New Jersey’s Oddest Roadside Attraction Has Been Turning Heads For 143 Years
There’s one thing America knows how to do well, besides deep frying literally anything. It’s building weird stuff on the side of the road.
You’re cruising down the highway, minding your business, when suddenly… BAM. Giant ball of twine. Or a 55-foot-tall peanut. And your brain goes, “Yeah, sure. That makes sense.”
These roadside oddities are scattered all over the country, just waiting to make your GPS do a double-take.
In Texas, there’s a house made entirely of beer cans. No joke.
Over in Illinois? A giant pink elephant wearing sunglasses stands proudly next to a gas station, for absolutely no reason.
And let’s not forget the UFO welcome center in South Carolina. It looks like it was built from spare parts, and it totally works.
The best part? Most of these attractions were made just because someone thought, “You know what would be fun?” and then actually followed through.
Like the guy who built the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Half-buried cars sticking out of the dirt like metal tombstones. Iconic.
Bizarre? Yes. But there’s something charming about pulling over to take a selfie with a 40-foot lobster or walking through a “museum” that’s really just a guy’s garage full of clown dolls.
In a world that’s moving faster than ever, there’s comfort in the random.
These weird little stops remind you to slow down, laugh at the wild, and maybe buy a snow globe with a giant jackalope in it.
Because let’s be honest: the best road trip stories don’t come from the gas stations—they come from the places you almost drove past.
Fifty Grande toured America to identify the oddest roadside attraction in each of the 50 states.
South Jersey got the nod for the Garden State's wildest stop.
Fifty Grande says:
Built in 1881, this six-story tall, wood and tin elephant was originally a marketing gimmick to attract real estate buyers. Over the first half of the 1900s, Lucy the Elephant served as a restaurant, a business office, a cottage, and a tavern. After falling into a state of disrepair, Lucy was slated for demolition in the 1960s but was kept alive by the Save Lucy Committee, who canvassed door-to-door to raise funds to move her. After five years of repairs, Lucy reopened and was named a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 1976.
Have you ever visited Lucy the Elephant in person?
Offbeat adventures: Travel to the coolest hidden wonders in every U.S. state
Gallery Credit: Sandi Hemmerlein
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