Take a brief drive down a lonesome stretch of highway and chances are, you're going to encounter something that'll leave you scratching your head in puzzlement. From relics of so-called 'Old Weird America' to more recent forays into the strange, The Lone Star State is riddled with all manner of roadside curiosities. Here are a few nearby oddities that we think are worth pulling over for.
College St., Sulphur Springs, TX
Using the toilet is usually a private experience. If you're in Sulphur Springs though, the Public Glass Bathrooms beside a park offer up the weirdest experience of them all. Costing $54,000 to make, these costly bathrooms give the user the ability to see outside as they do their thing inside. Built with reflective walls on the outside and glass walls on the inside, you get to freak out whoever dares to enter by seeming like you're staring them down. We'll stick with our completely private bathrooms, thank you very much!
Photo Credit: Andrew Wiseman
222 Malone St. Houston, TX
The Beer Can House was born, legend has it, because its owner John Milkovisch got tired of mowing his lawn. He turned his yard into a maze of unique landscaping, and then covered the entire home with flattened beer cans. It's now open for tours. And you thought you liked beer.
Photo Credit: Instagram user @txbkrds
120 Point Theatre Rd S. Ingram, TX
Why would anyone go all the way to England to see Stonehenge when you can visit a perfectly good replica, Stonehenge II, right here in Texas? As an added bonus, the hill country site also has a couple of giant Easter Island-style heads. It's a one-stop shop for some quality road trip weirdness.
Photo Credit: Alex Beckett Photography
US-90 Marfa, TX
Numerous explanations have been proposed for the Marfa Lights, faint twinkles on the West Texas horizon. Whether they're a close encounter of the first kind or just faraway campfires, these intermittent orbs are more than a little mystical. Check them out from the dedicated viewing area on US-90, east of the town proper.
Photo Credit: Instagram user @twitch32
14219 Littig Road Manor, TX
If you're looking to get some spook out of your roadside attraction, then J. Lorraine Ghost Town is where you should pull over. The ghostly site is a brisk drive from Austin and takes its inspiration from the old western towns of yore. While we cannot guarantee the presence of any actual ghosts, we can confidently state that you'll have plenty of photo ops and a lingering sense of dread.
Photo Credit: Do512 Family
893 Union Chapel Road, Cedar Creek
Everybody loves dinosaurs. If you know someone who says that they don't love dinosaurs, we have no choice but to inform you that they're a liar who picks weird things to lie about. Sorry, we just get amped up on the subject of dinos. Speaking of which, you should definitely hit the brakes and check out the Dinosaur Park in Cedar Creek, TX. Take a tour through the park grounds and marvel at how insanely big and awesome these long-extinct titans of the earth were. This is also a good opportunity to both scare your child and instill a passion for history and science in them. Bingo bango.
Photo Credit: Instagram user @Salem_ATX
1073 SH304, Bastrop, Texas
When you think about Texas Chainsaw Massacre, your first thought probably isn't, "Boy, I sure am hungry." That didn't stop owner Roy Rose from turning a Bastrop gas station into a culinary tribute to the 1974 cult-horror classic. If you're easily spooked (or nauseated), it's probably best for you to keep driving. The aptly-named, We Slaughter BBQ, serves as a reminder for how scary that movie was, and how delicious barbecue is. Truly, there's nothing about this place that doesn't reek of weird.
Photo Credit: Instagram user @Dallas_Mcmahon_photo
7400 Park Road 4 South, Burnet
For those of you whose pipe dream is to get married at an old castle in the middle of nowhere, here's your chance to turn that dream into a reality. Falkenstein Castle is located 50 miles from Austin, between Burnet and Marble Falls. So... why does it exist? In 1995, Texas lovebirds Terry & Kim Young drew inspiration during a tour of Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, and on the return flight home decided to spend the next decade building one of their own. So they did. Seriously.
Photo Credit: Berdoll Pecans Instagram
2626 Hwy 71 West Cedar Creek, TX
Ah, Mrs. Pearl. The beloved Texas symbol of... We're not really sure what. The important thing is, it's a ginormous 14ft squirrel located at Berdoll Pecan & Gift Company in Cedar Creek, TX. Mrs. Pearl is a popular gal, and it's estimated that this colossal, walnut-clutching rodent has her photograph taken somewhere between thirty and one hundred times a day, and it's not hard to see why. You just don't see this kind of thing every day.
400 Walnut Street, Beaumont, TX
In celebration of the re-release of 101 Dalmatian's, Disney constructed the Giant Dalmatian Fire Hydrant with their copyrighted Dalmatian spots splattered across it. After a nationwide contest, the fire hydrant was chosen to reside in the city of Beaumont. Placed right beside Beaumont's Fire Museum of Texas, the 24-foot tall fire hydrant is a sight to see. Although it lost its title of "World's Largest Fire Hydrant" within two years of being built, it goes by "World's Largest Functioning Fire Hydrant" due to its ability to blast out 1,500 gallons of water PER MINUTE. Perfect for cooling down during a Texas heat wave.
