Quirky travel possibilities in northeast/mid-Atlantic?

March 15, 2006 8:21 AM

What would be the coolest, weirdest, quirkiest places to visit in the northeast/mid-Atlantic? Could be towns, museums, roadside attractions, etc... bonuses for areas that might take more than an hour or two to absorb. Thanks.
posted by shivohum to travel & transportation (24 comments total)

One of my favorites would have to be Storm King. It's a huge outdoor scultpure park that definitely takes more than hour or two to explore. There are so many places I can think of in the NY/NJ/PA region, but I'm not sure just how weird or quirky you're looking for. . . I'll have to think on it and check in again later.
posted by katie at 8:33 AM on March 15, 2006

The Mutter Museum in Philly is pretty cook, weird, and quirky, plus it has giant colons.

There's a great book called Weird NJ that you should check out at your local bookstore. They have a site online but it's nothing like the book. There are Weird other states too, but I think NJ is by far the best....there's a lot of weird things going on in that state ;)
posted by iconomy at 8:38 AM on March 15, 2006

Uh that would be pretty cool, not pretty cook. Yes, I'm anal.

Yes, I know that giant colons and people who are anal are meant for each other.
posted by iconomy at 8:40 AM on March 15, 2006

I don't know if western Virginia qualifies as mid-Atlantic for you, but these two spring to mind:

Floyd, VA -- hippie enclave in the Appalachians mountains. Located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Mabry Mill. There's a local winery, quaint shops, and a yearly music and arts festival that's growing in recognition. The area around Floyd has about a dozen working communes, so the vibe is friendly, laid back and crunchy.

Natural Bridge -- this qualifies as "roadside attraction." The bridge is nifty and everything, but to get the full experience you need to visit the wax museum and the zoo. It's like getting into a time machine and traveling back to 1953. Creepy and strange in a southern gothic, omigod does that elephant really have a chain around his leg kinda way. You will feel like you've walked into a Flannery O'Connor story.
posted by junkbox at 8:43 AM on March 15, 2006

American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.
Opus 40 in New York.
posted by chocolatepeanutbuttercup at 8:57 AM on March 15, 2006

I like the Mutter Museum too. The Franklin Institute (also in Philly) is currently hosting Body Worlds, if you dig that sort of thing.
posted by mbd1mbd1 at 8:59 AM on March 15, 2006

Stonehenge, USA
posted by bondcliff at 9:01 AM on March 15, 2006

Ditto on AVAM, but I'd recommend Roadside America as possibly the primary guide for this trip, the print edition has been the bible for every roadtrip I've taken in the last decade. Oh and I recently visited the Dia museum in Beacon, NY for the first time, and would highly recommend it. Not exactly quirky, but off the beaten path nonetheless.
posted by jrb223 at 9:01 AM on March 15, 2006

You could spend an entire day at the Bronx Zoo and still not see everything it has to offer. Not off the beaten path, but definitely cool and full of quirky.
posted by hsoltz at 9:27 AM on March 15, 2006

Virginia's offbeat best (full disclosure - I write a guidebook):

Dinosaur Land, White Post: Fiberglass Tyrannosaurs and a 60-foot shark are just the beginning.
Yogaville, Buckingham, and Holy Cross Abbey, Berryville: Two different takes on spiritual lodgings.
Holy Land USA, Bedford: Full-size replicas of Bible scenes on a central Virginia farm.
Jeff Matthews Museum, Galax: A Kodiak grizzly and over 1,000 knives.
Garlic Festival, Rebec Vineyards, Amherst (October): The “stinking rose” in just about every form imaginable.
Tangier Island: A unique, long-isolated fishing community in the bosom of the Chesapeake Bay.
Jolly Roger Haggle Shop, Staunton: More than one million items piled to the ceiling.
Association for Research and Enlightenment, Virginia Beach: The catalogued prophecies of American psychic Edgar Cayce, plus massages and yoga.
Professor Cline’s Haunted Monster Museum and Dark Maze, Natural Bridge: What does this have to do with a 215-foot limestone span? Got me, but it’s still fun.
posted by gottabefunky at 9:51 AM on March 15, 2006

The Bodies exhibit, currently at South Street Seaport in NYC is definitely a quirky choice. Human bodies preserved by a new silicone method....http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/
posted by AuntLisa at 10:12 AM on March 15, 2006

