes: World's Largest Replica Cheese

Image from RoadsideAmerica.com

The World's Largest Replica Cheese was built to honor and remember the World's Largest Real Cheese, a 17-ton Wisconsin made cheddar that was displayed at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. The cheddar was cut up and eaten in 1965.

The replica was built and placed in the Cheesemobile, a semi tractor with a refrigerated trailer that has (had) one plexi-glass side for viewing, that the original was in. It was then moved to Neillsville, WI. The replica was there for 40 years until it was sold in 2005 to a truck collector who was only interested in the tractor and not so much the giant polystyrene hunk of cheese. Go figure. Maintenance issues and expenses on the trailer were the reasons for the sale.

I don't know exactly what this replica cheese's fate was. Perhaps it still sits somewhere mostly unharmed, perhaps it was simply trashed, or perhaps it was used for the world's largest replica fondue. We may never find out for sure, but we do know that it no longer sits on display in Neillsville after 40 glorious years.

For more information on the World's Largest Replica Cheese, click here, here, and here.

Happy Thanksgiving

I wonder how long it would take to cook a 5,000 pound turkey? Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Big Ear of Corn

June 3rd, 2007 - Olivia, MN



Travelling back from Marshall, MN to the Twin Cities (from a cousin's graduation party), we pass through Olivia and right by a giant ear of corn affixed atop a gazebo. The ear is 25 feet tall and made of fiberglass. The city of Olivia put up the ear in 1973 to help stake it's claim as "The Corn Capital". The capital of what exactly, I don't know.



Olivia Newton John showed up to dedicate the ear of corn and asked only for "fresh bread and two dozen ears of corn" for her trouble.

Rumor has it that the ear of corn hides a Minuteman Missile, since it made it's appearance during the Cold War. Considering the tremendous fire power hidden within North and South Dakota, I don't believe it was necessary to hide a missile in a fiberglass ear of corn on top of a roadside gazebo in Olivia, MN. It's just a hunch. Call me crazy.

Tip: Don't get too close to the ear of corn. It may go off.