Re: America's Stonehenge. It's fake. Don't pay money to see fake stuff, it just encourages them.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:51 AM on March 15, 2006

This is a little more mainstream, but Hershey, Pennsylvania can be fun. There's a mediocre themepark, but I really enjoyed the museums and factory tours about the chocolate-making process. The entire city is chocolate-themed.
posted by miagaille at 10:52 AM on March 15, 2006

depending on when you are going, there are various great things to see in NJ. with wild west city to space farms zoo & museum to lokota wolf preserve and so many more things in the same general area and each potentially taking a couple hours at least to take in, it is a fine choice.
but i definitely second the roadside america and Weird NJ suggestions, both are excellent.
of course i would recommend a Muffler Man quest of the area.
posted by annoyance at 11:28 AM on March 15, 2006

The Desert of Maine.
posted by JanetLand at 11:33 AM on March 15, 2006

IN the NYC area there are a lot of museums in the boroughs or 'burbs that people usually don't go to, here is a small smattering.

Queens has the unforgettable panorama of New York City

IN Staten Island there is the Jacques Marchais center for Tibetan art, started by Jacques Marchais, who was an American woman. Plus you wouldn't think that this would be in New York's least trendy borough!

Caramoor, is an interesting house filled with stuff, plus gardens and concerts, in Westchester.

For quirky 'hoods in New York, in Brooklyn there is the Hasidic part of Williamsburg. To me that is the quintessential "you're not in Kansas anymore" New York experience. One should dress modestly and not gawk out of respect to their traditions.

Also the Belmont and Fordham sections of the Bronx are where film crews go to film Italian-American gangster movies, since Little Italy is getting gentrified and most of the other hoods aren't Italian anymore. Hasn't changed since the fifties. Great Italian food and the biggest Albanian concentration this side of Tirana.

You may want to go to Riverbank State Park in Manhattan on a week-end.
Basically a Sewage treatment plant - after the residents of West Harlem noted how things like this don't get situated forty blocks south, gov't decided to put in some playgrounds and pools on the roof and call it a "state park."
One must admit that they are nice facilities and you can hardly ever smell any, um, biosolids, so perhaps it is mixed use urban planning at its best? Great fun for people watching tho'.
posted by xetere at 11:56 AM on March 15, 2006

JanetLand stole my answer.
posted by briank at 12:41 PM on March 15, 2006

I was going to say Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, but two people beat me to it. I do want to go there.

So I'll go with my second choice, the underpublicized Museum of Cryptology in Fort Meade, MD. It's government-run and open to the public, they have some cool stuff (including a working Enigma), and they're really unhappy when they have civilian guests.

One could spend a lifetime as a tourist in New York and not explore that city completely.

Fallingwater is off the beaten track, and not much else is around there, but it's a fun two hours if you're into Frank Lloyd Wright.
posted by commander_cool at 1:22 PM on March 15, 2006

And, (how could I have forgotten ?) there is the Museum of Sex in NYC.
posted by AuntLisa at 3:10 PM on March 15, 2006

Cape MAy, NJ, Wildwood's doo-wop architecture, the Pine Barrens. Second the Muffler Men, though.

York, PA, the factory tour capitol of the USA. York barbell, Harley Davidson plant and yes, York Peppermint Patties.

Or you could stare at the Amish and visit Blue Ball, Intercourse, Paradise and Lancaster.
posted by fixedgear at 3:46 PM on March 15, 2006

James Turrell's Meeting at PS1 on New York is quite unusual, and I highly recommend spending an hour there from daylight to sunset.
posted by VulcanMike at 3:52 PM on March 15, 2006

Excellent answers... thank you much!
posted by shivohum at 5:17 PM on March 15, 2006

And don't overlook that ancient Chinese secret — no, not Pearl Cream, the Stone Tower of Newport!
posted by rob511 at 5:52 PM on March 15, 2006

Visit the Mohawk Trail through the Berkshire Hills...it began as a Native American trail, was widened by the early settlers, then was developed as America's first scenic automobile route. In North Adams, visit Mass MoCA, the world's largest museum of contemporary art.
posted by dinah at 7:49 PM on March 15, 2006